The Art of Oirats: Music, Heritage, and Innovation
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Hovgin Sanchirin Saintsogt, born into a musical family, began to focus on musical instruments professionally in 1984 at Xinjiang Mongolian Normal University. Subsequently, he improved his skills in Inner Mongolia and returned to Hobogsair, where he served in the art troupe for about 30 years until his retirement. Saintsogt’s father, Hovgin Sanchir, was an elite figure in Hobogsair and responsible for the art sector before the communist regime came to power. However, he suffered during the Cultural Revolution by virtue of his work in the previous government. Fortunately, he was rehabilitated in 1979 and recruited into the art troupe of Hobogsair. This video starts with the establishment of the art troupe in Hobogsair and expands to cover the Mongolian cultural heritage protection work in Hobogsair. It concludes with a discussion on how the Oirat traditional cultural heritage, including the Epic Jangar, Topshur, and Urtiin Duu, has influenced Inner Mongolian cultural aspects in recent years. The art troupe was initially assembled in 1965 at the national government level and designated 23 positions with the primary mission of performing revolutionary or communist arts for the people in Hobogsair. Since then, in 1980, the main mission of the art troupe gradually shifted towards preserving minority cultural heritage, culminating in the late 1990s. During his time in the art troupe, Saintsogt’s assignment was to compose music, along with other instruments. In earlier years, as part of the troupe’s mission, they visited the countryside and performed for herders and farmers, sometimes riding horses to pasturelands due to a lack of transportation. In the 1990s, national and local governments strongly supported minority cultures, including inviting artists from Mongolia to China. Several influential Mongol rock bands such as Hurd and Haranga also visited Hobogsair at that time. Attached to the art troupe, the Torghuts in Hobogsair also established their rock group, the Jangar band. In addition to these themes, Saintsogt also explores in this video the folk tales of the Topshur instrument and relevant studies. Based on his own experiences and studies, Saintsogt added two frets to the Topshur instrument, improving it to a standard 16 frets, enabling it to play independent music and incorporating the pentatonic scale into a global instrument standard. Unfortunately, until 2000, Inner Mongolians were unaware of the Topshur instrument and other Oirat cultural elements, which have now become more popular in Inner Mongolia, encompassing Alsha, Bayanuur, Shilingol, Hulunbuir, and Qinghai province. Saintsogt is one of the leading figures in this field, teaching Oirat instruments outside of Xinjiang for many years after his retirement.