Declarer: Jingzhou Miao and Dong Minority Autonomous County, Hunan Province
There are nearly 20,000 Miao living in Jingzhou, Hunan Province. They work hard fromsunriseto sunset in a beautiful natural environment. During the course of their work, they imitated sounds they heard in nature such as bird calls, cicada songs and running water. They integrated these sounds with others used in working and hunting. This combination created the unique Mao folk music.
The content involves the legends, sacrifice, work, marriage, love and many other aspects. There are some representative songs, including the Mountain Songs, the Tea Songs, the Water Songs and the Three Songs.
Now, the traditional culture surrounding the songs is rapidly deteriorating and the number of singers has been declining year by year. The Miao folk songs are in danger of dying out, so protective measures need to be taken as soon as possible to keep this piece of cultural heritage alive.
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