Mongolian's "Long Tune

? The long tune is the translation of the Mongolian word "Uzhtin Do". "Ujtin" means "long", "eternal" and "do" means "song". "Do" means "song". In related writings and essays, it is also directly translated as "long song", "long song" or "grassland pastoral" and so on.

? According to the historical origin of Mongolian music and culture and the current situation of music form, the long tune can be defined as a kind of folk song created by the nomadic people in the northern grassland in the production of animal husbandry, sung in the field of grazing and traditional festivals. Long tune melody long and soothing, open mood, sound more words, breath long, melody is extremely rich in decorative (such as the front leaning tone, after leaning tone, gliding, echo, etc.), especially "Nogula" (Mongolian translation, the wave of sound or decorative tone) singing style of the formation of the most characteristic of the Huacai singing style.

? As early as a thousand years ago, the ancestors of the Mongolian people out of the Erguna River on both sides of the mountains and forests to the Mongolian Plateau migration, the mode of production also changed from hunting to animal husbandry, the long tune of this new form of folk song will be generated, developed. In a long period of history, it gradually replaced the structure of the hunting songs, occupying the dominant position of Mongolian folk songs, and eventually formed the typical style of Mongolian music, and other forms of Mongolian music have had a profound impact.

? It can be said that the long tune focuses on the characteristics and features of Mongolian nomadic culture, and is closely connected with the language, literature, history, religion, psychology, worldview, ecological outlook, outlook on life, customs, etc. of the Mongolian nation, and runs through the entire history and social life of the Mongolian nation. The basic themes of long tunes include pastoral songs, homesickness songs, hymns, wedding songs and feast songs (also called wine songs).

? During the period of hunting music culture, its music style is represented by short tunes, and the folk songs are characterized by short structure, simple pitch, clear rhythm, and many words and few cavities. The overall musical style of narrative and song and dance, lyricism is weak, which is also the primitive period of human music and art **** the same characteristics. From the existing data can be seen, some obviously with this period of music and cultural characteristics of the Mongolian folk songs, still circulating in the folk, such as "hunting fight wisdom song", "white sea green dance".

? Along with the hunting mode of production to the nomadic mode of production change, the second period of music style also occurred from the short tune folk songs to the long tune folk songs style evolution, formed the Mongolian music history of the grassland nomadic music and culture period.

? From the point of view of music morphology, this period not only retained the development of the hunting period of the short tune music style, but also gradually innovated the formation of the long tune music style. As far as the long-toned folk songs themselves are concerned, this period also experienced a long process of inheritance and development from simple to complex and from low to high. Therefore, from the 7th century AD to the 17th century AD, the general trend of the development of Mongolian folk songs can be summarized as follows: short tone folk songs as the basis for the innovation of long tone folk songs.

? The period of grassland nomadic music culture is the period in which long-toned folk songs gradually dominated, and also an important historical period in the formation of the overall musical and cultural style of the Mongolian people. Since about the 18th century AD (the middle and late Qing Dynasty), with the historical change and development, the connection between the northern grassland and the mainland of the Central Plains was further strengthened, and the pace of integration and exchange among various ethnic groups was accelerated. The agricultural-based production methods of the Central Plains also penetrated part of the northern grasslands, and cultural exchanges were more frequent.

? In this historical context, short narrative songs, long rap songs and other new development, the formation of the Mongolian also agricultural and pastoral music and culture period. During this period, Mongolian folk songs in long tones kept their own characteristics and became more mature.

? The theme of the folk songs is closely related to the social life of the Mongols. It is a must-sing song in all the festivals, weddings and banquets, gatherings of friends and relatives, and "Naadam" activities of the Mongols, which comprehensively reflects the history of the Mongolian people's hearts and cultural tastes. The representative songs are "Walking Horse", "Little Yellow Horse", "Vast Grassland", "Vast and Rich Alashan", etc. The songs are sung at the festivals, weddings, banquets, family gatherings, "Naadam" and other events.

? The study of long tune folk song involves many branches of musicology, its research and protection is actually the most powerful inheritance and protection of the long history of the grassland civilization and grassland culture type. 20 century, the Mongolian long tune folk song carries is the history of the Mongolian nation, it is the Mongolian national production life and spiritual character of the iconic display and the carrier of ideas.

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In May, 2021, the Mongolian long tune folk song (Uzhumqin long tune) was selected as one of the "Fifth Batch of Representative Items of National Intangible Cultural Heritage".