Sela Xi

Also known as Shela Xi · Saila Xi

Sela Xi, also written Shela Xi or Saila Xi, was a Mongol born in 1887 into a poor herding family of Horqin Left Middle Banner in Inner Mongolia, where many of his elders played the morin khuur. He began to play at nine, later studied the Horqin chuur fiddle with the player Rinchin at Moli Temple, and learned four-string fiddle (sihu) pieces from Dalingga. From 1911 he was a professional folk musician, travelling the Horqin grasslands playing Mongol folk songs and narrative tunes, and he composed pieces such as Naran Gerel. From 1957 he taught at the Inner Mongolia Art School, passing on the Horqin style of playing to students such as Sanduleng and Bao Jinshan; with Balgan he is counted among the first generation of professional morin khuur artists. He died in 1968.