Fighting COVID-19 with folklore

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.