Ulabun biographic singing and talking

Year: 2006

Sort: Folk Literature

Area: Jilin province

Serial No.: I-12

Declarer: Jilin province

Ulabun, or biography in Manchu language, is an ancient folk art of singing and talking of Manchu heroic legends, which is on the brink of extinction.

Manchu history can be traced back to the Nuzhen people who lived 2,000 years ago. They were the earliest ancestors of the Manchu. In the Liao (916-1125), Song (960-1279), Yuan (1271-1368) and Ming (1368-1644) dynasties, they were called "Nuzhen". At the end of the 16th century, Nurhachi unified the tribes of Nuzhen and a new ethnic group -- Manchu -- came into being. With the founding of the Qing Dynasty in 1644, the Manchu reached its golden age. After the 1911 Revolution, this ethnic minority was named the Manchu ethnic minority.

In old days, the venerable elders of a Manchu tribe performed the "ulabun" at spare time, holidays and worship ceremonies. The elders had to clean themselves and burn incense before the performance to pay their respect to the ancestors, and then sung and talked to the accompaniment of bells, drums, and other musical instrument. The listeners had to be modesty and respectful. The performance used to be played in Manchu language, but nowadays it is often played in Han language when the Manchu language has died out.

Manchu Ulabun, an encyclopedia of ethnic groups in Northern China, covers a wide range of subjects, including the emerging of tribal clans, exploiting on the wild land, heroic epics and biographies, folk customs, and knowledge gained from production and everyday life.

It was not only a pastime, but a form of clan education of religious nature. As it is strictly in accordance with historical facts, it plays a role of making up or even correcting the history.

Some ulabuns have been translated into foreign languages like Russian, Japanese, English, Italian, Germany, and Korean. But, there are few people who can perform ulabun now, and lots of ulabuns have to be recorded. Immediate actions shall be taken to rescue it from extinction.