Mongolian lute. Traditionally, this three-string fretless lute was played by some ethnic groups of West Mongolia and in Ulaanbaatar. During the Qing dynasty, the sanxian was used in Mongolian music and in shamanic rituals.
The instrument has a circular or sub-circular wooden frame and a long neck that carries three strings over a single bridge (see illustration). The three strings, which allow a range of three octaves and a major 3rd, are believed to symbolize past, present and future. It is made from elm or sandalwood, and the body formerly had the groinskin of cattle stretched over both sides. Horse-hair or silk thread was used for the strings. Modern instruments have an upper bridge made of bone and a lower bridge made from bamboo with snake- or goatskin over the two faces. During the summer, when dairy produce is plentiful, skins are tanned with yoghurt, then softened. They are moistened for two or three days, then washed, stretched and smoke-dried to make them stronger. Strings are made from animal gut after cleaning, par-boiling, stretching and drying.
A variety of playing techniques is used. Emsheimer (1943) described a Mongolian instrument with three silk strings, plucked or strummed with horn plectrum or fingers. Since the sound is short lived, the player strikes each note more than once in succession. When Western Mongols, such as Torguts, play the instrument to accompany the biy-dance, the strings are strummed with fingers of the right hand across the lower section of the neck. The four fingers of the left hand used to stop the strings are also used to sound them by plucking.
As with other instruments, tunings varied in the pre-Communist era according to group tradition and genre of music played. The pitch was not fixed. In contemporary Mongolia, the instrument is played by women in folk music ensembles.
See also Mongol music.
E. Emsheimer: ‘Preliminary Remarks on Mongolian Music and Instruments’, The Music of the Mongols, i: Eastern Mongolia (Stockholm, 1943), 66–100
L. Oyuunchimeg: The Historical Tradition of the Shudarga, Questions of the Mongolian School (diss., National University, Ulaanbaatar, 1995)
C.A. Pegg: Mongolian Music, Dance and Oral Narrative: Performing Diverse Identities (Seattle, 2001) [with CD]
CAROLE PEGG