Research On Xinjiang Uygur Sattar

As a traditional Uyghur musical instrument with acoustic sympathetic string, Satar is widely popular in Southern Xinjiang. Satar is also one of the important musical instruments to perform 12 Muqams, and it stands as a representative traditional musical instrument of Uyghur people with its distinct style of ethnic culture.This thesis will study Satar in the base of previous related studies and actual data from field study in Southern Xinjiang, and with the help of theories and study methods from ethnomusicology, philology, musical instrumentalism and the tuning method, and will explain and deliberate some problems occurred during the study.The whole thesis includes three parts:the introduction, the body part, and the conclusion; and the body part consists of four chapters.In the Introduction part will illustrates the previous studies, and the first-hand materials from field study, and the related angel and methods of this study.The First Chapter mainly introduces the geographical and cultural environment of Satar, and explains the meaning of the word "satar"; this chapter also compares the Ancient Satar and the other "Tar" instruments under the background of the Silk Road to have an overall analyze on the modern structure of Satar.The Second Chapter will use the method of tuning to compare the tuning features between the "Setar" in Qing dynasty, the Satar of Turdi Ahon, and the Satar of the present generation, to study the relationship and development between them.The Third Chapter will use the sympathetic string tuning-up method from previous studies and the sympathetic string tuning-up method from my own field study, to analyze the features and roles of the sympathetic string of Satar.The Fourth Chapter will discuss the inheritable and developing relationship between man or musical instruments and a particular culture, based on Satar players’core connection to Muqam culture.