PDLP Chapter 88 Shamanic Tune
Chapter 88 Shamanic Tune
Chen Tuo didn't respond, so Su Dao smiled and started telling him about the Evenki people.
During his travels as a merchant, it was both Su Dao's duty and his hobby to continuously collect and organize the history of the three Solon tribes.
The three Solon languages, the Evenki and Oroqen, are more closely related and belong to the same language family, but they are quite different.
The Daur people are more inclined to speak Mongolian, while the Hezhe and Xibe people belong to the Manchu language family.
However, the Evenki language allows for normal communication with reindeer herding tribes in Russia.
The Evenki script today mainly borrows from Chinese characters.
The Daur and Oroqen peoples borrowed more from the Mongolian script.
The lack of a written language and the complexity of languages were also among the reasons for the gradual disappearance of the mountain hunters.
With the establishment of Eqi at the foot of the mountain, the people of Eqi also began to use Mongolian language and script.
Being of the same race, yet having internal language barriers, is one of the reasons why the three Saurons have not been able to grow stronger.
Yuehe, the leader of the three Solon tribes in Heihe, once tried to use Manchu and Mongolian languages.
But they still need to use Chinese characters and the Chinese language to go down the mountain.
Moreover, after 1950, the hunters also participated in literacy classes.
Nowadays, most hunters communicate in fluent Northeastern Mandarin.
When talking about the Evenki, the Solon tribes, and the settlements and hunting settlements in the Xingan Mountains, Su Dao spoke eloquently, and time flew by.
Without paper and pen, Chen Tuo could only put down the venison and wooden spoon in his hands, listen carefully, and take notes diligently.
These are all rare writing materials.
When talking about the Evenki people, one cannot ignore the right bank of the Ergun River.
With Su Daogang's narration and some shamanistic stories, he could also write a novel about the right bank of the Ergun River.
Moreover, it will be written in a more unrestrained and wild style.
"Uncle Sudao, Bailong, are there any shamans in the Dobukuer settlement? I'd like to hear more stories about the shamans..."
The relationship between the three tribes of Solon and the mountain hunters is complex, and even Su Dao finds it difficult to explain the origins and branches of each tribe.
The reindeer herders and horse herders were the Evenki, the dog herders were the Hezhe, and the Oroqen were further divided into those who rode horses and those who walked.
The Tungusic, Buryat, and Yakut peoples were also recognized by the hunters.
Within each department, there are other branches.
In general, the Solon Tribe, or the mountain savages, were reduced to very few people after suffering repeated calamities from the late Qing Dynasty, the Russians, and the Japanese.
The exact number was uncertain, ranging from over 100,000 to over 200,000.
The origins and development of various ethnic groups are so complex that even listening to them once would take more than a day or two, let alone studying them.
After getting a general idea, Chen Tuo turned to the more fascinating primitive tribal shamans.
"White Dragon, could you please have Najiwu'o come here for a moment?"
The shamans held a high position in the settlement. Dobukuer did not have a chieftain; the second person in charge was Bailong, and the first person in charge was the shaman Najiwu.
According to Bailong's explanation, the suffix "Aowo" should refer to a female shaman or an old grandmother.
Naji Wu'ao's age was quite different from Chen Tuo's subconscious impression.
Judging from his appearance, he looks to be in his fifties, or at most sixty.
The old man entered the tent, first offering Su Dao and the others a cigarette, before sitting down next to Chen Tuo, beating a leather drum, and singing an Evenki shamanic tune.
Su Dao also talked about the origin of shamanic chants. The Evenki, who do not have a written language, are not as good as the Hezhe in terms of inheritance.
The Hezhe people's Imakan is a relatively complete shamanic chant.
"Uncle Su Dao, why not borrow from the existing shamanic traditions in the three northeastern provinces to supplement your shamanic chants?"
Su Dao frequently mentioned the regret that the Evenki and Oroqen people have no written language.
For Chen Tuo, this was quite simple.
History can never be rewritten, it can only be continued.
Without borrowing other languages, the fishing and hunting cultures of the three Solon tribes and other hunter-gatherers will slowly disappear.
Whether it's Northeastern Mandarin, Manchu, or Mongolian, as long as it can be passed down, it has a chance to continue, right?
After Chen Tuo finished making his suggestion, before Su Dao could reply, Najiwu stopped the prelude to the drum and opened her mouth to produce a forest-like sound that would make anyone kneel in awe.
Although he couldn't understand what Najiwu was rapping about, Chen Tuo felt like he was overlooking a forest.
As Najiu began her shamanic chant, the hunters straightened their posture and listened attentively.
Inside the tent, only Wu Laowai was there, head bowed and face covered, seemingly not intoxicated, but drunk.
Just as Chen Tuo was worrying about not understanding, Bai Long, who was sitting next to him, softly sang a shamanic tune that Chen Tuo could understand.
With Bai Long's simultaneous translation, Chen Tuo realized that Najiwu was singing a mythological story about Man Rikan.
The desolation of Najiu and the lightness of the white dragon lingered in his ears, allowing Chen Tuo to see the vast forest clearly.
This is similar to the throat singing on the grasslands.
The song Najiu and Bailong sang wasn't some shamanic tune, but the true sound of the forest.
This style of rap, even without a story, allows people to directly feel the atmosphere of the forest.
As the two sang, it turned into Najiu giving Bailong a private lesson.
With the correction from the shaman Najiu, the white dragon's voice gradually changed from light and ethereal to desolate.
"You know what? I came to Dobukur to learn the tribe's shamanic chant from Najiwu'ao."
As he listened, Chen Tuo began to ponder how to capture this desolation and ethereal quality in his writing, and his mind drifted away unconsciously.
He didn't know when the shamanic chant stopped. If the white dragon hadn't spoken in his ear, he would have continued to be immersed in the inspiration he had just received.
"So you'll be the next shaman?"
"Not just the shamans of Dobukuer! I also need to go to other hunter settlements to learn!"
"That's good! You could learn from the shamans of other races; they should all share the same origin..."
"That's what I, Abu, also said, but I don't speak Manchu, and it's very difficult for me to learn it."
"That's easy. Just mention it to the Forestry Bureau and have them submit a report so they can find you a shaman..."
As the two chatted, Dobukur's shaman Najiu got up and left the tent, and the hunters resumed their lively conversation.
Su Dao got up, walked over to the two of them, sat down, and said to Bai Long:
"White Dragon, when you go back this time, let Sumo come to Dobukur for a season, and let her learn our shamanic chants from Naji Wu'ao."
"Chen Zhiqing, Su Mo is Uncle Su Dao's daughter. She is not only beautiful, but also a very good female hunter."
Bai Long's introduction served no purpose other than giving Chen Tuo a headache.
Although he was not familiar with the shamanistic culture of the three Solon tribes, nor with their origins and branches.
But he had also heard some of the stories of the Sauron Trilogy.
To preserve their fighting strength, the three tribes of Solon remained in a primitive state until the end of the Qing Dynasty.
This is also the main reason why their written records have not been passed down.
The Qing government's suppression, coupled with the repeated attacks by the Russians and Japanese, caused the Solon tribes to lose more than half of their population.
The repeated blows to personnel, coupled with the need to settle down in the mountains, have brought the fishing and hunting culture, which was never anchored by written language, to the brink of extinction.
"Chen Zhiqing, could you elaborate on what you just said about borrowing shamanic practices from other ethnic groups to continue our shamanic traditions?"
Su Dao's motivation for wanting to keep Chen Tuo was slightly different from Bai Long's.
This group of people has begun to become elderly in the mountains.
Not to mention young people like Bailong, many hunters of Sudao's age no longer speak Evenki and Oroqen languages very well.
As the number of settlements and hunting settlements in the mountains decreased, communication between different groups also decreased.
More exchanges took place in Ejin Horo Banner, where people, influenced by both Mongolians and Han Chinese, had long since changed their way of life and customs...