A Manchu Folk Song Revival?

Chao Lang

Chao Lang is a PhD student in the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University

To date, few Manchu folk songs have attracted the attention of scholars, perhaps due to the fact that they were transmitted orally, are difficult to collect, and are currently close to extinction. Scores in particular are poorly preserved. The decline of Manchu folk songs, according to Shi Guangwei, took place long before the fall of the Qing dynasty, as they enjoyed less popularity amongst both performers and audiences than other art forms, such as Peking opera (Huang & Shi, 1999). However, this loss may turn out to be a gain: the majority of song lyrics were left unpolished by professionals, and perhaps are more honest about the lives of ordinary Manchu people and their perceptions of, or emotional reactions to, the world around. So what do they say?

Based on their content, Manchu folk songs can be categorized roughly into seven groups: fishing and hunting, politics, ritual, daily life, love, chant, and modern folk songs (Huang & Shi, 1999). Below are the lyrics of the folk song “Adulara ucun” (“Herding Song”), which allude to the riding customs of Manchus living near the northern frontier: 

Adulara ucun

šusiha be jafambi
morin be yalumbi
adun be sindanambi
morin be bošombi
ihan be amcambi.

orho sain bade ulebumbi
muke sain bade melenembi
yali be banjimbi
usin be tarimbi
sasa buda be jembi

Loosely translated:

Herding Song

Grab the whip,
Ride that horse,
Herd that flock,
Drive those horses,
Chase those cattle.

Feed them where the grass is good,
Lead them to drink where the water is fresh.
Raising livestock,
Cultivating fields,
Together we’ll have food to eat.

Unlike the majority of Manchu folk songs, which we can only approach through the text, Adulara ucun was recorded by the Manchu singer and composer Akšan, and sung by a Manchu native speaker, He Shihuan 何世环. He, now ninety-three years old, lives in a village by the Sahaliyan Ula (Amur River, 黑龙江) where she was born and raised. She recalls that in her childhood her family used to have many horses, and she sang this song while she rode.    

The northern frontier is not the only place where Manchu folk songs are preserved. In the 1980s, when Manchu scholars Bo Dagong and Ji Yonghai in Liaoning province made known their intention to collect as many Manchu folk songs as possible, they received two songs written in Manchu sent from Fujian Province (Bo & Ji 1989, p. 292). It turned out that they came from an old man who, before passing away, wrote down the lyrics and music of two folk songs so that they might be preserved. The old man was a descendant of the Manchu bannermen who were stationed in this coastal area during the Qing. After living there for generations, apparently they maintained some of their culture and old practices, including singing folk songs (Bo & Ji 1989, p. 11). Below is one of the two songs:

Agara inenggi

sirame agara
tokso emu hūwa
ere erin usin de
jeku tebure ja.

tere niowanggiyan ningge
muji burga
tere suwayan ningge
sogi-i ilha

Rainy day

Ceaselessly raining, the country garden;
This is the time when planting grain in the field is easy. 
The green ones are barley and willow;
The yellow ones are vegetable flowers. 

According to Giovanni Stary, the fixed a-a-b-a rhyme-scheme is considered to be the most widespread verse scheme in Manchu poetry, and can also be found in folk songs. There are in total eight variants that Stary finds traceable to this “classic scheme,” one of them has a formula “with no initial alliteration but with constant rhyme” and can be generally framed as following an a-a-a-a rhyme-scheme. Here, this little song has a constant final rhyme (ending in -a), which puts it squarely in a variant traceable to Stary’s  classic form (Stary, 1984). 

Not all folk songs are preserved complete. In recent years, a small but growing number of Manchu artists has set out to collect, preserve, and recreate folk songs. Akšan, mentioned above, is one. Two decades ago, he began fieldwork in remote villages in northeastern China searching for “lost rhythms.” One cold winter day, he arrived at a village and encountered an old man who happened to be a native speaker of Manchu. As Akšan tells the story, he was invited to the old man’s sparsely furnished house, where they sat on the kang 炕 and chatted for a while, exchanging a few words in Manchu. Perhaps because it had been a long time since someone had spoken Manchu with him, the old man’s spirits were raised, and he brought out some distilled liquor, which they drank together. After a few cups, the old man suddenly started to sing a tune – fragmented, but catchy. Akšan memorized the part at once and wrote it up as a whole song afterwards:  

Arki ucun

arki eyere muke i adali
tere oci cing sere tuwa i gūrgin
sain gucuse jidere be okdoro de
arki hūntahan jalubumbi

sini mujilen i dolo mimbe tebuhe na
mini mujilen i dolo simbe tebuhe na
saikan guculen i jalin
ere hūntahan be omicaki

    (refrain)
    omicaki omicaki
    omiha manggi uthai uculeki
    uculeki uculeki
    bahanarakūci omi seme kerulere jiye

ucarahala andasa erdemungge secina
jici tetendere uthai minde gucuse oho
haji gucuse jidere be okdoro de
arki hūntahan jalubumbi

sini tunggen halukan seme serehe dere
sini gala halukan seme serehe dere 
saikan erin fon i jalin
ere hūntahan be omicaki

    (refrain)

Drinking song

The liquor flows like water
As the flame of the fire flares.
Welcoming the arrival of good friends,
We fill the cup of liquor full up.

Did you put me inside your heart? 
Did I put you inside my heart?
For the sake of good friendship,
Let’s drink this cup of liquor together.

    (refrain)
    Drink together, let’s drink together!
    After we drink, let’s sing together.
    Sing together, let’s sing together,
    If you don’t, you’ll have to drink.

May the friends gathered here all be virtuous,
Once they’re here, they become friends of mine.
Welcoming the arrival of dear friends,
We fill the cup of wine full up.

Did your chest feel the warmth?
Did your hand feel the warmth?
It’s the perfect time and season,
Let’s drink this cup together!

    (refrain)

Sadly, like many of the Manchu native speakers whom Akšan befriended along his journey, the old man passed away soon after their meeting. But the online success of Akšan’s recording of the song has ensured that this small piece of traditional Manchu culture will live on.

References

Bo Dagong & Ji Yonghai, eds. Manzu min’ge ji. Liaoning minzu: Shenyang, 1989. https://www.worldcat.org/title/man-zu-min-ge-ji/oclc/24981581&referer=brief_results

Huang Liyi & Shi Guangchuan, eds. Manzu min’ge xuanji. Renmin yinyue: Beijing, 1999. https://www.worldcat.org/title/man-zu-min-ge-xuan-ji/oclc/608994801&referer=brief_results

Stary, Giovanni. “Fundamental Principles of Manchu Poetry.” In Lin Enxian, ed., Proceedings of the International Conference on China Border Area Studies. Taipei: National Chengchi University, 1984.

Author interview with Akšan, November 2020.