Aites: An Event for Nightingales on the Grassland

4 min read

The nomadic Kazakhs are seen everywhere on the vast land of Xinjiang, from the distant Altay Mountains in the north to the winding Mt Tianshan which stretches from the east to the west, to the most beautiful depths on the grassland. the nomadic people living on the grassland sing their joys and sorrows. A splendid nomadic epic sung by great singers was produced on this vast grassland people from all sides, after having wine and supper, gathered together at a corner on tho et, The lush pasture was cool in summer When the last wisp of smoke cleared in the su pasture. When the familiar figure appeared, the audience cheered loud, which buoyed up the spirit of aken who was full of dash at the sight of his rival Aken”is transliterated from Kazakh, which means good folk poet and singer. It is an honorific title given to nomadic poets by the Kazakhs in China. Every summer, excellentakens who are knowledgeable, witty and good at playing a musical instrument and singing as well as talking with adroit phrases will get together to hold a grand aken contest to celebrate their reunion after a year of nomadic life there is a Kazakh saying that goes Aken is the nightingale of the world and the domburaqi is the horse on earth “Aken is the creator, singer and disseminator of poetry. Aken sings the long poem of the Kazakhs on the grassland which conveys the most sincere feeling of the Kazakhs Aites is spread by akens among the ordinary people and has become the spiritual sustenance of the Kazakhs Aken is a living historical dictionary of the Kazakhs Handed down from generation to generation, the history and culture and various information of this ethnic group are carried by akens, who play a remarkable role similar to historical texts. the past history, legends and other folk literature were passed down orally by akens who record the continuity of their own history.

Regarding the origin of aken, there is a legend familiar to many tribes on the grassland.

Beautiful prairie in Xinyuan County

Long ago，there was a pretty girl on the grassland of Kazakh She was really good at singing that the flying larks would fold their wings and listened to her song Every day，the girl would sit in front of her house，playing the dombura，singing her sweetheart’s favorable song.A rich man from a nearby village was attracted by her song and fell in love with her hen he saw her pretty face this man who was really bad，wanted to marry her so he sent his valet to act as a matchmaker but was turned down.But anyhow he forced the girl’s family to marry her to him.

As the wedding day approached，the girl began to sing and cry with a sad voice whilelaying her dombura.Everyone who heard her song felt so sad.When she was too sad to sing any longer，a white horse flied over and carried her to the sky.It was said that the hite horse was the reincarnation of the girI’s handsome sweetheart.

Akens

Since then, the villagers began to know the possibility to change their lot with songs and dombura. After that, whenever there is a wedding ceremony, the Kazakhs would get together on the grassland, distinguishing between right and wrong and singing in a competitive way, and this was how aken was cultivated. Day after day and year after year aites became a good habit and was passed down.

Aken ballad singing while playing is one of the main entertainments on the grassland of the Kazakhs at festivals or weddings or ceremonies aken contest will be held with the rise of tourism, aken ballad singing and playing will become a major content of folk tourismacclaim him as”an eagle dares to fight against the storm “or”a camel dares to enter the desert.

Aken antiphonal singing of the Kazakh ethnic group is called aites, commonly known as aken ballad playing while singing. Aites basically contains two categories. One is folk antiphonal singing or traditional antiphonal singing and the other is formal aken antiphonal singIng.

Apart from singing at large gatherings, aken in the ancient times would sing when they met another aken, which was a good habit. Ordinary common people who loved poetry could also sing, even between family members, for instance, father-in-law and daughter-in law, father and son and brother and sister, as long as what they sang was reasonable Sometimes an aken from a distant place would come to find a rival to compete which would usually last a day and a night or even longer The story about an antiphonal singing between two famous akens is still talked about in various tribes. They are the male aken Bierjian from argen tribe and the female aken Shala from Nayman.