The Epic of Janggar

Year: 2006

Sort: Folk Literature

Area: Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region

Serial No.: Ⅰ-26

Declarer: Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Buke Sai'er Mongolia Autonomous County, Bo'er Tala Mongolia Prefecture, Bayin Guoleng Mongolia Autonomous Prefecture, Folk Artists and Litterateur Association of China Federation of Literary and Art Circles in Xinjiang

The Mongolian song The Epic of Janggar, is popular in the Mongolian populated areas around the Mt.Altai in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

The almost 800-year-old epic tells about how 12 generals and thousands of heroic soldiers, fought for their homeland under the leadership of Janggar, and finally won the fight. It is mainly circulated orally and in scripts.

The wandering bards who sing the tale are part of an oral tradition that has been passed down through centuries around campfires on the vast grasslands of Mongolia. It is widely believed that, the epic was created by a Mongolian group called the Weilate. With the migration of this group in the17th century the song spread to Mongolians in neighboring countries like Russia and became a great cross-border epic.

Ever since the 1980s, China has been collecting and recording The Epic of Janggar. Presently there are several editions published in different languages. Today, with the aging and passing away of folk artists, the epic is in danger of disappearing.