Munaozhaiwa

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: munaozhaiwa

Applicant: Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province

Project No.: 1063

Project No.: i-119

Time of publication: 2011 (the third batch)

Category: Folk Literature

Region: Yunnan Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province

Protection unit: Dehong Cultural Center

Brief introduction of munaozhaiwa:

Applicant: Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province

Munaozhaiwa is the Creation Epic of Jingpo people. According to the research of relevant experts, "munaozhaiwa" originated from the patriarchal clan period in primitive society. It is the sacrificial words of Jingpo ancestors to worship the God of heaven and the sun. It has 8900 lines and is divided into six chapters. The first chapter describes the formation of the universe and the birth of human beings. The second chapter narrates the struggle process that Ning Guandu, the founding hero of Jingpo nationality, led the world heroes to transform the world and make the soil fertile and the crops grow. The third chapter is about the flood of the earth. The fourth chapter describes Ning Guandu's search for wealth and his marriage to the Dragon Girl Zhasheng. The fifth chapter tells about the origin of the Jingpo people's dance "Mu Nao Zong Ge". The sixth chapter tells about the life on the earth, including drilling wood for fire, looking for water, making production and living appliances, learning to wear clothes, planting grain, building houses, getting married and so on.

Epic is a precious material to study the birth, migration, origin of primitive religion, evolution of marriage system, emergence of mountain official system and ethnic communication of Jingpo nationality. Its content includes politics, history, philosophy, literature, art, customs, ethics and other fields of Jingpo nationality, and has high academic and artistic value.

Munaozhaiwa is popular among Jingpo people in Dehong Prefecture, including five townships in Yingjiang County, seven townships in Longchuan County, six townships in Luxi City and two townships in Ruili City.

Due to the large volume of munaozhaiwa and its oral transmission, few people could sing it completely. During the cultural revolution, it was forbidden to sing. When the "munaozhaiwa vertical song" was resumed in 1980, there was no chanting of munaozhaiwa in Dehong Prefecture, but only part of it was sung by "dongsa" (a folk artist lower than Zhaiwa). Now, only Li Qianqian, Tongbiguan Township, Yingjiang County, can recite most of them. In 1975, Li Qianqian, a scholar of Jingpo nationality, collected and published Jingpo texts and Chinese versions.

Munaozhaiwa is the classic and Encyclopedia of Jingpo's traditional culture. The source of all kinds of Jingpo's culture and art can be found here, so it should be protected and inherited.