Listen to this articleMorin khuur is a two-stringed stringed instrument with a trapezoidal body and a handle carved into the shape of a horse head. It is a favorite musical instrument of the Mongolian people.
Morin khuur is a Mongolian folk stringed instrument. Mongolian is called “chaoer”. The piano body is wooden, about one meter long, with two strings, the resonance box is trapezoidal, the sound is round, low-return, and the volume is weak.
Origin of the name
The horse head piano is named after the head of the piano is carved with horse heads. “Manuscript of Qing History” contains: “Huqin, pitong as the quality, second string, dragon head, square handle. The groove is elliptical and sharp downward, taking leather, and the wood outside the groove is like a hairpin-like buckle string, and the dragon head is a mountain pass. Cut the empty string, tie the string with two shafts, one on the left and one on the left, and tie them with eighty-one stems of horsetail wood.” It is known that Matouqin also had dragon heads.
This early in the “Yuan Shi” Volume 71 “Chi Ritual” load: “violin made as komuz, neck roll, dragon head erxian, tear it with a bow, bowstring for the ponytail.” According to some rock art and historical data, It shows that the ancient Mongols began to process the yogurt spoon and put it on cowhide, pulled two ponytail strings, and played it as a musical instrument, called the “spoon-shaped Huqin”.
Many experts currently believe that this is the predecessor of Matouqin. The longest scoop-shaped Huqin at that time was about two feet, the resonance box was relatively small, and the sound was much smaller.
So far, some people in the western part of Mongolia call the Morin khuur “Spoon Huqin”. At that time, the head of the violin was not necessarily a horse head. It had human heads, skulls, crocodile heads, turtle shells, or dragon heads. In addition, some people said that the heads of this violin had the shape of a monkey head or a metalhead.
Martel resembles a dragon, with a face like a monkey, symbolizing a fetish that suppresses demons. According to the research of related scholars, the name of Matouqin was obtained from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century. The head of the piano was changed from dragon head or mater head to horse head.
In addition, there are many pianos, such as Pihu, Shovel Hu, Sihu, Xiqin, Jiqin, etc., which were all popular instruments at that time. During the Yuan Dynasty, with the gradual wealth of the court life, there were specialized performers, singing, and dancing personnel in the court, and the Morin khuur gradually became one of the main contents of court music.
Development of
After years of inheritance, Matouqin has also undergone many reforms along with the development of the times. At the beginning of the 21st century, the form of Morin khuur performance has also gradually changed, from the previous dull performance to the art of visual phenotype.
After years of improvement, a perfect performance form has gradually formed. Afterward, many Morin khuur players gradually imitated and changed to standing playing, which made the Morin khuur spread more widely.
Cultural heritage
The country attaches great importance to the protection of intangible cultural heritage. On May 20, 2006, Mongolian Matouqin music was included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage lists with the approval of the State Council .
In April 2009, the Mongolian Matouqin was approved by the State Council to be included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage lists. Brin is the heir of Morin khuur.
