Jusufu Mamayi, a master performer of the famousManas,was of Kirgiz nationality and born in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in 1918. He began to learn how to performManasat the age of eight and staged a public performance for the first time in 1958. He is the only one person in the world who can extemportize the full-length script ofManasand knows stories of Manas' descendants in seven generations.
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| Jusufu Mamayi , a master performer of Manas |
Manas, which took shape in the first half of the 11th century and whose length is 15 times that of the Homeric epic the Iliad, tells the story of a Kirgiz hero, Manas, and his descendants in a narrative poem that contains myths, legends, ritual songs and proverbs.
Manasis one of three most famous epics in China and the other two are Tibetan King Gesser, and Mongolian Jangariad.
The epic was handed down in the oral tradition from one generation to the next, and was sung at important ceremonies and festivals. Over time it grew to 230,000 lines.
In 1978, Jusufu Mamayi arrived in Beijing at the invitation of China's Folk Arts Association for the recording of the worksManas.He sang for 1,320 consecutive days and helped produce a masterpiece in the cultural history of human being.
In 1995, a millennium celebration for the birth of Manas was held in Kirghiziastan, and Jusufu Mamayi was honored with the highest respect in the event. In 1997, Jusufu Mamayi was granted the honorary title of "People's Actor" and he got a certificate and a medal for the honor. In addition, he devoted himself to translation ofManasand contributed a lot to prevalence of the Kirgiz culture.
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