蒙古族长短调民歌的传承与创新

文刘娟 LIU Juan

蒙古族是我国北方草原民族，拥有近600万人口，主要分布于内蒙古自治区和新疆、东北三省、甘肃、青海等地，一部分散居在全国其他地区。蒙古族一向有“音乐民族”“诗歌民族”之称，蒙古族民歌丰富多彩，形式多样。在河套地区，蒙古族将他们的民歌之丰富比喻为多如牛毛，而且“唱了三年，才唱了一只牛耳朵”。蒙古族民歌具有草原民族的独特风韵，不论高亢嘹亮，还是低吟回荡，都充分表现出蒙古族人民质朴、爽朗、热情、豪放的草原民族风格。尤其是享誉世界的蒙古族长、短调民歌，更是千百年来广大蒙古族人最为喜爱的传统民歌。

特色鲜明的民歌

蒙古族民歌分长、短调两种体裁，长调主要流传于牧区，而短调则大多流行于半农半牧地区。它是草原牧歌最具代表性的艺术形式，是蒙古族世世代代遗存下来的优秀口传文化，具有极为鲜明的草原游牧文化和地域文化特征，因而被称为“草原音乐活化石”。在蒙古语中，长调是“长久”“永恒”的意思，也有将其直译为“长歌”“长调歌”或“草原牧歌”等。蒙古族长调民歌历史悠久，距今已有上千年的历史。

由于长调基本上是蒙古族在放牧牛羊和欢度传统节庆时演唱的一种民歌，因此，长调民歌最主要的特点是字少腔长，一般只有上、下两句歌词，有时甚至连歌词都没有，只是以一个衬词（虚词）表达丰富的内心情感。长调的演唱是蒙古族对自身生活经历的抒发、对自然风物的赞美、对生产经验的传承以及对人生感悟的咏叹等，所以完全可以由演唱者根据其理解随意发挥，因而演唱风格不一，演唱的节律也不尽相同。一般情况下，蒙古族长调的歌词绝大多数是对蒙古族最为熟悉的草原、骏马、蓝天、白云等的描绘和赞颂，尤以唱马的歌曲最多；长调的基本题材包括牧歌、思乡曲、赞歌、婚礼歌和酒歌等。

短调是蒙古族最早发展起来的一种民歌体裁，短调民歌也叫爬山调、山曲儿，可用汉语演唱。蒙古族短调的音乐特点为曲式短小，结构严谨，音调简洁，装饰音较少，旋律平和，起伏不大，带有鲜明的宣叙性特征。短调民歌乐句与唱词之间的结构形式及布局与长调民歌相比，显得更为协调、对称。短调民歌的节奏规范，多采用单一节拍，曲式多为对称的方整性结构，除大量上、下句乐段结构外，也有三句、四句、五句乃至更多乐句所构成的复杂曲式。短调民歌的歌词一般以四句为一段，形成分节歌形式，在不同音韵上可以反复叠唱。

蒙古族短调的表现题材十分广泛，几乎涉及蒙古族社会生活的方方面面，有情歌、敬酒歌、婚礼歌、祝寿歌、叙事歌、摇篮曲等，广泛流传于蒙古族地区的《嘎达梅林》《森吉德玛》《诺文吉娜》《乌云珊丹》《成吉思汗的两匹青马》《龙梅》《白色的远山》《美酒醇如香蜜》等，都是优秀的短调民歌。

世代相传的秘密

要实现一个民族文化的繁荣兴盛和民族精神力量的不断增强，努力做好优秀民族文化的传承和创新，是不可无视且十分紧迫的重要事情。蒙古族长、短调民歌历史悠久、世代相传，至今绵延不衰。其得以长久传承的主要原因表现在以下几个方面：

蒙古族的节庆文化丰富多彩，有自己许多独特的节日，比如灯节、寒食节、浴佛节、祭敖包、祭天、那达慕、小年等。每逢过节，歌舞都会成为蒙古族节日活动内容的重要组成部分，特别是蒙古族民间歌手，都很擅长于在节日期间用长、短调民歌传承优良传统、吟唱民族历史、赞颂民族英雄、传颂民族美德。独特的长调传承方式与节日的氛围融为一体，感染力极强，既能鼓舞人们的参与热情，又能增强人们的自信心和凝集力，还能使民族优秀文化无形中得到较好的传承，因而在人们的心中会刻上永生难忘的烙印。

蒙古族自古以来就以能歌善舞著称于世。其中，唱歌成了蒙古族人们日常生活的重要组成部分。日常生活中，无论是生产生活、丧葬嫁娶、宴请宾客、亲朋相聚、逢年过节、祈神祭祖、教育后代等都以长、短调民歌来抒发情感、表达心意、传授知识，长、短调民歌所反映的内容涉及人们生活的方方面面。此外，历史歌、时政歌、童谣等均饱含丰富的生产生活内容。

蒙古族长、短调民歌在长期的流传过程中，由于其独特的民族风韵，蒙古族地区地无分东西、人无论男女老幼，几乎无地不传，无人不唱，使得蒙古族成为全国乃至全世界民歌传唱参与度最高的民族之一。

蒙古族长、短调民歌尤其是短调民歌的演唱方法自由、随意，可以独唱、重唱、领唱、合唱等，使人们从心底里萌发出一种对长、短调民歌的认同感和参与感,用不同的方式演唱长、短调民歌。加上蒙古民族注重对传统民歌的传承，因此，在蒙古族地区，师传徒、父教子，形成幼年学歌、青年唱歌、老年教歌的传帮带习俗以及良好的全民参与性，使得蒙古族长、短调民歌的传承有了十分牢固的社会基础。

然而，蒙古族长调是一种以口头传承为主要方式的民间艺术。由于其主要传承方式为口耳相传，因此，其能否得到较好的传承，常取决于传承人及其传承坏境的变化。近年来，在蒙古族地区，由于部分蒙古族的生产生活方式发生了较大的变化，比如一些地区由于草场承包责任制的进一步落实，牧民们改变了上千年来的逐水草而居的游牧生产生活方式，逐渐在承包草场附近定居下来，这就改变了长调民歌传承的自然环境；特别是随着岁月的流逝，一些著名长调演唱艺人年岁已高，有些已陆续离世，长调这一蒙古族独特的传统演唱方式也面临失传的危险。在蒙古族地区，曾一度以演唱蒙古族长调而闻名的东土默特、科尔沁、阿拉善等地，目前能够演唱长调民歌的艺人已越来越少，而且都年岁已高，如果不采取必要的措施，必然会严重影响到这些地区极富特色的蒙古族长调民歌的传承与保护。

因此，我们必须自觉建立好各种保护机制，抓紧培养专门研究人才和继承人队伍，不断探索蒙古族长、短调民歌的传承途径，与此同时，努力探索蒙古族长、短调民歌创新的方式和方法。

生命力与时代感

任何一种优秀的民族传统文化，都会在其发展过程中不断地充实、完善、改革和创新。蒙古族长、短调民歌也是如此。

在蒙古族民歌的发展过程中，在其发展早期，为了与蒙古族早期的狩猎文化相适应，蒙古族民歌大体上以短调为主，抒情性较弱，具有较强的叙述性与歌舞性特点。随着蒙古民族由山区向草原迁移及其生产生活方式的转变，蒙古族民歌开始向长调演变，逐渐形成了独具特色的草原游牧音乐。在经历了一个漫长的由简至繁、由低至高的继承和发展过程后，长调民歌逐渐占据了蒙古族民歌的主导地位。

随着历史的发展，从元朝开始，特别是清朝中期以后，我国蒙古高原与中原的联系得到进一步加强，蒙古族与全国各民族的交往交流特别是文化之间的交流得到进一步增强。受中原说唱艺术的影响，蒙古族短调叙事歌、长篇说唱歌曲等吸收了许多新的元素，而短调民歌也重获新生并快速发展，长调民歌则较好地保持其特色并更趋成熟。

中华人民共和国的建立，使蒙古族人民获得了彻底的翻身和解放，蒙古族民歌也进入了全新的发展繁荣阶段。更为可喜的是，随着社会主义现代化建设进程的不断深入，蒙古族长、短调民歌也在不断地发展和创新。

早在20世纪60年代初，著名歌唱家胡松华的一首《赞歌》，曾引起巨大的轰动。《赞歌》将蒙古族长、短调民歌巧妙地结合在一起，抒发出内蒙古人民欢聚一堂，纵情高歌、举杯欢庆翻身做主人的激动心情。这种创新，不仅很好地利用了蒙古族长、短调民歌的优长，而且毫不冲淡蒙古族民歌的原汁原味。

20世纪90年代以来，蒙古族歌唱家腾格尔对蒙古族民歌的演唱进行了大胆的改革和创新，他所演唱的《天堂》《苍狼大地》等，巧妙地融进了蒙古族长、短调民歌的各种代表性因素。无论是德德玛、乌兰托娅，还是乌兰图雅、杨魏玲花，她们对所演唱的歌曲，都十分注意糅进蒙古族长、短调民歌因素，因而成为广受人们称道的地地道道的蒙古族歌手。尤其是布仁巴雅尔，他演唱的很多歌曲都恰到好处地运用蒙古族长、短调民歌的优长，使歌曲充满蒙古族民歌的韵味和现代社会的气息。

进入21世纪后，由额尔古纳乐队创作并演唱的《鸿雁》，更是既继承了蒙古族短调民歌的传统元素，又增添了许多新时代蒙古族民歌的新鲜内容。2018年春节期间，在中央电视台《星光大道·嘉年华星光大道特别节目》中，由“团结联盟”蒙古族歌手所演唱的新《祝酒歌》，更是对流传千年的蒙古族传统《祝酒歌》进行了大胆的创新，使得这一传统歌曲更富活力，更加活泼欢快，更具时代特征。

可见，蒙古族长、短调民歌在其发展过程中，为适应新的社会、生产、生活环境，不断地进行着创新和完善，使得这一传统民歌更为充实、更富生命力、更富有时代感，更受到各族大众的喜爱。

蒙古族长、短调民歌是我国十分珍贵的少数民族传统音乐，是蒙古族历经千年的文化积淀，是中华民族弥足珍贵的精神财富，也是世界文化不可多得的宝贵遗产。因此，继承、保护和弘扬蒙古族长、短调民歌，是我们不可推卸的历史使命。新时代呼唤新的改革，我们应当认真挖掘蒙古族长、短调民歌宝贵内核，在保持传统长、短调民歌精髓的基础上，大胆改革，勇于创新，不断吸纳清新因素，创作出更多深受各民族大众欢迎的“接地气、传得开、留得下”的好作品。

The nationality of Mongolian is a grassland group scattered in northern China. It has a population of nearly 6 million,distributed in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region,Xinjiang, the three northeastern provinces, Gansu and Qinghai,and some of them are scattered in other parts of the country.The Mongolian people have always been known as the "music nation" and "poetry nation", and its folk songs are rich and diversified in form.In the Hetao area, the Mongolians compare the richness of their folk songs to as countless as the cow fur,and "just finishe singing about the amount of a cow ear for the past three years".The Mongolian folk songs have the unique charm of the grassland people. Whether resounding loud and clearor low-lying in rhythm, they fully demonstrate the Mongolian people's simple, hearty, enthusiastic and unrestrained characteristics with the grassland ethnic style, and in particular,the Mongolian long-tone and short-tone folk songs, which are world-famous, are the most popular traditional forms of the majority of Mongolians for thousands of years.

Distinctive folk songs

Mongolian folk songs are divided into two categories, long and short-tone genres, and the long-toneis mostly spread in the pastoral area, while the short-tone is quite popular in semiagricultural and semi-pastoral areas.It is not only the most representative art form of the prairie pastoral song, but an excellent oral culture preserved by the Mongolian people for generations as well, showcasing an extremely distinct grassland nomadic culture and regional cultural characteristics, resulting in being named as the "living stone of grassland music".In the language of Mongolian, the long-tone has the meaning of "longlasting" and "eternal", and it is also translated as "long song","long-tone song" or "grassland pastoral song". Its long-tone folk songs enjoy a long history with a length of over a thousand years.

Because the long-tone form is basically a folk song that the Mongolians perform during the grazing of cattle and sheep and traditional festivals, resulting in showing the main feature as few words with long tone. And it usually shows only the upper and lower two-line lyrics, and sometimes there is even no lyric at all,just a sound of deep expression of inner feelings.The perform of long-tone is the Mongolian's reflection of their own life experiences, praises of natural objects, inheritance of production experience and sighs of life perceptions, so they can be played by singers merely based upon their own understanding, as the singing style is diversified with different rhythm.Under normal circumstances, the lyrics of Mongolian long-tone are mostly depictions and praises of their most familiar subjects as grasslands, horses, blue sky, white clouds and etc., especially presenting more songs about horses; and the basic themes of long-tone include pastoral and homesickness , hymns, wedding songs and those for wines.

The short-tone is a folk song genre that was first developed by the Mongolian people. The short-tone folk songs are also called rhythm for mountain climbing, Shan Quer, which can be sung in Chinese as well. The characteristics of the Mongolian shorttone music are short with rigorous structure, simple tone, less decorative sound, smooth melody, little ups and downs and distinctive narrative features.Comparing with that of the longtone, the structural form and layout of short-tone’s music and lyrics are more harmonious and symmetrical. The rhythm of short-tone is quite standard and regular, mostly using a single beat, with the musicstyle of symmetrical square structure.In addition to a large number of upper and lower sentence structure, there are also complex music composed by threesentence, four-sentence, five sentence and even more phrases.The lyrics of short-tone folk songs generally take four sentences as a section, creating a form of sub-section songs, which can be repeated and sung in different phonology.

The performing theme of the Mongolian short-tone is very broad, involving almost all aspects of their social life, including love songs, toast songs, wedding songs, birthday songs,narrative songs, lullaby and etc. widely spread amongst the living region of the Mongolian asGadaMeiren, SenjiDema,NuowenJina, WuyunShandan, Two GreatHorses of Genghis Khan,Long Mei, White Mountains in Distance, Great Wineand etc. as the outstanding short-tone folk songs.

Secrets passed down from generation to generation

It is an important matter that cannot be ignored and urgently pursued to carry forward the inheritance and innovation of outstanding national cultures with purpose of realizing the prosperity of a nation’s culture and the continuous enhancement of the national spiritual strength.The Mongolian long and shorttone folk songs, possessing a long history, have been passed down from generation to generation, and the main reasons are as follows:

Mongolianspossess festivals with rich diversity and their uniqueness, such as Lantern Festival, Cold Food Festival, Bath Buddha Festival, Sacrifice Bag, Sacrifice of Aobao, Naadam and Xiaonian.During the festivals, songs and dances will become a crucial part of the Mongolian festive activities. Especially Mongolian folk singers are most good at inheriting fine traditions by singing national history, praising national heroes and virtues through long and short-tone songs.

The unique method of long-tone inheritance integrates with the festive atmosphere, showing strong passion, which can not only inspire people's enthusiasm for participation, but also enhance their self-confidence and cohesiveness, meanwhile, realizing a better inheritance of its excellent national culture through aninvisible manner, resulting in immortal imprints in people’s minds.

Since ancient times, the Mongolian people have been known for their capability in singing and dancing,among which singing has become an important part of their daily life.In everyday life, whether it is regular production, funeral and marriage,banquets, family and friends gathering, important festivals,praying and sacrifice for ancestors, and even in raising children,the Mongoliansuse long and short-tone folk songs to express emotions, feelings and impart knowledge, as the contents of such songscover all aspects of people's lives.In addition,songs of history, politics and nursery rhymes are rich in content concerningproduction and daily necessity.

In the long-term circulation of Mongolian long and short-tone folk songs, due to their unique ethnic charm, the Mongolian region has no distinction between men or women, young or old,songs are almost spread everywhere by all people, turning the Mongolian nationalitybecome one of the most involved ethnic groups with highest degree of folk songs passage amongst generations in China, even the whole world.

The performing method of Mongolian long and short-tone folk songs, especially the short-tones, is free and casual. They can solo, quartet, lead, chorus and etc., so that people could express a sense of identity and participation in the length and tone of the folk songs with diversified methods of performance.In addition,the Mongolian people pay much attention to the inheritance of traditional folk songs. Hence, in the Mongolian region, teachers pass to the students, fathers pass to the sons, forming a tradition of passage and sound degree of national participation as learn as child, sing in youth and educate in the elder, making a much solid social foundation for the inheritance of its long and short-tone folk songs.

However, the Mongolian long-tone is a folk art with oral inheritance as the main method. Because its main way of inheritance is from mouth to mouth, hence, whether it can be better passed down often depends on the inheritors and the changes occurred in the environment.In recent years, due to the great changes in the production and lifestyle of some Mongolians in their living areas, for example, in some areas,because of the further implementation of the grassland contract responsibility system, the herdsmen have changed the nomadic production used to be following the track of grassland that has been in existence for thousands of years, and gradually settled near the contracted pastures, which has changed the natural environment in which the long-tone folk songs are passed down.Especially with the passage of time, some famous longtoneperformers come into their elder period, some have passed away, and the long-tune folk songs,the unique traditional singing style of Mongolian, is also in danger of being lost.In the Mongolian region, areas, once famous for the long-tone songs,as East Tumed, Horqin, Alxa and other places, have fewer and fewer artists who can sing long-tone folk songs. It will inevitably affect the inheritance and protection of the Mongolian longtone folk songs in these regions if necessary methods are not implemented.

Hence, we must consciously establish various protection mechanisms, attach close attention to cultivating specialized research talents and teams of inheritance, and constantly explore the ways of inheriting the Mongolian long and shorttone folk songs. At the same time, it requires to explore ways and methods for Mongolian long and short-tone folk songs’innovation.

Vitality and Sense of Times

Any kind of excellent national traditional cultures will continue to be enriched, perfected, reformed and innovated in the course of its development. The same is true of Mongolian long and shorttone folk songs.

In the development of Mongolian folk songs, in order to adapt to the early Mongolian hunting culture, Mongolian folk songs are mainly short-tone with weak lyricalness, showcasing strong narrative and singing and dancing features in the early stage of its development.With the transformation of Mongolian people from mountainous areas to grasslands and their ways of production and lifestyle, Mongolian folk songs began to evolve into a long-tone, gradually forming a unique grassland nomadic music. After a long process of inheritance and development from simple to complex and from low to high, the long-tone folk songs gradually occupy the dominant position of Mongolian folk songs.

With the development of history, since the Yuan Dynasty, especially after the middle of the Qing Dynasty, the relationship between the Mongolian Plateau and the Central Plains has been further strengthened, and the exchanges between the Mongolian people and the various nationalities in the country, especially in terms of the exchanges between cultures, have been further enhanced.Influenced by the rap artfrom the Central Plains, the Mongolian short-tone narrative songs and long-form rap songs have absorbed many brand-new elements, while the short-tone folk songs have also been reborn and developed rapidly. The long-tone folk songs have better maintained their characteristics and become more mature.

The foundation of the People's Republic of China has enabled the Mongolian people to be completely liberated, and the Mongolian folk songs have entered a new stage of development and prosperity.What is even more gratifying is that with the continuous deepening of the process of socialist modernization, the Mongolian long and short-tone folk songs are constantly progressing and innovating.

As early as the early 1960s, the song ofPraiseby a famous singer HU Songhua has caused a huge sensation.The song skillfully combines the Mongolian long and short-tone folk songs, and sends out the excitement of the Inner Mongolian people to indulge in a high-song, toasting and turning over to be the master.This kind of innovation not only makes good use of the superiority of Mongolian long and short-tone folk songs, but also does not dilute the original flavor of such songs.

Since the 1990s, Mongolian singer Tengri has carried out bold reforms and innovations in the singing of Mongolian folk songs. His singing ofParadise, The Great Land, etc., has subtly integrated the various representative factors of Mongolian long and short-tone folk songs.Whether Dedema,WulanTuoya,WulanTuya or Sene, they have cast great attention to the songs integrating the characteristics of the Mongolian long and short-tone folk songs, and thus become widely praised Mongolian singers.Especially for Buren Bayaer, many of the songs he sang are just right to use the strengths of the Mongolian long and short-tone folk songs, so that the songs are full of the charm of Mongolian folk songs and the atmosphere of modern society.

After entering the 21stcentury, theHongyancreated and sung by the Erguna band has inherited the traditional elements of the Mongolian short-tone folk songs, and added a lot of fresh content of the Mongolian folk songs of the new era.During the Spring Festival of 2018, the newToast Songsung by the "Unity Alliance" Mongolian singer was a bold innovation of the Mongolian traditional Toast Song which has been circulated for thousands of years, making this traditional song more dynamic,lively and cheerful with contemporary characteristics in the special program of CCTV "Star Avenue ·Carnival Star Avenue".

It can be discovered that, in the course of its development, the Mongolian long and short-tone folk songs are constantly innovating and perfecting in order to adapt to the new social, production and living environment, making this traditional folk song more fulfilling, lively with deeper sense of times and popularity amongst the ordinary people.

The Mongolian long and short-tone folk songs are a type of very precious traditional music of ethnic minorities in China. They are the cultural heritage of the Mongolian people after history of thousands of years, the precious spiritual wealth of the Chinese nation and a rare legacy of world culture.Therefore, inheriting, protecting and carrying forward the Mongolian long and short-tone folk songs is our unshakable historical mission. The new era calls for new reforms. We should earnestly explore the precious cores of Mongolian long and short-tone folk songs. On the basis of maintaining the essence of traditional long and short-tone folk songs, we must boldly reform with brave innovation, constantly absorbing fresh factors and creating more and more excellent works that are popular with all ethnic groups, showcasing features as "down-to-earth, wide spreading and easy preservation".