Twelve Muqam

completed in 1992.It occupies an area of 1050 square meter and it matches with the mosque near to it.The tomb is 22 meter tall and 10 meters wide.Inside the Mausoleum,the tomb,square in shape,is 2 meter high ,10meters high.The tomb is of typical Islamic Architecture.

Twelve Muqam and Amannisha-Khan:

Twelve Muqam refers to 12 sets of ancient Uigur music,an it is the art treasure of the Uyghur people combining music and dances,and it is also the greatest masterpiece of Uyghur music and dance. Twelve Muqam includes 340 music pieces of classical narrative songs,folk narrative song and dance music and the music created spontaneously.The twelve sets of Muqam,spreading in Xinjiang area for long time,have variations according to the area where it exists and it spread,Each set of Muqam is made up of three parts:Congnaghma(daqu in Chinese,a series of lyric songs,instrumental pieces,and sung music)and Meshrup(a series of sung music accompanied by dance).It takes more than 20 hours for any group to give performance of the Twelve sets.

Amannisha-khan made great contribution to the development and standardization of Twelve Muqam.It is said that she was born in a poor family and his father was a poor woodman.Living at a village at the Dolang River,which was know for music and dance,Amannisha-khan became very interested in music and dance when she was a little girl.Gradually she developed her geat ability for music and dance.She had great interest in music and literature when she was a girl.

The second king of the Yakend-khanate,Abdul Rexidkhan(1533-1570),came across her at the first sight of her and crowned her as the queen.Under his wife’s suggestion,Abdul Rexidkhan summoned the best musicians,singers and poets to collaborate with Amannisha-khan to complete the great work of sifting and innovating the Muqam.A complete set of the Uyghur arts and performed by generations and generations.

Meget County is located in the southwest of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region,on the west edge of Taklamakan Desert,and to the north of Karakoram Mountain ranges and the middle reached of Tizrap River.It is the place where Dolang Uyghur live.In the wery ancient times it was a wild wasteland with pastures and many animals.And it was inhabited by a group of ancient Uigurs called ‘Dolangute’,(or ‘Dolang for short’),meaning ‘living in scattering way’.Hunting was their main way of subsistence,which in turn greatly influenced their way of entertainment and music and dances.Gradually,the Dolang people developed their Dolang Meshrup,a folk art form characteristic of plain but bold and pleasant features and unique local style.

Each set of Dolang Muqam begins with a prelude sung by a singer,and it is followed by the music performed by the band and dance by young women and men in pair.The beginning music melody is fairly slow and the dancers intimated the movements od hunters as if they are looking for traces od wild animals.With the music tone becoming faster and faster,the movements of dancers are faster and faster,as if they were flighting with animals. And as the dancing movements are more and more impassioned with more and more vigorous turning,those who cannot stand to the vigorous and unrestrained dance will quit on the way but those who keep on dancing to the end are admired.

The music accompanied the Dolang Meshrep is called ‘Dolang Muqam’,which has 9 sets.And the musical instruments of Dolang Muqam are Rewap,Hand-drum,Sabay,Qalum Dulcimer.

After several rounds of dancing,the game starts with performance of ‘offering tea’,’poem competition’,’judging case’,’catching a whip’are performed and awards are offered to the winners punishment is given to the losers.The entertainment is rich in contents and each game is full of the vigorous humous and excitement.

There are no fixed patterns for Dolang Meshrep,which has many contents and forms of activities.It varies according to the settings and emotions expressed.It is very local in organization and changeable .However,each Meshrep is full of the Uyghur folk art features and manifests the enthusiasm,uninhibitedness and humorous character.

Meget County is not only famous for its Dolang folk arts but also well-known as a County of Farmer Painting.From 70’s of 20th century,more and more farmers are engaged in painting and special features of their painting have been well-known in the artist circle of the country and the Ministry of Culture of China warded the country as a modern farmer’s painting county.Mow the farmer painters are in all villages of the county and more than 800 farmers’ painting have been displayed in galleries of the county and abord and some of them won honors at art shows home and abroad.Therefore,it is an attraction that be missed.