Xinjiang Oirat version of the epos “Jangar”: texts and research

The article deals with the main problems of epic studies of the Xinjiang Oirat version of “Dzhangar”, which, due to objective reasons, remained little known to the researchers for a long time. The relevance and novelty of the topic of the study lie in the comprehension of studies by Chinese dzhangarologists, the results of the study of the Xinjiang-Oirat epic tradition, which are currently inaccessible to domestic researchers because they are published in Oirat and Old Mongolian writing. Written recording of the songs of the Xinjiang-Oirat version of the Jangar epic began in the late 70s of the last century. Chinese dzhangarologists launched a full-scale work to identify and record dzhangarchi in all regions of Xinjiang (Xinjiang of the People’s Republic of China). As a result of the systematic collection of the epic heritage, multi-volume editions of the texts of the songs “Dzhangar” were prepared and published. At the present stage of the development of Dzhangar studies in China, the publication of field materials continues, the texts of the heroic epic “Dzhangar” are a valuable source for the most complete, comprehensive study of the unique monument of the Xinjiang Oirat Mongols. The first researchers’ works are devoted to the consideration of the existence of “Dzhangar”, the study of the biography of the rhapsods and the storytelling tradition of the Oirats of Xinjiang. In Chinese scholars’ works, the historical prerequisites for the emergence of the Dzhangar epic and the issues of the genesis and distribution of the Dzhangar epic in Kalmykia, Xinjiang and Mongolia are considered, and the problems of comparative typological research of the figurative system, plots and motifs are studied. “Dzhangar” as a unique monument of epic creativity is included by the PRC government in the list of the most important national intangible cultural heritage protected by the state. In order to preserve and study the epic heritage for the purposes of academic research, Chinese scholars are developing a unified integrated information system that contains electronic databases on Dzhangar studies: full-text, bibliographic, audio, graphic, documentary-factographic and multimedia, which, being a unique comprehensive resource for storage, search and further use of materials, allow effectively solve research tasks of Chinese folklorists.