Nothing seems further from the fight against COVID-19 than traditional folklore. However, an ancient Mongolian art form, the khuuriin ülger (“fiddle story”) can be found at the forefront of public health efforts.
Since late January around seventy Mongolian fiddle stories focusing on the prevention of and the fight against the coronavirus outbreak have been posted on the public WeChat account Khuuriin Ülger.
So, what is a “fiddle story” and who is a “fiddler”?
Well-known storytellers are usually referred to as khuurch, “fiddler, bard”. In the past, they were often recognized by the four-stringed Mongolian fiddle on their back. They were one of the most popular entertainers among the nomads, and they were welcomed by rich and poor alike. Some stayed in a region or at the court of a princely family until they had exhausted their repertoires. Many of the khuurch recited long epic tales accompanying themselves on the fiddle. The stories they told were usually in poetic verse mixed with prose. They not only recited familiar epic cycles such as Geser and Janggar, but also developed their own repertoire. Many of the above-mentioned storytellers not only entertain, but often they serve as comedians, satirists, religious proselytizers, and political propagandists (Hangin 1988:69-70).
Fiddle stories are used to praise and bless new couples and are often performed at wedding ceremonies, as I show in my PhD thesis. Furthermore, criticism of and satire on the transforming Mongolian society are sometimes cloaked in the traditional garb of Mongolian fiddle stories. Even today, ancient Mongolian fiddle story-telling practices are profoundly productive.
The contemporary successors of the traditional khuurch quickly sprang into action when the coronavirus epidemic hit. The first performance to emerge on social media was by Jin Gang. It was first posted on Tongliao Daily and attracted around 75.3k viewers.
Possibly encouraged by the successful reception of his first work on the virus, Jin Gang soon produced another fiddle story titled hamagiin hairtai khün (“The Most Lovely People”), which celebrates the heroism of health workers.
These fiddle stories produced in the new context where the coronavirus is wrecking havoc worldwide preserve the formal poetic structure and styles of the traditional Mongolian fiddle story while inserting new contents that are intertextual with the slogans and propaganda of the Chinese Communist Party.
For instance, in the lyrics of The Most Lovely People, there is a particular mention of Zhong Nanshan, who is the leader of the high-level expert group of the Chinese National Health Commission. The song line translates as follows: “The respected expert Zhong Nanshan, I heard your encouragement and advice, I saw your tired look in this smokeless war”.
Here, the fiddler is evoking the nation-wide circulated image of Zhong Nanshan while he was taking a nap on the train as he hurried to the epicentre of the disease, Wuhan. This photo was widely eulogized by Chinese online users and then weaved into the familiar narrative of heroes and sacrifices across China.
Other fiddle stories about the disease similarly voice confidence that the nation will triumph over the challenge and praise the leading roles of the Party in addition to sharing advice how to prevent the spread of the virus. Therefore, these Mongolian fiddle stories serve a dual purpose: they communicate public health information but they are also part and parcel of the grand narrative endorsed by the Chinese state.
In fact, this is nothing new in the historical trajectory of the Mongolian fiddle story. As Hangin (1988:70) argues fiddle stories “have not only served as preservers of cultural tradition but also as media among the nomadic people and sometimes as advocates of religious and political ideology”.
However, the ideological function of fiddle stories should not make us overlook the entertaining, informative and creative aspects of Mongolian fiddle stories. For Mongols who are in quarantine these stories have been a vital source of joy that help to mitigate their fear, anxiety, and loneliness. As one of the comments underneath Jin Gang’s first performance said: “Easy to understand and didn’t trigger fear”. Someone else commented: “In artistic form it tells us safety is first, prevention is key.”
It is this flexibility and adaptability of Mongolian fiddle stories that has ensured its very vitality throughout history. The danger of the new coronavirus outbreak only provides yet another context for the flourishing yet polyphonous fiddle stories in contemporary Inner Mongolia.
Reference
Hangin, John Gombojab. 1988. “Mongolian Folklore: A Representative Collection from the Oral Literary Tradition (Part Three).” Mongolian Studies 11:47-110.
What an interesting read! Thanks Sofie! This points to something positive — how extraordinary challenges, like the COVID-19 epidemic, motivate creativity and innovation, as shown by the Mongolian fiddlers you wrote about. A more modern take of the musical campaign related to this global health issue is rendered by Filipino artists who perform songs that parody panic-driven behavior (including racism) and give advice on health practices. An example is “Stupid Cough” (lyrics written to the tune of a pop song titled “Stupid Love”) in https://youtu.be/cgnBQ9qOqmY.
Thanks Pia for sharing this interesting song!
Dear Sofie, I was reminded of your fantastic blog and of Pia’s comment when reading today’s ABC News article on “How South-East Asia is using catchy pop songs to combat coronavirus.” According to the article, “[t]he original video has 9.4 million views on YouTube, with the English-subtitled version attracting 1.2 million.” Perhaps the song’s entertainment factor is transcending its public service message? Either way, songs and dances – and fiddle stories as you argue – not only spread important health information and medical advice, they also serve to keep people’s spirits up in times of uncertainty and angst. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-10/how-south-east-asia-is-using-pop-songs-to-combat-coronavirus/12038228
Professor Sophie, thanks for your sharing. Your article on “Fighting coronavirus with folklore” is very interesting and insightful. It provides us a new perspective and inspiration of observing different language styles in our society. It is amazing that, in modern world, traditional practices ( like foklore) are still powerful in response to events and trends in society, especially in such hardship of China. It reminds the researchers that the wisdom of ordinary poeple is worth to explore and preserve.
Thank you for your comment, Dong Juan! Yes indeed that’s how culture continues.
Sofie, thanks so much for sharing this! I agree that it has some clear parallels with your fantastic PhD research. Traditional practices are not static: rather, they continue to evolve in response to events and trends in society, both to maintain their own relevance, as well as drawing on their value/prestige to meet communicative/social goals. This is a fantastic, novel example of just that and is so interesting to compare this to the two other posts on the virus which we have already read, and reflect on the different ways in which diverse social actors communicate about the virus, for different purposes, drawing on different linguistic (and other) resources and with different ideologies underlying their communication.
Thanks Laura! Yes, it’s always nice to see how people channel the information though different trajectories.
Thanks Sophie! It’s so amazing to see how thousands of years of civilization can be acknowledged in 21st century and further developed to fight the epidemic. I also find the similar practice from other minority groups like Zhuang people using bamboo clappers and composing folksongs to spread the warning message. Truly grassroots wisdoms are powerful and deserved to be explored more
Thanks Li Jia! It is always amazing to see how these bottom-up cultural practices persevere against many odds. The bamboo clappers sound very interesting, will check it out.