A JANGAR -CHAPTER CHANTED BY THE BAARIN KHUURCH RINCHIN NEW DATA ON THE FOLKLORE GENERIC TRANSITION OF MONGOLIAN HEROIC EPIC

In the present paper, one chapter of the Jangar epic, chanted by the famous storyteller, khuurch Rinchin of Inner-Mongolian Baarin origin, is discussed from two main points of view: (1) the spread of Jangar among Mongols not belonging to Oirats and Kalmyks, and (2) how contemporary social circumstances transform the traditional heroic epic into another folkloric genre, i.e. the so-called khuuriin ülger . The chapter ‘Minggan, the Beauty of the World’ told by khuurch Rinchin—discussed here—is well known from other Jangar publications like the ‘Mingyan the Beauty of the World’ (published in the Thirteen Chapters Jangar/Jinggar : Takil ǰ ula qa γ an-u üledel Tangsu γ bumba qa γ an-u a č i Ü ǰ üng aldar qa γ an-u köbegün üye-in önö č in J ing γ ar-un tu γ u ǰ i arban γ urban bölög ). The life story of Rinchin and his creative innovation in traditional folklore genres are typical phenomena of the contemporary transitional period in preserving and sustaining folklore genres and performance.


Introduction
From the numerous heroic epics of Mongolian oral tradition,1 the Jangar2 epic became first known to researchers through Benjamin Bergmann (1772-1856), who recorded and translated two chapters from its Kalmyk version (Bergmann 1804-1805:  181-214).Since then, a series of scholars have recorded and studied variants of CHAOGETU, SARINA AND ÁGNES BIRTALAN Acta Orient.Hung.73, 2020   Jangar-commonly comprehended as an emblematic Oirat and Kalmyk (Western-Mongolian) heroic epic widely known among the Oirats of Mongolia, Xinjiang and Kalmykia. 3Text-versions of certain chapters (Mong.bölög) of 'classical' Jangar 4 have also been recorded among the Khalkhas in Mongolia (e.g.Jagdsüren 1968) as well as in Inner Mongolia (cf.below).From this later tradition, one chapter will be analysed to answer questions about the contemporary generic transition in Mongolian folk tradition, namely by discussing a chapter of the Jangar cycle ('Minggan, the Beauty of the World') performed as khuuriin ülger (Mong.quγur-un üliger, Khalkha and Inner Mongolian xūrīn ülger), i.e. a 'tale accompanied with khuur'.Khuuriin ülger is a genre designation and a comprehensive type of performing art in which the performer, the khuurch (Mong.quγurči, Khal.xūrč), i.e. 'a storyteller', narrates and sings ancient and contemporary stories, combining the forms of poetry and prose while accompanying his (her) performance on a musical instrument.In the case of the khuuriin ülger, it is customarily accompanied on the Mongolian four-stringed fiddle (Mong.quγur, Khal.xūr) (cf. Figure 1). 5This genre is also known in the academic literature as bengsen-ü üliger (Mong.). 6irst Rinchin's life will be introduced to provide details about his education and how he acquired the ways of oral performance.This is followed by an analysis of some characteristic motifs of heroic epics and the khuuriin ülger in order to demonstrate the similarities and differences in content and genre and furthermore to point out the strategies used to preserve Mongolian oral tradition.The referred chapter, which forms the central topic of the paper, was performed by Rinchin (1932-2010), a storyteller (Mong.quγurči, Khal.xūrč)  7 from the Inner Mongolian Baarin (Mong.Baγarin, Khal.Bārin) territory. 8He recited a version of the Jangar chapter 'Minggan the Beauty of the World', 9 later published twice: in Biography of Epic Tellers and  Storytellers … (Rinčindorǰi 2010: 146-217), and the Bensen-ü üliger-ün degeǰi, baγarin boti (Rinčindorǰi, Sagaster and Chiodo 2014: 1795-1859).As far as we know, no other version of this chapter chanted by Rinchin has ever been recorded and published.
CHAOGETU, SARINA AND ÁGNES BIRTALAN Acta Orient.Hung.73, 2020   The Life Story of Rinchin khuurch Rinchin was born in 1927 11 in a village called Bayanerdeni located in Inner Mongolian Baarin Right Banner and died in Shilinkhot at the age of 78 on 27th November 2010.12He was the son of a herdsman called Sodnamjamchu (Mong.Sodnamǰamču), who taught his son to read.Not long after Rinchin was able to recognise Mongolian letters, he started to read by himself a picture book titled The Race between the Hare and the Tortoise.Later, he became a pupil of the Kharchin (Mong.Qaračin) Xiansheng (先生) 13 and systematically mastered Mongolian script.
When Rinchin was a child, Buyanibegel,14 the famous storyteller from the Ongnigud territory,15 was visiting villages and settlements, like Bayanerdeni, Daban, and Kharamodu and chanted stories about Tangsuγ Lama, 16 Zhongguomu, 17 Da Tang, 18 Dong Liao 19 and God Troops 20 to the Mongols.Rinchin memorised these stories and retold them to shepherds' children.When he was seventeen years old Rinchin joined the army and later on went to the Inner Mongolian University of Political Science and Law in Zhangjiakou 21 for one year.Here he attended different study-related events, learning to perform khuuriin ülger. 22Thereafter, he travelled to Chakhar (Mong.Čaqar) Right Banner where he continued telling khuuriin ülger to local people.In 1975 he worked in Bayanbulag Commune of Abaganar (Mong.Abaγanar) Banner, 23 and later became the assistant storyteller for the House of Tales24 in Shilinkhot (Mong.Sili-yin qota) city.
Rinchin became acquainted with the Jangar epic when he was eleven years old and originally heard it from his naga mama25 Choirag (Mong.Čoyiraγ).The brother of Choirag frequently went to Amdo (安多), and among several other places in China to the Gumbum monastery (Qinghai province), Xinjiang and Hulunbuir (Mong.Kölönbuyir). 26He was a person with wide range of interests, learning much during his journeys.As a result, Choirag heard many stories and tales from his brother.In 1942 Choirag visited Rinchin's settlement and stayed there for three months.During this time he told various tales from the genre yawgan ülger (Mong.yabaγan üliger),27 such as the 'Tale of Geser Khan' 28 or variants of the 'Tale of the Mangus-monster' 29 and the 'Tricky Old Man' 30 as well as the 'Stories of the Tricky Wandering Monk, Balangsang'. 31The stories of Jangar that Rinchin memorised from Choirag mama are the chapters of 'Minggan the Beauty of the World Capturing Emperor Gürmün' 32 and the 'Marriage of Hero Khonggor'. 33Presumably, as Choirag mama would have told several chapters of Jangar over the course of dozen nights, Rinchin memorised seemingly the plot of two chapters.As it has been mentioned above, Buyanibegel (1901-1948), the famous khuurch, affected Rinchin's art of performance when he was a member of the art troupe in the palace of Kharachin Right Banner. 34He was a celebrated khuurch in Inner Mongolia who could tell khuuriin CHAOGETU, SARINA AND ÁGNES BIRTALAN Acta Orient.Hung.73, 2020   ülger in a very humorous and vivid way, and was especially talented in a genre called urγuγ-a qolboγ-a, 35 which he was able to both recite and sing conventionally as well as improvise in situ.Eventually, he became a representative figure of one of the schools of khuuriin ülger's art. 36In his early childhood, Rinchin memorised and performed the khuuriin ülger told by Buyanibegel.Later, he passed on to us some really interesting, anecdotic pieces of information about Buyanibegel khuurch.For instance, Buyanibegel usually rode a grey donkey and carried a four-stringed fiddle with him when he went to tell khuuriin ülger.We learnt about his humble property.e.g.some sheep, horses and only a few clothes, and that due to his addiction to gambling he lost a flock of sheep.
Rinchin khuurch performed two khuuriin ülgers to Walther Heissig 37 and Rinčindorǰi from 7th to 9th September 1999: 'Minggan the Beauty of the World' and 'Tangsuγ Lama'.He also gave some elucidation on the text: 'I have not changed the plot of Jangar, but complemented it with several landscape praises and character descriptions.

New Ways of Performance-Using the Mongol Four-stringed Fiddle
The particular pitch of the Mongol four-stringed fiddle can be classified as follows: top, middle, and bass pitched types.Due to the long performance time the bass pitched fiddle is used for singing and narrating khuuriin ülger.Therefore, this genre has very distinct features from other kinds of storytelling (Cogt 2011).
Rinchin khuurch also narrated the Jangar-chapter accompanied on a bass fourstringed fiddle.He played the traditional music of khuuriin ülger to perform the text modules related to the plot such as čū xurāx, 43 landscape praises, beauty praises, describing fighting in a battle.His fiddle was suitable for telling Jangar, having strings which were made of silk that produced a very deep and 'magnetic' sound.
In the same way as khuuriin ülger is accompanied on the Mongol four-stringed fiddle, khuurch and tuulich (Mong.tuuliči, Khal.tūl'č) 'bard performing heroic epics' also use it for performing the 'Tale of Geser' or the 'Tale of Mangus-monster'.For example, the famous Pajai (Mong.Paǰai) khuurch 44 told the 'Tale of Geser' for 80 hours in the 1950s, while another khuurch Jimbajamsu (Mong.Jimbaǰamsu) 45 from Baarin Right Banner performed it for 130 hours recently in the 21st century.At the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st, Qibaode khuurch (1945-2011)  46 from Tüsheet (Mong.Tüsiyetü) Banner often told the 'Tale of Mangus-monster' over a period of thirteen hours.Furthermore, many other khuurchs told the 'Tale of Geser' or the 'Tale of Mangus-monster' over similar time periods with the participation of Mongol four-stringed fiddles.In the context of its increasing popularity, it is obvious why Rinchin khuurch performed a chapter of Jangar accompanied on a Mongol fourstringed fiddle.Thus, it can be clearly seen that the spread of the Mongol four-stringed fiddle, the traditions of khuurch, and the contemporary taste of the audience are all factors which influenced Rinchin khuurch to modify his performance of the Jangarchapter, creating in this way a new genre.

The Texts Combining Prose and Verse (Prosimetrum) and the Way of Performance Combining Narration and Singing
Khuurchs use a combination of narration and singing in their performance, and concerning the text, there are prosaic and versified parts in the khuuriin ülger.The outstanding Mongolian scholar Tsendiin Damdinsüren (Khal.Cendīn Damdinsüren) 43 In Inner Mong.dialects čū xurāx is also called as se yamūlax by some khuurchs from Ulaankhad, cf.Chinese shangchao 上朝.Mong.čuu comes from Chinese chao 朝, and Mong.quraqu means 'gathering'.According to the tradition in ancient China, the emperor discussed the imperial court events with his chancellors every morning and it was originally called in Mongolian čū xurāx.
44 Pajai (1902 -1962) was a famous khuurch from Jarud (Mong.Jarud) Banner of Jirim (Mong.Jirim) league.He studied storytelling from Čuibang khuurch and continued performing epics over his lifetime.His khuuriin ülger based on the Beijing version of Geser epics received an enthusiastic welcome and became known as Paǰai Geser.He also wrote several poems such as Teǰigebüri qoyar isige-yin yariy-a 'The conversation between two domestic goat kids'.Several institutions and researchers studied Pajai's legacy, as the Hungarian scholar Gy.Kara (1970)  noticed these particular poetic features of khuuriin ülger earlier: 'The combination of prosaic narrative and poetic descriptive forms of khuuriin ülger is similar to the form of The Secret History of the Mongols and has its roots in ancient tradition.This makes me conclude that a wise khuurch like Pajai, who utilised the historical records of Mongols and sang and narrated them similarly to the artistic language of The Secret History of the Mongols, was created in the 13th century' (Damdinsüren 1979: 1659).Walther Heissig, studying the prosimetric forms in Mongolian oral and written tradition, pointed out Rinchin's innovative attempt to re-introduce the primarily existing poetic feature: 'His [i.e.Rinchin's] Jangγar, so far a rare example of the West-Mongolian epic in Inner Mongolia, is a further proof of the beginning of the process of introducing the prosimetric form into the hitherto versified Mongolian epic' (Heissig  1997: 360) In the most important parts, his versified poetic forms prevail.This kind of performance is less characteristic of other Baarin khuurchs, it is rather Rinchin's own unique art and style.

The Beginning and the Ending Formula of Jangar
The Jangar performed by Rinchin khuurch does not completely follow the 'Thirteen Chapters Jinggar ' (1958), one of the sources of his text; it can be observed that he changed the sequences in the plot, modifying it to the structure of the khuuriin ülger.Below some ways and means of changes are introduced.

The Beginning of khuuriin ülger Jangar
In the 'Thirteen Chapters Jinggar', the story begins when the protagonist was crying at a feast: Rinchin khuurch changed this module with the formula of the usual beginning of the traditional Mongol khuuriin ülger and also numerous heroic epics and tales that start with the description of the origin of the humanity, lineage of succeeding dynasties and goes on with introducing the main topic of the major plot, the background of the story, then the homeland and the early years of the hero (here Jangar).After this commonly spread starting formula he continued as follows: Čaγan A comparison of the usual motifs of khuuriin ülger and 'Minggan the Beauty of the World' performed by Rinchin shows that the former would contain the invitation of the emperor, beating the gongs and drums and the gathering of the officials for consultation, while in the latter 'Holy Jangar' would come instead of the emperor and conches are blown (which is probably a Buddhist motif).Furthermore, a slight difference between these versions is related to the word 'gather' as in the common form it is a noun, whereas Rinchin uses it as a verb.By analysing the above-mentioned comparisons, we can draw a conclusion that Rinchin khuurch told the Jangar with the traditional beginning of the khuuriin ülger with only some minor differences in the vocabulary of the text.
The Mongol epic usually ends with a large feast after defeating the enemy and achieving a great victory; as seen, the above khuuriin ülger has also preserved this characteristic of Mongol epic tradition.Rinchin khuurch reformulated the ending part of his Jangar as follows: CHAOGETU, SARINA AND ÁGNES BIRTALAN Acta Orient.Hung.73, 2020   Ser ser gesen salki-tai bor bor gesen qur-a-tai törü šaǰin qoyar-ni qada metü bekiǰiged tümen olan-iyar-iyan ǰirγaǰai : tangsuγ bayaliγ idege tabun qošiγu mal-tai elbeg araǰa-yin saγuri emnig gegüd-ün sü-ber ende-ben nayirlaγad saγučiqaba siu küi : (Rinčindorǰi, Sagaster and Chiodo 2014: 1858) Breeze soughs as ser ser, 48 Rain falls as bor bor, 49 Both the state and the religion, Became stable like rocks.Ten thousands of people became happy.There were ample tasty food, Five kinds of livestock, And with strong milk brandy That's source is the tameless mare's milk They had a great feast küi! 50 Here we can see that he praised the beauty of nature and the five kinds of livestock which introduces the theme of a stable society and people living contentedly in those circumstances.Then he continued it as follows:
This part refers to Jangar's victory over the demons and becoming a world-renowned hero whose realm was inhabited by people living in a peaceful world.As a matter of fact, at this point the story was finished; although Rinchin summed up the plot once again at the end of his performance: 48 Onomatopoetic expression for the blowing of wind, frequently used in Mongolian folklore, cf. also Birtalan 2004. 49 Onomatopoetic expression for the rainfall, frequently used in Mongolian folklore, cf. also Birtalan 2004. 50 Ending formula in Mongolian heroic epics and folk songs: Mong.küi, Khal.xüi 'Heighho!'. 51The name of Jangar's country, the perfect state.There is no acceptable etymological explanation for its meaning.
For another typical ending of khuuriin ülger, cf. a fragment from the performance of the famous khuurch Erdenijirüke (1919-1984) who told his sixty seven hours story 'Destined to Rebel' ending with another version of the summarising closing formula: Xue gang Fan Tang (薛刚反唐) gedeg üliger-e sine tang-i bayiγuluγad sečen mergen sayid nar čuu-daγan ǰalaraǰu ulus-i ǰasaba : Ködege tosqun-u orun-daγan kümün čü bür bayar-tai kögšin ǰalaγu nasutan-nuγud bayar-un aγur-iyar bilqalčaǰai : (Čoγtu, Sambalnorbu and Qan-fu-lin  2016: 931)   In the tale entitled 'Destined to Rebel' It is about the building up the new Tang dynasty; The wise officials Gathered and improved the state.In the dusty countryside Everybody became happy Old and young, all people Were full of happiness.
Such an ending formula is quite similar to endings in Mongolian heroic epics, yet there are also some minor and major differences in motifs, and motif elements.Rinchin khuurch changed the typical ending formula of heroic epics Jinggar with the one used mostly in khuuriin ülgers.

Additional Motifs and Text Modules in the Plot
Although Rinchin khuurch performed the original plot of the tenth chapter of the 'Thirteen Chapters Jinggar' principally without major changes, he added several new motifs and short narrations to it.Furthermore, in some places he restructured the original plot by shortening or omitting some motifs and inserting some short narrations in order to make the original plot more fluent and comprehensible for the audi-CHAOGETU, SARINA AND ÁGNES BIRTALAN Acta Orient.Hung.73, 2020   ence.For instance, he created a new conversation to explain the reason for sending Minggan to capture Gürmün Khan: 'Aru Bumba-yin orun-u auγa küčütei olan-u dotur-a-ača as-un γaγča Mingγan namayi yaγakiγad oluγad üǰebe :' ged ayuuliqai čegeǰin-dü boduγsan-i-ban aru aru-ača-ni toγačiǰai : Asqaraγulqu nilbusu-yi-ban kelkiye kelkiye-ber baγulγačiqala küi.'As-un bey-e-yin čini aburγu čidal erdem-i üǰeged Gürmün qan-i bariǰu ireǰü čidan-a kemen sanaγsan-ača busu asdaγan čimayi ad üǰeged yabuγuluγsan busu.' geǰü aldar Jangγar daγu ügei saγuba : 'From the many strong peoples Living in northern Bumba-land Why you choose only me, Minggan?'-Asked he directly.He spoke straightly what he thought in his mind.His tears were dropping As chain links one after another, küi! 'I sent you, because Due to your great strength and ability.
You are the one who is able to catch Gürmün Khan and Not because of mistreating you.' Famous Jangar told it to him And was sitting in silence.
By adding new parts to the conversation between Minggan and Jangar and the internal thoughts of Altan Cheeji about Minggan, Rinchin made the story more logical and understandable for the audience.Below there is another example of this type of small insertion into the narrative: When Minggan went to capture Gürmün Khan, the folk of Bumba empire starting from the old men with white beards and the white-haired grandmothers to the beautiful young men, women (daughters-in-law) and the little children saw him off and wished him all the best, which is also characteristic in the plot of khuuriin ülger.There is a similar text module of farewell ceremony in the eighty-one hour long khuuriin ülger about Da Xi Liang told by the blind khuurch U. Daorji (Mong.U. Dorǰi) (1933-1997)  Here, people were seeing off the Emperor Tang Taizong 唐太宗 and his army with offering milk brandy, wishing him a good journey at Baihu guan 白虎关, a pass of the Western Liang Dynasty (Xi Liang 西凉).Similar to the above-displayed short narrative parts, Rinchin khuurch borrowed several other modules from khuuriin ülgers to make his Jangar-version more lively.Such additional parts contribute to developing a more cohesive and coherent narrative and according to our observation, they made the story of 'Minggan the Beauty of the World' much more dramatic, logical, and vivid.

Missing Parts of the Original Plot of Jinggar
When Rinchin khuurch performed Jangar in a version of khuuriin ülger, he also omitted some narrative modules from the 'Thirteen Chapters Jinggar'.For instance, when Jinggar asked Minggan to capture Gürmün Khan and he hesitated to go, provoking Altan Cheeji to challenge him as follows: 'If you have a way, go and capture him!Otherwise, if you cannot do it, no problem; you can join to him and become a kind of cup-bearer!' (abqu arγa bayiqula abuγad iregeči.ese čidaqula öber-iyen oruγad daγabaču basa ilγal ügei ergin sayin söngči ni bolqu či).Listening to these words, Minggan became very angry and said: 'I will drink milk brandy seventy-one times from a huge yellow porcelain bowl that could only be carried by seventy people!' (dalan kümün damǰiladaγ dalbaγar sira šaγaǰing-iyar daraγa-bar dalan nige daruγad orkiya) (Jinggar 1958: 175).Rinchin khuurch omitted the above-mentioned part.The motif of Minggan's drinking seventy-one times milk brandy from a huge bowl that could only be carried by seventy people also appeared two more times later in the written version and Rinchin omitted all these parts.
We propose that Rinchin khuurch made these omissions based on a reasonable and logical understanding of the story and not due to an inaccurate retelling; he insisted on the tradition of khuuriin ülger and concentrated on its connection to reality.For this reason, he left out the motif of drinking exaggerated amounts of milk brandy.
Further, one cannot deny the importance of the custom of drinking in Jinggar epic, which could embolden Mingyan and made him more decisive, but it is also true that omitting these motifs would not affect the main plot, as there is no essential connection between the action of drinking and what followed in the story.
In conclusion, Rinchin khuurch performed 'Minggan the Beauty of the World' on the basis of the main plot of the original Jinggar without omitting the main elements of the plot and adding some new colourful motifs, narrations adjusted to the character of the khuuriin ülger.As a result, his version became somewhat longer, more colourful and enjoyable for the audience than the original story.

The Changed Elements (Vocabulary, Hyperbola) in Jangar
There are several changed elements in 'Minggan the Beauty of the World' performed by Rinchin in comparison with the original Jinggar.

Changing Unfamiliar Words
It has been mentioned above that the name of the protagonist has been changed: Minggan is called Mingyan in the Kalmyk and Oirat Jangar versions.As a result, Rinchin khuurch changed the name to Minggan (lit.)'Thousand', a word close in sounding to Mingyan and well known for the audience. 52Concerning the specific Oirat and Kalmyk vocabulary, Rinchin used his familiar dialectal words; e.g.qabtasun, lobču, mirdi, siγaγad in place of Kalmyk/Oirat expressions: köbčig (Kalm.köpčig, Ramstedt 1976: 240), labsiγ-a (Kalm.lawšig, Ramstedt 1976: 250) mirad (Kalm.mirid, Ramstedt 1976: 263), šuturan (Ramstedt deest) in sequence.Also he changed the general Mongolian word tüngküyiged to següdegenen which has still remained somewhat obscure.Köbčig refers to a 'thick pad used upon the saddle', labsiγ-a refers to 'a kind of robe', mirda refers to 'a little figure of the Buddha' which can be worn as a protecting medal or amulet, šutura-means 'to touch something'.

Reducing Some Extended Hyperbolic Expressions
Extended hyperboles as poetic means are used in khuuriin ülger, but they are different from the enormously expanded ones in heroic epics (cf.above the motif of Mingyan's drinking).Rinchin khuurch was influenced by the expressive means of khuuriin ülger and this led to several extended hyperbole in Jinggar being changed, e.g. the descriptive motif about Mingyan's horse: CHAOGETU, SARINA AND ÁGNES BIRTALAN Acta Orient.Hung.73, 2020   Jirγuγ-a alda-yin bey-e-tei yum ǰiruγ-un sayiqan toluγai-tai yum ǰirγuγan imaqu čiki-tei yum ǰu tegsiken ǰoo-tai yum (Rinčindorǰi, Sagaster and Chiodo 2014:  1805)   He had six fathom long body, He had a head like a painting, He had six inches long ears, He had very flat spine.In Rinchin's version the golden horse of Minggan has 'six inches long ears', but in the original Jinggar it has 'six spans long ears'.Rinchin changed the expression to a more understandable term of measurement (cf.five inches equals one span).Another example is the motif describing the resting time of Jangar: Rinchin khuurch changed 'day' into 'hour'.He told that Minggan 'had a rest for forty nine hours' (doluγan doluγ-a döči yisün čaγ untaǰu yadaraγ-a tayiluγad) (Rinčindorǰi, Sagaster and Chiodo  2014: 1827).By changing the text in this way, the behaviour of the characters in a khuuriin ülger became more realistic.

Clarification of Some Unclear Matters
Rinchin khuurch also clarified some matters, obscure for his audience, in 'Minggan the Beauty of the World'.The original version is somewhat obscure in comparison to Rinchin's version: '[He]  shot apart his throat and made his head jump' (qoγolai-bar ni tasu qarbuγad toluγai-yi ni üsürgeged orkiba) (Jinggar 1958: 186).Similarly to the above-mentioned example, Since the early 19th century, scholars from Russia, China and other countries have started to study the Jangar and have had remarkable progress.In China, in the 1950s and 60s researchers studied the Jangar epic and from the late 70s-80s new versions were collected and analysed more profoundly.Later, from the early 90s, studies on the Jangar have become a field of high importance concerning poetical, aesthetic, religious and ethnographical aspects.Comparative studies of the different versions of the Jangar and the studies on its spread have also been undertaken (Süke  2008: 208-209).
Our present paper offers an example of a new tendency in contemporary Mongolian folklore regarding its performance and comprehension.An analysis of these changes demonstrates some of the ways and means that have been employed in the revival of ethnic oral traditions and which are very important to their long-term survival.

The khuuriin ülger 'Minggan the Beauty of the World' Performed by Rinchin khuurch probability
The name of Mingyan, one of the main characters of Jangar has two variants [i.e.Mingyan and Minggan]; I have changed it to Minggan to eliminate pronunciation difficulties'(Rinčindorǰi, Sagaster and Chiodo 2014: 1758).From Rinchin's aforementioned life story one can recognise how he inherited his Jangar-variant and what kind of influences appear in his text:1.Oirat Jangar → Jangar of Choirag's brother → Jangar of Choirag.2.Ēlyan Owla's Kalmyk Jangar → Publications of the Thirteen Chapters Jinggar in China. 38adition of Baarin khuuriin ülger.4.The tradition of genre qolboγ-a performed by Buyanibegel.on the tenth chapter 40 of the so-called 'Thirteen Chapters Jinggar',41which was published by the Inner Mongolian People's Publishing House in 1958 (cf.above).He adjusted it to the melody played on the Mongol four-stringed fiddle; hence we call this version 'Jangar of khuuriin ülger'.42Withregard to 'Minggan the Beauty of the World' performed by Rinchin, Rinchindorji, the researcher of various genres of folk literature among others heroic epics, stated the following: 'Though Rinchin khuurch listened to some chapters of the Jangar from his uncle Choirag, he performed this story with the Mongol four-stringed fiddle in Inner Mongolian dialect mainly on the basis of the 'Thirteen Chapters Jinggar' and added some new motifs'(Rinčin- dorǰi, Sagaster and Chiodo 2014: 1859).Concerning his endeavour to perform the Minggan-episode, Rinchin stated the following: 'Mongols have loved to listen to Jangar in the evening from ancient times until the present for their pleasure.My duty is to perform for you a chapter of Jangar which is about how Minggan captured the Gürmün Khan'(Rinčindorǰi, Sagaster and Chiodo 2014: 1797).
. Rinchin khuurch started his Minggan the Beauty of the World with a versified formula typical of the Mongolian heroic epics: 47 This is basically similar to the fixed formula of čuu quraqu 'gathering' in khuuriin ülger which is an important motif: from the middle part of Khorchin left banner of Jirim League.