Yu Guang – Inheritor of Dai Folk Song in Jinghong City, Xishuangbanna 

Personal Profile

Yuguang(玉光), female, Dai nationality, born in 1955, Manyun Village(曼允村), Yunjinghong Towny(允景洪镇), Jinghong City(景洪市), Xishuangbanna(西双版纳州),the inheritor of Dai folk songs in Jinghong City, the “senior musician” of Yunnan folk artists and the national inheritor of intangible cultural heritage.

Yu Guang and Dai Folk Song

Since childhood, she liked singing. At the age of 17, she studied Zhang Ha singing (Zhang Ha章哈 is the name of traditional Dai music form and also the name of singer). SHe got the advice of Kang Langyong, a famous Zhang Ha artist, and she master Baoyan in Banna. Through continuous efforts, she has become a Dai female singer who can write and sing. In the state radio, television and “Zhang Ha Song” column, more than 500 songs were sung and became famous. Her father, Yanzai (she was famous in the 1950s, went to Thailand in 1959), recorded several of her masterpieces on tape and brought them back to teach her daughter singing skills. Since then, her singing skills and creative level have been further improved.

Reputation and Achievement

Yu Guang won first and second prizes many times in the Zhangha Competition in Banna, and was praised as the “queen of songs” of the Dai people. Her works won the third prize of provincial culture department and Provincial Federation of literary works. She trained two apprentices, Yubian and Yuzhang, and now she has taught herself to sing independently. She is a member of the Banna State Literature Federation, vice chairman of Jinghong Zhangha Association, member of the National and Provincial Quyi Artists Association, member of the Standing Committee of the Eighth CPPCC State Committee, and Executive Committee of the Third Jinghong City Federation of Industry and Commerce.

Chinese Version: http://www.ynich.cn/view-ml-13111-2767.html
Translated by Winnie/张赢