Dasitan of the Uygur People

Dasitan is a form of quyi popular among the Uygur people in Xinjiang and boasts a long history. Dasitan is a Uygur term that means a long poem relating an event. As a category of quyi, it has the basic feature of being a very long rhyming story.

The reason why a narrative long poem became adapted to the quyi form with singing and storytelling is that the Uygur people borrowed the big song cycle or divertimento from an ancient suite of stories called the muqam. As early as from the third to the seventh centuries, the Uygurs, who inhabit the Xinjiang region of China, sang Alifu Airdueah as a dasitan recital. This is a story about the exploits of a Uygur national hero, and since then it has become a tradition to use dasitan to extol heroes.

One to three people perform dasitan. The chief singer accompanies himself on the rewalu, dutaer, danboer, or shadaer (all stringed instruments). Meanwhile, musicians beat the hand drum or stone chimes. The performances are given at temple fairs, market places, teahouses, or dinner parties. Manas, the traditional epic of the Kirgiz people, who are also inhabitants of the Xinjiang region, is also performed and transmitted in the form of dasitan.

  The Mother of Uygur Music: Twelve Muqam

Known as the "mother of Uygur music," the Twelve Muqam has a long history. Some scholars believe its origin can be traced back to the "Great Western Region Melody" that flourished during the Han (206BC-220AD) and Tang (618-907) dynasties and enjoyed a high popularity in Central China.

In the mid-16th century, the imperial concubine of the Yarkant Kingdom devoted all her efforts to collecting and compiling Muqam music, which was then scattered across Uygur-populated areas. Amannisahan herself was an esteemed poetess and musician. With the help of other musicians, she finally worked out 12 grand, light, and entertaining compositions that are now known as the Twelve Muqam.

The music of other ethnic groups is no match for the gigantic and neatly arranged system of the Twelve Muqam. Strictly following the astronomical almanac, each of the Twelve Muqam is divided into three parts: Cong Naghma, Dastan, and Mashrap, each with 25-30 sub-melodies. The whole set of the "Twelve Muqam" consists of 360 different melodies and takes over 20 hours to play in full.

While Muqam is a musical form that has spread in Islamic areas throughout the world, the "Twelve Muqam" carries distinct Uygur characteristics. What is significant about its compilation is that Amannisahan did not borrow material from the wealthy and fully developed Arabian and Persian repertoires. Instead, she exploited the rich resources of Uygur folk music spread out in the wide area in the north and south of the Tian Mountains. As a result, the Twelve Muqam is especially distinct due to its strong Uygur flavor.

Since its spread among the Uygurs, the Twelve Muqam has played an inseparable role in the people's lives. They dance to the accompaniment of the Twelve Muqam and sing songs and ballads to their melodies.

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