Mongolian Humai

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: Mongolian Humai

Applicant: Altay, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region

Project No.: 35

Project No.: Ⅱ - 4

Time of publication: 2008 (second batch)

Category: Traditional Music

Region: Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region

Type: Extension Project

Applicant: Altay, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region

Protection unit: Altay Cultural Museum (Altay intangible cultural heritage protection center, Altay Art Museum)

Brief introduction of Mongolian Humai

Applicant: Altay, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region

Humai is a kind of Mongolian chuwur music in Xinjiang, also known as "huolinchuwur", which can be divided into "overtone Humai", "seismic Humai", "compound Humai" and other types. It is mainly distributed in Xilinguole, Hulunbuir grassland and Hohhot in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and can also be heard in Mongolian residential areas around Altai Mountain in Xinjiang Autonomous Region. In addition, Humai is also widely spread in Mongolia and Tuva region of Russia.

Humai is a kind of magic singing art created by Mongolian people. When singing, the singer uses special sound skills to sing two parts at the same time, which shows the combination of a continuous bass and its flowing melody, forming a rare multi part singing form. According to the research of some scholars, the singing art "Xiao" of northern grassland people recorded in many ancient books in China may be the original form of Wumai. It is said that as early as the 13th century, the Mongolian grassland popular epic rap art, Humai has been very popular.

Due to the limitation of special singing skills, the repertoire of Humai is not very rich, which can be divided into three types. The first is to chant the beautiful natural scenery, such as "Ode to Altay Mountain" and "EBU river water"; the second is to express and simulate the lovely forms of wild animals, such as "cuckoo" and "black Walking Bear"; the third is to praise the horse and grassland, such as "four year old sea monkey horse". From the point of view of style characteristics, Mongolian Humai is mainly short tune music, but it can also sing some short long tune songs.

Humai is an outstanding artistic creation of the Mongolian nation. It is a kind of echo from the deep memory of the nation. It retains some elements of the original singing, so as to express the Mongolian People's deep philosophical thinking about the natural universe and all things in the world. Humai is closely related to Mongolian history and culture, which has important reference value for the study of anthropology, ethnology and folklore. At present, Humai is only popular among a few Mongolian farmers and herdsmen. The artists with profound artistic attainments have died one after another, and there is no one to inherit them. They are in a serious endangered state and need to be rescued and protected.