The Uyghur Rabab And Its Heritage In The Context Of Oral And Intangible Cultural Heritage Art Forms

The Rabab is a plucked stringed instrument primarily of the Uzbek and Uyghur peoples and is found throughout the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. According to historical records, the Rabab originated from among Uyghur folk music, specifically Kashgar. With the rapid development seen in recent decades there has been an increased attention to the Rabab specifically and the spirit of cultural preservation in general. For example, in2005, the Xinjiang Uyghur Muqam became one of Xinjiang’s first Oral and Intangible Heritage Art Forms of Humanity. This was of vital significance toward national efforts at protection of cultural heritage. Yet in the effort to further efforts toward the protection of these Art Forms many unprecedented problems emerged. Those dealing with issues of Rabab as an indispensable component of the Uyghur Muqam and the overall protection of the MuqamCanon have been faced with numerous challenges and problems. Therefore,in this context, the issues of how to protect and preserve folk music and its culture is a hot topic.Uyghur Muqam has made significant contributions to the national Oral and IntangibleHeritage Art Forms work of preservation and development. This paper will focus mainly on the Rabab and a study of folk music preservation. It will present an analysis of researchand preservation methods of both folk musicians and academicians and present both opportunities and challenges facing the protection of cultural heritage and cultural artforms.This thesis consists of four parts:The first part is an introduction giving background of the topic and corresponding research, its purpose, and significance.The second part is a discussion of the Xinjiang Muqam and it’s preservation, focusing specifically on the Rabab and its role in current cultural heritage protection and development practices.The third section focuses entirely on the Rabab and it’s preservation as an art form. This will include a comparative study of preservation methods being done by individual folkmusicians and institutional academics. The forth part will be an in-depth analysis of the pros and cons facing folk heritage preservation, its causes, and suggestions for future improvements.The paper will conclude with a presentation of suggestions for future development in folk music preservation as it pertains specifically to the Rabab.