Oral heritage of Oroqen people faces extinction
0 
For the 77-year-old ethnic folk artist Mo Baofeng, it is sad seeing her people's oral heritage dying out.
Mo is one of some 8,000 Oroqen people who live in northeastern China and are one of the smallest ethnic groups in the 1.3-billion-people nation. Oroqen means both "mountain people" and "reindeer herder" in their own language.
She is also one of only a few who can perform a Mosukun -- an Oroqen traditional way of telling a story through song.
"I have no apprentice. Nor has anyone told me they would like to learn it," she said.
"In the past I have held classes for singing the folktales, but only a few students continued to the end."
When performing a Mosukun, a solo performer sings and tells the story alternately in the voices of a child, a man, or a woman.
The content of the folktales centers on heroic and epic tales, while also encompassing the daily lives and love stories of the Oroqen.
Their lengths vary, and the longest could take days to be narrated.
In 2007, Mo was honored as an "outstanding folk art successor" for her Mosukun skills, by the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the China Society for the Study of Folk Literature and Art.
But the folk artist worries about the future of Oroqen folktales.
"Now it's only me, alone," she said. "And I'm too old to teach."
As a people with no written language, the Oroqen people have passed down their culture orally. Thus Mosukun folktales remain an essential means of recording their customs and culture.
The Oroqen once lived north of the Amur River in Siberia before they were forced to migrate to northern China in the 18th century by Czarist Russians.
They speak an Altaic language similar to Mongolian and the languages spoken by people native to Siberia.
But they have largely forgotten their language and nowadays mainly speak Chinese Mandarin.
"The Oroqen language is disappearing at a staggering rate," Oroqen linguist Meng Shuzhen said. "Many young people don't speak the language, though in some places people can understand it."
In Baiyinna, an Oroqen-inhabited town in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, the local government encourages the use of the Oroqen language.
In local primary schools, officials have set up Oroqen language courses and hired teachers who speak the language.
Also, folk shows in the language are performed throughout the Oroqen-inhabited area.
"But the Oroqen language isn't a test subject in schools, and students are not taking it serious," Meng Shuzhen said.
The linguist also said even though there are only about 8,000 Oroqen, their language has a large vocabulary capable of describing a wide range of objects, particularly regarding nature.
The recent years have witnessed a constant flow of experts from America and Japan into the Oroqen-inhabited area to study this ancient language.
"Many experts are working to save it, some are trying to use the International Phonetic Alphabet, others are using pinyin (phonetic system for transcribing Chinese characters)," said Guan Jinfen, deputy head of Baiyinna town.
"But no plausible way has been worked out to transform the Oroqen into a written language.
"Also, our Oroqen language is very rich in substance, thus more difficult to restore," she said.
Guan also said nowadays despite the linguists specialized in ethnic languages, those who skillfully speak the Oroqen language in their daily lives have an average age of 70.
"If the linguistic records of the language were not collected and stored in time, it would be even harder to bring back to life the already endangered language." she said.
Like many other marginal cultures, Oroqen culture is fading as modern society converges on it.
The Oroqen used to live a largely nomadic life in the thick forests of the Khingan Mountains across the northeastern Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and north Heilongjiang Province.
They used to live in traditional teepee-like tents called "Cuoluozi," which are supported by long poles and covered with birch bark in summer and fur or deerskin in winter.
Guan Jinfen said, "Constantly moving around, the Oroqens pulled down their tents before leaving and rebuilt it once they settled down somewhere else."
"It was a very simple life."
The horse-riding people have gradually become more settled, since 1951, when the Chinese government established the Oroqen Autonomous Banner and encouraged Oroqens to move into houses provided by the government.
The resettlement mainly started in 1953, and nowadays they are living in brick and tile houses, some even in modern dwellings powered by the solar energy.
Folk artist Mo said, "Now we have not only land to cultivate, but also government allowances."
But the changing lifestyles have affected the original Oroqen culture.
"The unwritten language and the relatively monotonous art forms have been driven into a dead corner, overshadowed by the mesmerizing diversity of modern culture," Oroqen linguist Meng said.
"At this junction, in order to rescue the disappearing Oroqen language, it's best to set up a special research institute as soon as possible, to study and record the language," Guan Jinfen said.
"Now it's already a bit late," she said. "I'm afraid as the senior Oroqens die, much of the traditional Oroqen culture might also go."
"So we must take action to save the endangered language and culture," she said.
Go to Forum >>0 Comments