Imakan Rap: A Heroic Epic on the verge of being lost (Photo)

Alangnage gega...

Heni!

I rode Kuoli (Condor) and flew over thousands of clouds and thousands of mountains; I rode Husa (Swan) and flew over thousands of rivers and thousands of rivers; I was going to find...

the traces of Morigen in the wooden bamboo forest.

I want to sing his story for everyone!

- -"Wood Bamboo Forest Mo Rigen"(excerpt, free translation)

The northern end of the Tongjiang Third (Asia) Highway connecting the north and south of China starts from Sanjiangkou Square in Tongjiang City, Heilongjiang Province, and Russia is separated by the river.

From here, you can go straight to Sanya, Hainan, and further south you can reach Bali, Indonesia.

There is a Hezhe Museum next to Sanjiangkou Square, where you can learn about the fishing and hunting culture of the Hezhe ethnic minority in China.

Because of this museum, this year, Sanjiangkou and Bali have been "connected".

On November 23, at the sixth session of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage held in Bali, the "Hezhe Imakan Rap"(hereinafter referred to as "Imakan ") declared by China was included in the" List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Urgent Need of Protection ", becoming the seventh selected project in China after the Qiang Year, traditional wooden arch bridge construction techniques, and wooden movable type printing technology.

There are currently only more than 4600 Hezhe people, making them one of the few ethnic groups in my country.

The Hezhe people have a language but no writing, and Imakan, who sings in Hezhe language, has become a living fossil recording the history and customs of the Hezhe people.

"The Wusuli River has been long and long, and the blue water waves.

The people of Hezhe have spread thousands of nets, and the river is full of songs and fish." Singer Guo Song's performance of "Wusuli Boat Song" is based on Imakan.

With the advancement of modernization and the disappearance of the language environment, there are now only about 20 people who can speak Hezhe, and most of them can only sing two or three fragments of Imakan, whose inheritance is in jeopardy.

"The selection list shows, on the one hand, that Imakan's artistic value is high and global, and on the other hand, it makes us wary of completing the requirements for performance.

We must protect, inherit and make good use of this cultural treasure and hand over excellent answers to the world." Song Hongwei, director of the Department of Culture of Heilongjiang Province, said.

This has become the thinking and pursuit of the intangible cultural heritage community in Heilongjiang Province.

Wu Mingxin is performing Imakan

Hezhe and Imakan rap

In Tongjiang in early December, it became dark after 3 p.m.

After three glasses of wine, Wu Baochen sang Imakan, inherited from his grandfather Wu Liangui.

A melodious and deep voice sounded, and the table was suddenly silent.

"The Hezhe people lived in the northeast all the time.

When the mountains were closed by heavy snow, Imakan was the best entertainment activity for the Hezhe people." Wu Baochen said,"This is also the history of our Hezhe people."

The Hezhe people lived in the Heilongjiang, Songhua River, and Wusuli River basins for generations, and now live in Aoqi Town, a suburb of Jiamusi City, Heilongjiang Province, Jiejinkou Hezhe Township and Bacha Hezhe Township, Tongjiang City, and the fourth row of Hezhe Township in Raohe County, Shuangyashan.

There are more than 30,000 Hezhe people in Russia, known locally as the "Nanai people".

The Hezhe people used to make a living by fishing and hunting, but now most of them are engaged in planting and handicrafts.

The Hezhe and Manchu people shared one ancestor and gradually divided.

The title "Hezhe" came into being in the middle of the Qing Dynasty, and the book "Hezhe Nationality in the Lower Reaches of the Songhua River" published in 1934 established this name academically.

"Fish skin clothes are made with wine and worship God, and dogs pull sleds are people from Hezhe." This saying said by Wu Baochen vividly depicts the characteristics of the Hezhe fishing and hunting culture: the Hezhe people use fish skin to make clothes, which resulted in the Hezhe fish skin making skills selected in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage lists; Before drinking, the Hezhe people are accustomed to dipping their fingers and flicking it out, which means respecting God, and they need to drink three glasses first; In winter, the Hezhe people would travel on sleds pulled by dogs, thus they would be called "the dog Hezhe people" together with the "Deer Ewenk"...

All these stories about the Hezhe people's fishing and hunting life, customs, and love are all faithfully and vividly recorded by Imakan.

Imakan narrates in Hezhe, with both rhymes and rhymes.

He performs impromptu without accompaniment by one person, and sings alternately.

He describes tribal wars, legends of fighting against demons, customs and customs, with the theme of "Morigan"(hero).

Most stories.

Imakan's narrator is respectfully known as "Imaka Qifa" and is often passed down from generation to generation within the family.

Imakan divides "big singing" and "small singing".

The former focuses on speaking and focuses on the long story of "Mo Rigen"; the latter focuses on singing and focuses on lyrical short stories.

More than 50 Imakan books have been collected and recorded, and representative works include "Mandou Morigen","Yingtuge Flying to the Moon","Yaregou", etc.

"Imakan is simple and simple, pays attention to harmony and rhyme, and his singing has a primitive and rough mountain flavor, and can change with the content.

In the past, the excellent Imaka Qifa could rap continuously for half a month, but now Imaka Qifa can sing only fragments, and the number is relatively small." Jing Di, director of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center of Heilongjiang Province, introduced.

It can be said that Imakan is the heroic epic of the Hezhe people.

"A nation with a heroic epic is particularly admirable...

Tibetan" Gesar ", Mongolian" Jangar ", Kirgiz", Hezhe "Imakan".

Heroic epics condense the historical spirit and cultural essence of a nation, and are the vivid and colorful soul of a nation." Feng Jicai, a famous folk artist, once praised this.

In the meeting resolution that included Imakan in the "List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Urgent Need of Protection", it was written: "Imakan rap contributes to the recognition and cohesion of the Hezhe people, forms a carrier of their history and values, and provides it with a sense of continuity, and plays a role in collective memory, education and entertainment in seasonal labor and festivals."

The protection situation is severe

Imakan's inclusion in the "List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Urgent Need of Protection" is also rooted in the "urgent need of protection".

Statistics show that in the 1980s, there were more than 20 outstanding Imaka Qifa in my country; by the end of the 20th century, there were also five masters such as Wu Liangui; now, there are only about 20 people who can communicate in Hezhe.

The difference between Wu Mingxin and Wu Baochen, who are both national representative inheritors of the "Hezhe Imakan", can well reflect the dilemma of this art: the 75-year-old Wu Mingxin can perform it freely on the spot, but the 52-year-old Wu Baochen only mastered 8 paragraphs of Imakan.

Wu Mingxin and Wu Baochen are biological uncles and nephews, and Imakandu is inherited from Wu Mingxin's father, Wu Liangui.

"Now, the mechanism of inheritance by the Imakan family is difficult to maintain, and the mechanism of social inheritance has not yet been established and improved." Hu Dawei, secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission of the Culture, Radio and Television Bureau of Jiamusi City, who is in charge of intangible cultural heritage work, looked at the new village of Aoqihe Zhe Village and said.

Xincun is a tourist village built in the suburbs of Jiamusi with government subsidies.

It hopes to improve the lives of the local Hezhe people through cultural tourism development and vividly inherit the fishing and hunting culture of the Hezhe people.

"Most of the young people in our village have gone out to work, and most of those left behind are the elderly, women and children.

Nowadays, except for a few professional fishermen, most of them are engaged in planting and handicrafts." Ge Baohua, director of the Aoqi Village Committee, said,"But the Hezhe people will not return to their past fishing and hunting life.

That is just our history.

Inheritance is not repetition."

According to Ge Baohua, with the development of modernization, the life and production methods of the Hezhe people have undergone tremendous changes.

The original environment of fishing in summer and hunting in winter no longer exists.

In particular, the entire ethnic group is small in number, making it difficult to cultivate a language environment.

"However, I can also sing a few Imakan songs now." Ge Baohua is actively learning Hezhe.

He serves as the squad leader of the Imakan teaching class run by Wu Mingxin in Aoqi Village, learning it once every Saturday.

His 12-year-old son followed, becoming the youngest student in the class, while the oldest student in the class was 67.

"No one learned Hezhe at first, because Hezhe was not accepted at university, and it was useless at work, and no one even spoke it.

We went door-to-door and let them learn the culture and language of their ancestors.

We had to pay for pens and books for them to come to class." Wu Mingxin was quite sad when he talked about the difficulty of passing on language.

At first, he even rented a house out of his own pocket to teach; later, the New Bureau of Culture, Radio and Television of Jiamusi City, which was short of funds, vacated the conference room for Wu Mingxin to teach.

Wu Mingxin has more than 50 students in two teaching classes in Jiamusi City Culture, Radio and Television New Bureau and Aoqi Village.

"Now most of them can speak more than 100 sentences of Hezhe and sing two or three sentences of Imakan." Wu Mingxin said.

Wu Mingxin, who lives in Jiamusi City, often communicates with the Hezhe elderly people in other areas, recording Imakan and Hezhe language.

"They are all old.

If we leave, no one will teach Hezhe.

Today's learners can carry out simple daily communication, but not a little in-depth communication." Wu Baochen very much agreed with his uncle's words: "Back then, my grandfather (referring to Wu Liangui) could sing for several days and nights continuously.

For example, in 1979, after participating in the National Minority Singer Conference, he would improvise Imakan when he returned home.

We all only know fragments now, and new creations often do not conform to the logical characteristics of Hezhe inversion."

Jingdi fully participated in Imakan's application for the intangible cultural heritage list in urgent need of protection, and has deep research and deep feelings for Imakan.

She was worried about Imakan's possible tendency to change traditions.

"The emerging commercial Imakan rap has a tendency to improperly change folk traditions."

"Since Imakan has not yet found a suitable productive protection method, protection measures can only be recorded and research-based.

The enthusiasm of private protection is not high, and the government will also encounter difficulties in lacking professional venues and funds." Song Hongwei is a very low-key and pragmatic leader.

He prefers to talk about problems rather than achievements.

Song Hongwei paid close attention to Imakan.

When he was deputy director, he was in charge of intangible cultural heritage work; when Imakan applied for the list, he took charge of applying for work and did it himself.

Difficult to protect and inherit

The protection of Imakan began a long time ago.

In 1979, Heilongjiang established the Imakan Rescue Team.

Since then, five masters, Wu Liangui, You Shulin, Ge Desheng, Yougengui, and Wu Jincai, jointly collected Imakan's complete rap art form, leaving millions of words of written materials on the fishing and hunting culture of the Hezhe people.

After entering the 21st century, with the tremendous progress of my country's intangible cultural heritage work, the protection and inheritance of Imakan have also entered the fast lane.

In 2005,"Hezhe Traditional Fishing and Hunting Culture" was listed as one of the 25 key protected ethnic and folk cultural heritages in the country.

In 2006,"Imakan of the Hezhe Nationality" was included in the first batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage lists, and Wu Mingxin and Wu Baochen became national representative inheritors.

In 2009, the Ministry of Culture agreed to apply for inclusion in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List in Urgent Need of Protection.

In March 2010,"Hezhe Imakan Rap" was officially declared for inclusion in the list.

After four rounds of revision consultations, in October this year, the final draft recommendation of "Hezhe Imakan Rap" was announced to the world; in November, the project entered the intangible cultural heritage list in urgent need of protection.

"The name turned out to be Imakan of the Hezhe nationality, but when it was adopted by the conference, it was changed to Imakan of the Hezhe nationality, which clearly expressed the artistic characteristics." Jing Di explained solemnly.

During the preparation process of applying for the list of intangible cultural heritage in urgent need of protection, well-known experts in the industry such as Chao Gejin, Zhang Qingshan, and Qi Qingfu provided selfless help.

Difficulties such as lack of reference models and tight time were overcome one by one.

Jing Di has so far been obsessed with a scene in the last few days when submitting the text: In a small room in an ordinary hotel in Beijing, Song Hongwei leaned against the writing desk, Zhang Guotian, director of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Department of the Heilongjiang Province Department of Culture, was lying on the bed.

Jing Di, with a broken leg, placed his leg on the bed, and other staff members sat scattered around the bed.

Song Hongwei dictated it, Zhang Guotian wrote it, and everyone discussed it to draw up the final text.

"Everyone is indispensable to declare success."

After being included in the list, Song Hongwei and Jingdi did not relax.

"The six-year performance period requires us to work hard in a lot, and our intangible cultural heritage center needs to do a lot of work.

For example, the Provincial Department of Culture has identified our center as a protection unit for Imakan rap, and the funds allocated must be earmarked and used in real terms." Jingdi heard that Ma Jinfeng, director of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center in Jiamusi Suburb, took Ge Baohua to set up an Imakan Art Troupe to enhance the tourism appeal of Aoqi Village, and was preparing to allocate appropriate support funds after the inspection.

"We are under pressure." Song Hongwei was blunt,"But with the support of the Ministry of Culture, the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government, and with all aspects of efforts, we believe that we can shoulder the responsibility of protecting and inheriting Imakan.

We also hope that local governments can shoulder this responsibility with us." Song Hongwei has laid out the plan to rescue, protect and inherit Imakan in the next six years.

These measures include improving protection plans, establishing expert committees, improving three-dimensional protection models, building an Imakan rap training center, and establishing ecological reserves.

Local governments have already taken action.

In 2001, Tongjiang City began to build the Hezhe Museum in Sanjiangkou Square, and built a Hezhe Folk Village in the Hezhe Fishing Village in Jiejinkou, Tongjiang City.

Through the establishment of Imakan, fish skin making skills, and Hezhe wedding customs in Jiejinkou and Bacha ethnic townships.

At the Shanghai World Expo, the Tongjiang City National Song and Dance Troupe performed the Imakan fragment "Hildaru Morigen" and the Hezhe dance "The Girl in the Moon", which won praise.

The city's Jiejinkou Central School has insisted on running Hezhe Imakan singing classes, language editions, dance classes, etc.

during the holidays for many years.

This summer, it attracted 78 children to study.

"Some parents listened and entered the classroom." Wu Baochen, who serves as a teacher at Imakan in the summer school, said.

The reporter saw from a document from the Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center of Tongjiang City that in the next few years, Tongjiang will protect and inherit Hezhe culture through various methods.

The first is to establish a complete database of Imakan inheritors; the second is to establish a database of Hezhe intangible cultural heritage based on the upcoming Hezhe intangible cultural heritage research, excavation and protection center; the third is to restore the Hezhe production and living environment; and the fourth is to select scientific courses and private professionals and others conduct research.

"Our bureau will also organize physical examinations for all inheritors, which has already been implemented.

Because the protection and inheritance of intangible cultural heritage must still be implemented on people." Wang Jianxin, director of the Culture, Radio and Television Bureau of Tongjiang City, introduced.

More Hezhe people have joined the ranks of protection and inheritance.

Wu Mingxin is still traveling in Harbin, Jiamusi and other places to teach Hezhe and Imakan, with more and more students; Wu Baochen organized an Imakan art troupe to sing in a restaurant outside the Hezhe Folk Village in Jiejinkou, which has certain economic benefits; Yi Chunlin, a 28-year-old villager of Aoqi, has already learned three paragraphs of Imakan and is preparing to continue learning; Xie Yongliang, a 25-year-old art graduate, is a provincial inheritor of the Hezhe fish skin painting making skills, with an annual income of more than 100,000 yuan...

In addition, six young people from the Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center of Heilongjiang Province continue to work hard for the rescue, protection and inheritance of Imakan; Ji Wanhe, director of the Jiamusi Suburban Culture and Broadcasting Bureau, still often goes to Aoqi Village to supervise the villagers 'learning progress; Hu Dawei is still busy with the implementation and improvement of the Jiamusi Hezhe Cultural and Ecological Reserve..

"Hezhe culture is a beautiful wave in the surging historical and cultural river of the Chinese nation.

We should do this job well with such a sense of historical mission and responsibility." Song Hongwei said.

(Our reporter Jian Biao, reporter Zhang Jianyou in Heilongjiang)