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archery
ICH Elements 21
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Urtiin Duu, traditional folk long song
The Urtiin duu or “long song” is one of the two major forms of Mongolian songs, the other being the short song” (bogino duu). The Urtiin duu is a lyrical chant, which is characterized by an abundance of ornamentation, falsetto, an extremely wide vocal range and a free compositional form. The rising melody is slow and steady while the falling melody is often intercepted with a lively rhythm. Performances and compositions of Urtiin duu are closely linked to the pastoral way of life of the Mongolian nomads on their ancestral grasslands.
China,Mongolia 2008 -
Mongolian art of singing, Khoomei
Mongolian Khoomei (also known as “Hooliin Chor” or “Chor”) refers to the art of singing in which the singer produces, at the same time, a chorus of dual or heterophony purely with his or her own vocal organs, namely, a diversified harmony of two or more voice parts produced by one singer with the overtone based on his continued bass part from his throat in harmony with his continued bass part. It is the only form of singing technique in the history of human singing, a unique creation and outstanding contribution of the Mongolian people.
China 2009 -
Buryat bow and arrow and its archery
The bow and arrow are the weapons that used from the ancient time to the present. It has been developed within these centuries, and every ethnic group made its own specific bow and arrow and used that for hundreds of years. Same with this, Buryat-Mongols have made their own bow and arrow and used it to the naadam besides with the hunting. Same with other Mongol ethnics, the body of the Buryat bow and arrow is made from birch, and upper and bottom part of bow body or curved ends are made from horn, and the string is made from sinew. As mentioned in the report, it mostly made from the horn of a cow, but later it made from the horn of ibex, deer, and moose. The hide from the cow head was used in the making of glue, besides these glues were made from the fish and hoof of the cow.
Mongolia -
Mongolian traditional practices of worshipping the sacred sites
Worshipping practices of sacred sites in Mongolia have been developed in specific cultural space of nomadic lifestyle in the vast grassland steppe of Central Asia. One of the main characteristics of nomadic culture is its close relationship and harmony with nature and environment. These practices, according to ancient shamanism, are based on belief in the existence of invisible deities of sky, earth, mountains, and all natural surroundings. Furthermore, Mongolians believe that these deities exist on the top of the mountain or any hill between sky and earth and choose these places as sacred sites for the worshipping for and offerings to these deities. They pile up Ovoos (stone mound) in these places and perform worshipping rituals and ceremonies. All participants at the worshipping rituals ask a deity to bring a timely rain, to protect humans and livestock from natural disasters, and to bestow prosperity and blessings on the participants and local people of given areas. In early times, sacred sites were worshipped with shamanic rituals and these wonderful traditions were later enriched with Buddhist teachings and rites. In a sense of respect and symbol and in geographical importance, sacred mountains, hills or the head of rivers in general have become as a cradle (centre) of the natural and cultural areas concerned and create a specific socio-cultural space and a unique cultural heritage landscape. These sacred sites are the symbol of cultural identity and spiritual cohesion of local people concerned and a sacred site for performing worshipping rituals and organizing important social events and ceremonies of given communities. Researchers regard the worshipping practices of sacred sites as multi-functional and multi-content cultural heritage element. The worshipping rituals in Mongolia have originally been conducted by the kin group and later by the local and indigenous people of a specific areas and further by specific representatives of State authorities and interested people at national level. The procedures and ritual order of worship ceremony are usually similar but some differences can be observed in regards to local customs and traditions. In different places, the people who lead worship ceremony are variously called as the owner of Ovoo or head of Ovoo. Those experienced people should be native and respectful people. In rare occasions, if a ritual is conducted in the way of shamanic tradition, a shaman leads this ritual ceremony. If it is a Buddhist ritual, a monk leads a worship ceremony. The key organizer consults with respectful elders, the head of the Buddhist monastery or shaman about the time for conducting ceremony. Timing is determined in accordance with traditional astrology. Once the time is set up, the day of worship is publicly announced. A worship ceremony is often conducted during the summer and/or autumn of the year. In the early morning before sunrise, all participants, in their best dresses, carrying offering food and items, start to head towards the Ovoo together with their young children. Bringing young children to the worship ceremony allows the youngsters to learn the customs and traditions of the community. Before starting the worship ceremony, varied coloured ceremonial scarves are tied to the main wood that is placed in an Ovoo and a hand-made figure of the deity is placed on white cotton in front of the Ovoo. Offering food and items are also placed in front of the Ovoo. Honourable guests, usually elders, sit in the north west direction of the Ovoo. If the State worship ceremony is performed, a state official opens the ceremony by reading an official decree issued for particular worship ceremony. Buddhist monks sit in the north east direction of the Ovoo. There should be more than three monks. Monks should possess knowledge of how to recite (sutra) offering texts with the use of various musical instruments. Sometimes the elders recite offering texts. Offerings including dairy products or cooked meats are placed in the east of the Ovoo. Various aromatic substances such as juniper’s needle, wormwood and wild thyme are burned as a sanctification of the sacred site. The procedure of the ritual ceremony starts with invoking deities and nymphs to come to the offering site then followed by presenting various offerings to them. After making offerings, participants of the ceremony make requests to deities and nymphs to grant richness in livestock and bestow success and prosperity on them. Monks chant sutras dedicated to this mountain and Ovoo. Meanwhile, an arrow called as bringer of auspiciousness is shot towards the sky and mark out any livestock animal as being consecrated to a divinity. Following the ceremony, a festival of horse racing, wrestling and archery competition as well as singing and dancing take place immediately. This tradition is highly considered as one of unique and humane intangible cultural heritage of Mongolia. - Locals participate at sacred site worship ceremony on a voluntarily basis. The local elders personally teach younger people how to attend and behave at the worship ceremony. A sacred site worship ceremony brings all community members together and builds a sense of community and solidarity. - The worshipping natural environment creates more awareness among the people about interdependence between human beings and the environment and creates more respect for the nature. This is one of the best environmental protection methods that has been preserved by the Mongols since ancient time. - The ritual procession is based on Mongolian folk beliefs, literature, poetry, song, dance, rituals, festive events and as well as handicrafts. Thus, the sacred site worship ceremony preserves those ICH elements through time. In sum, it is clear that worshipping practices of sacred sites have immeasurable value both in transmission of ICH and as a source of public education, identity and pride. At the practical level, these practices play an important role in maintaining ecological balance and the preservation and protection of biological and cultural diversity. This heritage significantly contributes to the protection of our natural environment and wildlife as sacred and pristine.
Mongolia 2017 -
Bja-wo Karma Nya-ru: Conjunction of the Pleiades and the full moon Festival
In earlier times, Bhutanese traveled as far south as possible to buy salt, spices, and other basic products in the nearest border towns. Pasakha (formerly the southern gateway) was an important business center for the people of western Bhutan because of its proximity to the nearest Indian towns. After an arduous journey of more than 20 days through the high mountains and after nights spent in the cold, dense jungle, the villagers then reached their home, bringing their daily supplies. A young man from the village of Bja-wo once set out for Pasakha to buy supplies. Upon his return, as he prepared to spend the night in the forest, he lay down under a large tree, placed the heavy basket under his head to rest, and stared up at the sky. He saw the bright moon almost smiling at him and the stars twinkling around him. He thought about the number of nights he would have to spend like this, and wondered if the stars and moon would keep him company during his journey home. He continued his journey home during the day, spending each exhausting night under bushes and trees. Each evening he looked up at the sky and noticed that the brightest star seemed to get closer and closer to the moon each night. When he returned home a few days later, the young man, suspecting an interesting observation in the sky, wanted to know how close the star had come to the moon. The following night, he looked up at the sky and found that the star had come so close to the moon that it almost looked like it was interacting with the moon (this was the narrator's exact interpretation). It was a unique discovery that symbolized a happy moment. Incidentally, the day he made this discovery was the 15th of the 10th month, one of the most auspicious holy days in the Bhutanese lunar calendar. Therefore, the festival of Bja-wo Karma Nya-ru (conjunction of the Pleiades and the full moon) is believed to have originated in Bja-wo village and is still celebrated with great enthusiasm. Nowadays, it is also popularly known as Dogar Nya-ru. Nya-ru is celebrated on the 15th day of the 10th month of the Bhutanese lunar calendar and is considered a special occasion where family and friends scattered all over Bhutan gather on this day and celebrate the auspicious day in each and every home with festivity and joy. On the 13th and 14th day of the 10th month, people who work in the cities, students, businessmen, relatives and basically all people who are from the village gather to celebrate Nya-ru. In this village of Nyo-yue dhuen (old name) or Khamda Sali Chiwog (sub-block) as it is commonly known today, people prepare for the big event by washing their clothes, cleaning themselves, tidying their houses and the men discuss archery that will take place during Nya-ru while the women prepare the menu for the special day in the house and make preparations for Ara (locally brewed wine) and other drinks.
Bhutan -
Prew: Ritual to Commemorate the Birthday of Guru Padmasambavaa
The festival commonly known as Prew is celebrated in the Kurtoe region under Lhuentse Dzongkhag. Originally it was called Treu-choed, or “Monkey Month Offering,” but later became popularly known as Prew. The name Treu is derived from the year of birth of Guru Rinpoche (Skt. Padmasambhava), as he was born in the year of the monkey in the eighth century. The word Choed means "offering." The Prew festival of Kurtoe is associated with Guru Rinpoche, he visited Jasabe village via the hidden land of Baeyul Khenpajong and gave his blessings to the locals. Since then, they have been celebrating this festival out of gratitude to him for the blessings he gave them and their whole community. They also believe that Prew is a festival to honor Guru Rinpoche’s birthday. This festival is celebrated in almost all Gewog village blocks of Lhuentse Dzongkhag or district. The community of Ney celebrates its local festival every year on the 10th day of the fourth lunar month according to the Bhutanese calendar. The festival takes place in the local Lhakhang, temple, in the center of the community, as well as in each individual house. The men often play games such as archery, while the women have a picnic. Prew is similarly celebrated in Jasabe Chiwog at Tergang Lhakhang. On the 9th day of the fourth lunar month of the Bhutanese calendar, people gather at the Lhakhang to perform a ritual and make offerings. The next day, the 10th day of the fourth lunar month, they return to their village with Norjan chants, and spend a day singing and dancing in their village. The festival in part indicates the arrival of the agricultural season. Villagers offer prayers and sacrifices for good health and a good harvest without pest infestations and natural disasters.
Bhutan -
Yên Thế Festival
At its inception, this festival takes place on the 5th of first lunar month in commemoration of Hoàng Hoa Thám, also known as Đề Thám (Commander Thám), the farmer leader in the Yên Thế uprising against the French colonists. Since 1984, the festival has taken place in the third week of March. Main ceremonies of the festival include the palanquin procession ritual by Phồn Xương and Cầu Gỗ villages. An important ritual is the requiem of lost insurgent soldiers with traditional offerings. There are also strict rules on costumes for those who participate in the rituals. A flag salute ceremonies is re-enacted as it was conducted by the insurgent army in the past. Today, in order to make the festival more joyful, villagers incorporate a horse procession ritual and an exchange performance “Young men from Cầu Vồng and Yên Thế villages meet with young ladies from Nội Duệ and Cầu Lim”. Entertainment activities of the festival include such folk performances as martial art performance, gun shooting and archery contests, wrestling and quiz game about the Yên Thế Uprising.
Viet Nam -
The tradition of long-term group hunting 'Salbuurun’
‘Salbuurun’ is a complex hunting game with golden eagles, ‘taigan’ dogs (the Kyrgyz breed of greyhounds) and bow. In the modern salbuurun, golden eagles participate in two exercises: ‘chyrga’ and ‘ondok’. In the first exercise, each berkutchi (eagle master) lets his eagle flying towards moulage, which is entailed by a galloping rider. The eagle has to reach and grasp it. Here, time and speed of the golden eagle are estimated. The golden eagle is seated at a distance of 200 meters in ‘ondok’ exercise. At the judge’s signal, the hunter holloes his eagle holding bait in his hands. Here, the arrival time of the eagle to his owner’s hand is estimated. ‘Taigan zharysh’ is a race organized for the greyhounds. Dog’s agility is determined by the speed of its run at a distance of 350 meters. Dogs chase the moulages that is entailed by the horse rider. ‘Zhaa atuu’ is shooting with a traditional bow (archery).
Kyrgyzstan -
Kha-ram: Gossiping negative forces
Kharam is celebrated in all the villages under Tshenkhar gewog, Lhuentse Dzongkhag of Northeast Bhutan. In the local dialect, Tsangla, "Kharam" means "Gossiping negative forces”. Villages host the festive celebration to please the local deities, and to seek protection them from unforseen disasters for their crops, cattle, and fellow local people. They also pay homage to the local deities for protecting the people, yields and the domestic life of the country by natural calamities. The annual festive event is celebrated on 27th and 28th day of the 8th month of the Bhutanese calendar. The event is celebrated by performing ritual in the morning and consequently by performing boen choe “Bonism” by the communal people in respective locality and followed by traditional games like archery and khuru (dart) competition within the village. The main performer of the celebration is the Bonpo “Chant Leader” accompanied by all villagers irrespective of age. In the past, in the evening of the first day of the celebration, people used to ward-off the negative forces by hitting a rooster against a cow. However, now the community has stopped killing roosters and the symbolism was replaced using a feather. With the performance of Kharam, it is believed that the village will prosper and have good yield in that year with less mishaps in the community.
Bhutan -
Jeontongjang (Quiver Making)
National Intangible Cultural Heritage, Republic of Korea Jeontongjang refers to the skill of making a quiver (a long case for carrying arrows), or to an artisan with such a skill. On the Korean Peninsula, the skill started to develop as early as the Neolithic Age. Quivers appear in murals in Ssangyeongchong Tomb dating from Goguryeo (circa 37 BC – 667 AD). Quiver ornaments were unearthed from tombs dating from Silla (circa 57 BC – 935 AD) and Baekje (18 BC – 935 AD). The development of firearms after the Japanese Invasion of Korea (1592 – 1598) led to the decline of arrows and consequently, quivers. By the late Joseon Period (1392 – 1910), archery became a hobby and this affected the types of quivers used. Quivers were made of bamboo, paper, wood, or shark skin. Some of them were adorned with mother-of-pearl or engraved patterns. Bamboo quivers were made of transparent green-colored bamboo at least two years old. Bamboo pieces cut were stored in a shady place for more than two years and then put in watery caustic soda for three days to remove oily substance. The work was completed with the removal of nodes and the engraving of patterns.
South Korea -
Melodies associated with labor and rituals
Melodies associated with herding of animals, coaxing rituals for baby animals and hunting are the common representatives of this element. Such intonations and melodies derived from the nomadic people’s mode of life are classified as melodies for animals such as gurii gurii for horses, oov oov for cows, toor toor for camels, and melodies for coaxing animals, melodies for milking the mother animals such as toig toigoo for coaxing baby sheep, for baby goat as cheeg cheeg, and for baby camel saying melody khoos khoos. There are also other melodies for hunting (melodies to call games, melodies to amuse games), melodies for uukhai or cheering up (uukhai for archery, uukhai for anklebone shooting, melodies for wrestler or race-horse title recitations, giingoo or zeengoo melodies of the horse-jockeys) are used for daily life of Mongolians. This the specific rite of psychological connection between herder and animals.
Mongolia -
Traditional craftsmanship of the bow and arrow
There are many countries in the world that craft bow and arrow. But the tradition of technique of making a bow with bamboo or birch medial part, outer back part made of sinew of camel, bovince and equine animals, with inner part made of horn of wild buffalo or ibex is being kept only in Mongolia. Currently in Mongolia, there are 5-6 different forms of archeries practiced including Khalkh, Buriad, Uriankhai, Morin and Sarampai archery. As a consequence, the need to revitalize and develop the adequate craftsmanship of bow and arrow has risen for each of the above archeries.
Mongolia