On the grasslands galloped our motorcade, flying the flag of the Ulan Herding Horse, resounding our songs, showing our dancing posture. We are not afraid of the long distance, the bad weather, the lack of food conditions or the fatigue of the performance, to the communes and brigades in the depths of the steppe, to the inaccessible grazing points and yurts. Almost every day I was running, performing, performing, running, sometimes three or four times a day. ——Sunit Right Banner Ulan Pastoral Riding First Generation Veteran Team Member Recall.
Ulan Pastoral Horse, originally meaning "red bud" in Mongolian, was later extended to "Red Literary Light Cavalry".
On June 17, 1957, the first Ulan Herding Horse in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region was born in sunit right banner. Over the past 60 -odd years, especially since the beginning of reform and opening up, under the brilliant illumination of the party's ethnic policy and the guidance of the party's literary and artistic thinking, the cause of Inner Mongolia's Wulan Pastoral Riding has continued to grow and develop, winning and always maintaining the lofty honor of "a banner of the national literary and artistic front.".
↑ In 2017, Sunit Right Banner Ulan Mu rode to the countryside to benefit the people performance
In 2017, General Secretary Xi Jinping replied to the members of the Sunit Right Banner Ulan Pastoral Horse, encouraging them to continue to take root in the grassroots, serve the masses, and strive to create more excellent works that are grounded, spread and retained, and always be the "red literary and artistic light cavalry" on the grassland.
The Mongolian horse is one of the oldest horse breeds in the world. Mongolian horses are not very tall, but they have a thick body, solid limbs, a rough and strong physique, are not afraid of the cold, have strong vitality, and can survive in harsh and harsh conditions.
↑ Horse on the steppe of the Right Banner of Sunit
Today, there are 75 Wulan herding horses active in the steppe, with more than 3,000 team members, and each team goes to the countryside to perform more than 100 times a year, and performs more than 7,000 times a year. They are like Mongolian horses that are hard-working and brave, running among the herdsmen for many years, sending joy and civilization to the vast number of farmers and herdsmen, and transmitting the voice and care of the party.
Literary and artistic propaganda teams grew on the grassland
"Sheepfolds, yurts, meadows are our stage"
Sunit Right Banner is located in the central part of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, west of the Xilin Gol League, and is the western gate of the Xi League. The word "Sunit" comes from the name of an ancient Mongol tribal leader. Historically, the Sunit Right Banner was once a vast grassland inhabited by nomadic peoples in the north. The Sunit Right Banner is also the most expansive and dispersed banner of the League. The territory is mountainous and desert, and the traffic is extremely inconvenient.
Before liberation, the cultural life of the people in sunit right banner can be said to be blank, there are a very small number of folk artists serving the royal palace in the whole banner, and ordinary people do not have the right to enjoy songs and dances.
↑ The first Ulan Pastoral Horse was established under the Right Banner of Sunit of the Xilingol League (file photo).
At the beginning of 1957, the party committee of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region decided to carry out pilot work in the Right Banner of Sunit, set up a literary and art propaganda team, and went to the agricultural and pastoral areas where the residences were scattered and the transportation was inconvenient, to enrich the spiritual and cultural life of the peasants and herdsmen, to carry out literary and artistic propaganda and service work, and to promptly send the party's policies and warmth to the broad masses of peasants and herdsmen.
In March 1957, the leaders and teachers of the Inner Mongolia Cultural Bureau and the Inner Mongolia Qunyi Museum came to The Wendur Temple to start the preparatory work, and selected 9 people who could sing and dance and could play and sing from the cadres of the organs, herdsmen and folk artists. Since then, a professional and versatile literary and artistic backbone and enthusiast has set up a short and capable literary and artistic propaganda team.
Among the first 9 team members, there were 3 female team members and 6 male team members, the captain of which was the director of the cultural center, Uliji Tauktao, and the rest of the team members were Erri and Mubatu, Unigzhile, Sanjay Dorji, Erdendalai, Ilan, Lotus, Narentoya, and Liu Dianru.
↑ Xilingol League Ulan Horse Riders Performance Show (File Photo).
A carriage, 4 rafters, an air lamp, five musical instruments, 4 women's Mongolian robes and 4 men's Mongolian robes were all the belongings of the team members at that time.
After three months of intensive study and training, on June 17, 1957, the literary and art propaganda team was officially renamed "Ulan Pastoral Horse", and the country's first Ulan Pastoral Horse was born in the vast Sunit Grassland. On the same day, Ulan Muqi performed the first debriefing performance in the Auditorium of the Wendur Temple. The cadres, workers, students and farmers and herdsmen in the surrounding area all came to watch the performance, and the auditorium was full of people, and the performance was a success. After reporting on the performance, the team of Sunit Right Banner Ulan Pastoral Riding embarked on the road of serving grass-roots farmers and herdsmen, which has been more than 60 years.
"My name is Lotus, and I worked in the Sunit Right Banner Ulan Pastoral Horse from March 1957 to the summer of 1962. 60 years ago, the days when my wife and I worked and lived in UlanMuqi were the most beautiful and unforgettable memories of our lives, just like a picture of history, which always appeared in my mind one by one. In June 1957, with the pursuit and love of art, the 21-year-old Mongolian girl Lotus became one of the nine members of the country's first Ulan Pastoral Riding Team.
↑ In the 1970s, learned to sing Sunit folk songs from folk artists (file photo).
From June to October 1957, Lotus and several other Ulan herdsmen overcame various difficulties to perform in one commune after another, and did not return home for four months. Since then, this literary and artistic form of Wulan Pastoral Riding has been loved and warmly welcomed by the vast number of herdsmen and has had a great influence.
More than 60 years later, the 9 members of the team when the team was founded, and now only the 85-year-old Lotus is alive.
According to Lotus's recollection, the cosmetics used by the Ulan Horsemen to perform that year were big red paper and matchsticks that would fade. The team members tore the paper into small pieces, smeared their faces and lips, lit the matchsticks and burned them black, and used it to draw eyebrows, and that's how those beautiful stage makeup came about.
"We drove horse-drawn carriages or horses and camels to the countryside to perform, and wherever it was difficult, we went everywhere. Herders' sheepfolds, yurts, meadows are our stage. There was no road in the sand nest, so we put props and musical instruments on our backs and walked to perform for our fellow villagers, and when we met a herdsman on the road, we also had to perform two programs before leaving. Because of the inconvenience of transportation, some herders have never left their homes in Shawozi in their lives, let alone watched theatrical performances. The herders were very surprised to see us, and did not expect that someone would walk with an instrument on their back to perform for them. The herders would also help us set up the stage together, and when we saw their excitement, we forgot the fatigue and hard work of the day. Lotus said.
In 2017, the Sunit Right Banner Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Sunit Right Banner People's Government awarded Lotus the titles of "Lifetime Honorary Award" and "First Generation Actor of Ulan Pastoral Riding"; on December 4, 2017, the Propaganda Department of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Committee of the Communist Party of China awarded her the "Special Contribution Award for Ulan Pastoral Riding".
↑ Sunit Right Banner Ulan Pastoral Horse won the honorary certificate of "The Most Beautiful Strivers"
Lotus still remembers that when a performance ended that year, an old Erji (Note: Mongolian is the meaning of mother, mother) said with tears in her eyes that this was the first time she had seen a performance, in the past, the princes and nobles had rich people who could see the performance, and she did not expect that she could also see it at home, which was something that old Eji did not dare to dream of in his life. "Thanks to the Communist Party, the new society is really good."
Look, UlanMu is coming
In 1960, it has performed more than 10,000 times
According to the data, from the 1950s, Wulan Mu rode a horse-drawn carriage on the steppe; in the 1960s, he led a camel to trek in the Gobi Sand Sea; in the 1970s, he followed a tractor to the agricultural and pastoral areas; in the 1980s, he took a large truck deep into the garrison; and in the 1990s, he boarded a train to the autonomous region for a parade. In the past 60 years, sunit right banner Ulan pastoral riding has accumulated more than 10,000 performances in pastoral areas, factories and mines, communities, troops and outside the flag.
↑ Sunit Right Banner Ulan Pastoral Rider Ulijitu
As a veteran of 45 years working in the Sunit Right Banner Ulan Pastoral, Ulijitu, who joined the Ulan Pastoral Horse at the age of 15, just retired honorably in January this year. However, due to his love of Ulan's horse and his mission as a veteran, Ulijitu chose to return to the team after retirement. The ignorant teenager who could only dance at the age of 15 had already become the mainstay of this Ulan pastoral horse.
"I joined UlanMu in May 1976 and came here as a dancer. Because the number of Ulan riders is relatively small, each actor requires a specialty and versatility. So in addition to dancing, I later learned a variety of instruments such as flute and cello. When I came, I was relatively young, and I didn't know much about Ulan Pastoral Riding at that time, but later I learned that Ulan Pastoral Riding is not simple, it shoulders a very heavy responsibility. ”
↑In 1974, members of the Ulan Herdsmen of the Xilin Gol League prepared a performance on the steppe (file photo). Picture according to Xinhua News Agency
When he went to the countryside for the first time to perform in the pastoral area, before leaving, the captain instructed the young Ulijitu to go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy some cigarettes, cotton and wire, which made him feel very puzzled about what the performance had to do with these things. The captain told Urijitu, "You don't understand, you'll know when we perform." ”
In the evening, Ulanmu rode to the pastoral area, because there was no electricity in the pastoral area, the performance needed lighting, the captain wrapped the cigarette with cotton, and then tied it with wire, and ignited it with kerosene, and Ulijitu found that the things that seemed to be unrelated to the performance had all come in handy.
"There is no electricity on the grassland, and the gas lamp is hung on a high fir pole to illuminate; when the gas lamp is not used, we perform in the flickering candlelight, and the figures of the actors are long printed on the grass, swaying, quite romantic." 」 This is the scene in the memoirs of the first generation of Ulan's horsemen.
↑In the 1960s and 1970s, members of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region's Xilingol League Sunit Right Banner Ulan Herdsmen performed a program on the grassland for the surrounding herders (file photo).
Ulan Herdsmen has a slogan, do not miss a yurt, do not leave a herdsman.
One year, Ulijitu and the team went to the desert area to perform, and listened to the secretary of the local Gacha saying that there was a widowed old man 10 kilometers away from the brigade who heard that UlanMu was coming, and he wanted to see the performance, but he could not go out because he was paralyzed in bed. The captain decided to send five or six team members to the old man's home to perform.
At that time, the traffic was inconvenient, and the 10-kilometer road team members walked for more than two hours to find the old man's home. Hearing that Ulan Mu was coming, the old man was particularly excited, crying for a while and laughing for a while, and took out the only sugar cube in the family to make tea for the team members.
↑ After the performance of the Ulan Herdsmen of the Xilingol League, the herders poured milk tea for them (file photo). Picture according to Xinhua News Agency
"I remember very clearly that the yurt was very worn, and the old man took out a few sugar cubes from the locked wooden box for half a day. After the performance, the old man said that the children came so far away that they had to let the children eat before leaving. The old man is a widow and an old man, there is nothing in the family, just a little bit of dried meat hanging from the noodles and yurt wire. We knew that it would take time for her to cook, but we actually wanted Ulanmu to stay with her for a little longer. When we left, the old man's eyes touched us very much, until we walked to the big sand slope, and the old man was still watching us at the door. ”
Over the years, there have always been reporters who come to interview Urijitu, why is the performance of Ulan Muqi so popular? In Ulijitu's view, many of the performances of Ulan Pastoral Riding are distilled from the production and life of herders, and the herders can understand it. For example, the horse riding dance, grass dance, and milking dance performed by the Wulan herdsmen are to bring the movements in the herdsmen's usual work to the stage. Another important reason is that many of the team members are children from herdsmen, and their children come to Ulan to work and go home to perform, and the herders feel particularly kind.
↑In March 1982, after the establishment of the Sunit Right Banner Ulan Muqi Mongolian Puppet Troupe, he went to shanghai puppet troupe to study, and on June 1 of the same year, he performed for the first time in the Flag Kindergarten (file photo).
"We performed to bring them joy. Especially in pastoral areas, the elderly and children are happy to spend the Spring Festival, the boys ride horses, and the girls wear beautiful new clothes to see the UlanMu riding performance, and they treat this as a big festival. ”
More than 100 performances are held at the grassroots level every year
"Our position is in the pastoral area"
On June 17th, the 21st Ulan Pastoral Parade of Xilingol League officially kicked off. As an excellent repertoire of the whole district's stage art boutique project, Sunit Right Banner UlanMu riding Mongolian drama "Zhu Ri He Qing" was performed at the Xilin Film Theater.
↑ Sunit Right Banner Ulan Pastoral Riders rehearsing the stage play "Zhu Ri And Love".
As the country's first Ulan herdsmen, they created performances with the people as the center, artistically presented the relationship between the "military and civilian fish and water conditions" formed on the grassland since the founding of New China 70 years ago, and enthusiastically praised the simple and firm sense of national unity and homeland feelings of generations of grassland herders. In June 2018, the Mongolian opera "Zhu RiHe Qing" was included in the seventh batch of key support boutique plays in inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and after application, it was successfully selected into the 2019 National Arts Fund's large-scale stage drama and work creation funding project.
The smooth end of the performance eased the pressure of Zana for several days. The 38-year-old Zana is the twelfth captain of the Sunit Right Banner Ulan Pastoral Horse, a Mongolian hanzi born in the town of SaihanTara, the seat of the flag government, since he was a child, he heard the teacher mention that there is an Ulan Pastoral Horse in the Sunit Right Banner. After graduating from university, he became a music teacher, and in 2006 he was admitted to the team when he learned that Ulan Muqi was recruiting instrumental musicians. More than a decade of work experience has allowed him to gradually transform himself from an instrumentalist to a music producer, and has become the captain of the current Ulan Pastoral.
↑ Sunit Right Banner Ulan Pastoral Captain Zana
Sunit Right Banner UlanMuqi currently has 44 cast members, including 35 Mongolians, 8 Han Chinese and 1 Hui. There are dance groups, instrumental music groups, vocal music groups, and stage props groups. More than 100 performances, publicity, counseling and service work are carried out at the grass-roots level every year.
As the captain of this team, Zhana deeply felt the heavy responsibility: "I have been here for 15 years, and from the artistic career of the Ulan herdsmen, I am now the backbone. Not only the Sunit Right Banner Ulan Pastoral Horse, but also the 75 Ulan Pastoral Horses of the entire autonomous region can come to this day, in fact, standing on the shoulders of giants. The problems we encounter today are insignificant compared to those of our predecessors. The times are developing and society is progressing. The reply of the general secretary in 2017 is a huge encouragement and encouragement to the entire team of our Wulan Pastoral. ”
In 2017, 16 members of the Sunit Right Banner Ulan Pastoral Horse wrote a letter to General Secretary Xi Jinping to report on the development of the Ulan Pastoral Horse in the past 60 years and express their determination to contribute to the prosperity and development of socialist literature and art.
On November 21 of that year, General Secretary Xi Jinping replied to the members of the Sunit Right Banner Ulan Pastoral Horse, encouraging them to continue to take root in the grassroots, serve the masses, strive to create more excellent works that are grounded, spread and retained, and always be the "red literary and artistic light cavalry" on the grassland.
↑ Sunit Right Banner Ulan Pastoral Riding Square Horse head pianist sculpture
In the view of the older generation of Ulan Pastoral Riding Team Ulijitu, the predecessors of the previous generations of Ulan Pastoral Riding have laid a good foundation for today's achievements, and it is necessary to inherit the spirit and classic works of Ulan Pastoral Riding on the basis of the renewal of the team.
"A lot of my students can now be on their own. Our responsibility is to pass on our banner from generation to generation and continue to serve the broad masses of the people. Our strength is in the pastoral area, and the stage is in the pastoral area. So where the stage is, our position is there. ”
↑On February 11, 2021, farmers and herders watched the Ulan Herdsmen Show (drone photo). Picture according to Xinhua News Agency
Over the years, as the opportunities for outings and exchanges have increased, Zana sometimes has been asked "how many people have you performed at the most time", and Zana has replied every time that when there are many people, we will not say it, and when there are few people, we will give a performance to an old Eji.
"Some colleagues do not understand the geographical environment of Inner Mongolia, nor do they understand the characteristics of Ulan's pastoral riding, and they will be very surprised to hear my answer, and then they will be in awe of us." These things also inspire our new generation of Ulan Riders at all times. The general secretary's reply has set up our banner, and what to do with the long and arduous road that follows is a question left for us to ponder. We believe that through the efforts of our generation, we will always be able to do a good job in the red literary and artistic light cavalry on the grassland. ”
Red Star News reporter Ren Jiangbo photography Wang Hongqiang
Edited by Guo Yu
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