蒙古族長短調(diào)民歌的傳承與創(chuàng)新

文劉娟 LIU Juan

蒙古族是我國北方草原民族，擁有近600萬人口，主要分布于內(nèi)蒙古自治區(qū)和新疆、東北三省、甘肅、青海等地，一部分散居在全國其他地區(qū)。蒙古族一向有“音樂民族”“詩歌民族”之稱，蒙古族民歌豐富多彩，形式多樣。在河套地區(qū)，蒙古族將他們的民歌之豐富比喻為多如牛毛，而且“唱了三年，才唱了一只牛耳朵”。蒙古族民歌具有草原民族的獨(dú)特風(fēng)韻，不論高亢嘹亮，還是低吟回蕩，都充分表現(xiàn)出蒙古族人民質(zhì)樸、爽朗、熱情、豪放的草原民族風(fēng)格。尤其是享譽(yù)世界的蒙古族長、短調(diào)民歌，更是千百年來廣大蒙古族人最為喜愛的傳統(tǒng)民歌。

特色鮮明的民歌

蒙古族民歌分長、短調(diào)兩種體裁，長調(diào)主要流傳于牧區(qū)，而短調(diào)則大多流行于半農(nóng)半牧地區(qū)。它是草原牧歌最具代表性的藝術(shù)形式，是蒙古族世世代代遺存下來的優(yōu)秀口傳文化，具有極為鮮明的草原游牧文化和地域文化特征，因而被稱為“草原音樂活化石”。在蒙古語中，長調(diào)是“長久”“永恒”的意思，也有將其直譯為“長歌”“長調(diào)歌”或“草原牧歌”等。蒙古族長調(diào)民歌歷史悠久，距今已有上千年的歷史。

由于長調(diào)基本上是蒙古族在放牧牛羊和歡度傳統(tǒng)節(jié)慶時演唱的一種民歌，因此，長調(diào)民歌最主要的特點(diǎn)是字少腔長，一般只有上、下兩句歌詞，有時甚至連歌詞都沒有，只是以一個襯詞（虛詞）表達(dá)豐富的內(nèi)心情感。長調(diào)的演唱是蒙古族對自身生活經(jīng)歷的抒發(fā)、對自然風(fēng)物的贊美、對生產(chǎn)經(jīng)驗的傳承以及對人生感悟的詠嘆等，所以完全可以由演唱者根據(jù)其理解隨意發(fā)揮，因而演唱風(fēng)格不一，演唱的節(jié)律也不盡相同。一般情況下，蒙古族長調(diào)的歌詞絕大多數(shù)是對蒙古族最為熟悉的草原、駿馬、藍(lán)天、白云等的描繪和贊頌，尤以唱馬的歌曲最多；長調(diào)的基本題材包括牧歌、思鄉(xiāng)曲、贊歌、婚禮歌和酒歌等。

短調(diào)是蒙古族最早發(fā)展起來的一種民歌體裁，短調(diào)民歌也叫爬山調(diào)、山曲兒，可用漢語演唱。蒙古族短調(diào)的音樂特點(diǎn)為曲式短小，結(jié)構(gòu)嚴(yán)謹(jǐn)，音調(diào)簡潔，裝飾音較少，旋律平和，起伏不大，帶有鮮明的宣敘性特征。短調(diào)民歌樂句與唱詞之間的結(jié)構(gòu)形式及布局與長調(diào)民歌相比，顯得更為協(xié)調(diào)、對稱。短調(diào)民歌的節(jié)奏規(guī)范，多采用單一節(jié)拍，曲式多為對稱的方整性結(jié)構(gòu)，除大量上、下句樂段結(jié)構(gòu)外，也有三句、四句、五句乃至更多樂句所構(gòu)成的復(fù)雜曲式。短調(diào)民歌的歌詞一般以四句為一段，形成分節(jié)歌形式，在不同音韻上可以反復(fù)疊唱。

蒙古族短調(diào)的表現(xiàn)題材十分廣泛，幾乎涉及蒙古族社會生活的方方面面，有情歌、敬酒歌、婚禮歌、祝壽歌、敘事歌、搖籃曲等，廣泛流傳于蒙古族地區(qū)的《嘎達(dá)梅林》《森吉德瑪》《諾文吉娜》《烏云珊丹》《成吉思汗的兩匹青馬》《龍梅》《白色的遠(yuǎn)山》《美酒醇如香蜜》等，都是優(yōu)秀的短調(diào)民歌。

世代相傳的秘密

要實現(xiàn)一個民族文化的繁榮興盛和民族精神力量的不斷增強(qiáng)，努力做好優(yōu)秀民族文化的傳承和創(chuàng)新，是不可無視且十分緊迫的重要事情。蒙古族長、短調(diào)民歌歷史悠久、世代相傳，至今綿延不衰。其得以長久傳承的主要原因表現(xiàn)在以下幾個方面：

蒙古族的節(jié)慶文化豐富多彩，有自己許多獨(dú)特的節(jié)日，比如燈節(jié)、寒食節(jié)、浴佛節(jié)、祭敖包、祭天、那達(dá)慕、小年等。每逢過節(jié)，歌舞都會成為蒙古族節(jié)日活動內(nèi)容的重要組成部分，特別是蒙古族民間歌手，都很擅長于在節(jié)日期間用長、短調(diào)民歌傳承優(yōu)良傳統(tǒng)、吟唱民族歷史、贊頌民族英雄、傳頌民族美德。獨(dú)特的長調(diào)傳承方式與節(jié)日的氛圍融為一體，感染力極強(qiáng)，既能鼓舞人們的參與熱情，又能增強(qiáng)人們的自信心和凝集力，還能使民族優(yōu)秀文化無形中得到較好的傳承，因而在人們的心中會刻上永生難忘的烙印。

蒙古族自古以來就以能歌善舞著稱于世。其中，唱歌成了蒙古族人們?nèi)粘Ｉ畹闹匾M成部分。日常生活中，無論是生產(chǎn)生活、喪葬嫁娶、宴請賓客、親朋相聚、逢年過節(jié)、祈神祭祖、教育后代等都以長、短調(diào)民歌來抒發(fā)情感、表達(dá)心意、傳授知識，長、短調(diào)民歌所反映的內(nèi)容涉及人們生活的方方面面。此外，歷史歌、時政歌、童謠等均飽含豐富的生產(chǎn)生活內(nèi)容。

蒙古族長、短調(diào)民歌在長期的流傳過程中，由于其獨(dú)特的民族風(fēng)韻，蒙古族地區(qū)地?zé)o分東西、人無論男女老幼，幾乎無地不傳，無人不唱，使得蒙古族成為全國乃至全世界民歌傳唱參與度最高的民族之一。

蒙古族長、短調(diào)民歌尤其是短調(diào)民歌的演唱方法自由、隨意，可以獨(dú)唱、重唱、領(lǐng)唱、合唱等，使人們從心底里萌發(fā)出一種對長、短調(diào)民歌的認(rèn)同感和參與感,用不同的方式演唱長、短調(diào)民歌。加上蒙古民族注重對傳統(tǒng)民歌的傳承，因此，在蒙古族地區(qū)，師傳徒、父教子，形成幼年學(xué)歌、青年唱歌、老年教歌的傳幫帶習(xí)俗以及良好的全民參與性，使得蒙古族長、短調(diào)民歌的傳承有了十分牢固的社會基礎(chǔ)。

然而，蒙古族長調(diào)是一種以口頭傳承為主要方式的民間藝術(shù)。由于其主要傳承方式為口耳相傳，因此，其能否得到較好的傳承，常取決于傳承人及其傳承壞境的變化。近年來，在蒙古族地區(qū)，由于部分蒙古族的生產(chǎn)生活方式發(fā)生了較大的變化，比如一些地區(qū)由于草場承包責(zé)任制的進(jìn)一步落實，牧民們改變了上千年來的逐水草而居的游牧生產(chǎn)生活方式，逐漸在承包草場附近定居下來，這就改變了長調(diào)民歌傳承的自然環(huán)境；特別是隨著歲月的流逝，一些著名長調(diào)演唱藝人年歲已高，有些已陸續(xù)離世，長調(diào)這一蒙古族獨(dú)特的傳統(tǒng)演唱方式也面臨失傳的危險。在蒙古族地區(qū)，曾一度以演唱蒙古族長調(diào)而聞名的東土默特、科爾沁、阿拉善等地，目前能夠演唱長調(diào)民歌的藝人已越來越少，而且都年歲已高，如果不采取必要的措施，必然會嚴(yán)重影響到這些地區(qū)極富特色的蒙古族長調(diào)民歌的傳承與保護(hù)。

因此，我們必須自覺建立好各種保護(hù)機(jī)制，抓緊培養(yǎng)專門研究人才和繼承人隊伍，不斷探索蒙古族長、短調(diào)民歌的傳承途徑，與此同時，努力探索蒙古族長、短調(diào)民歌創(chuàng)新的方式和方法。

生命力與時代感

任何一種優(yōu)秀的民族傳統(tǒng)文化，都會在其發(fā)展過程中不斷地充實、完善、改革和創(chuàng)新。蒙古族長、短調(diào)民歌也是如此。

在蒙古族民歌的發(fā)展過程中，在其發(fā)展早期，為了與蒙古族早期的狩獵文化相適應(yīng)，蒙古族民歌大體上以短調(diào)為主，抒情性較弱，具有較強(qiáng)的敘述性與歌舞性特點(diǎn)。隨著蒙古民族由山區(qū)向草原遷移及其生產(chǎn)生活方式的轉(zhuǎn)變，蒙古族民歌開始向長調(diào)演變，逐漸形成了獨(dú)具特色的草原游牧音樂。在經(jīng)歷了一個漫長的由簡至繁、由低至高的繼承和發(fā)展過程后，長調(diào)民歌逐漸占據(jù)了蒙古族民歌的主導(dǎo)地位。

隨著歷史的發(fā)展，從元朝開始，特別是清朝中期以后，我國蒙古高原與中原的聯(lián)系得到進(jìn)一步加強(qiáng)，蒙古族與全國各民族的交往交流特別是文化之間的交流得到進(jìn)一步增強(qiáng)。受中原說唱藝術(shù)的影響，蒙古族短調(diào)敘事歌、長篇說唱歌曲等吸收了許多新的元素，而短調(diào)民歌也重獲新生并快速發(fā)展，長調(diào)民歌則較好地保持其特色并更趨成熟。

中華人民共和國的建立，使蒙古族人民獲得了徹底的翻身和解放，蒙古族民歌也進(jìn)入了全新的發(fā)展繁榮階段。更為可喜的是，隨著社會主義現(xiàn)代化建設(shè)進(jìn)程的不斷深入，蒙古族長、短調(diào)民歌也在不斷地發(fā)展和創(chuàng)新。

早在20世紀(jì)60年代初，著名歌唱家胡松華的一首《贊歌》，曾引起巨大的轟動?！顿澑琛穼⒚晒抛彘L、短調(diào)民歌巧妙地結(jié)合在一起，抒發(fā)出內(nèi)蒙古人民歡聚一堂，縱情高歌、舉杯歡慶翻身做主人的激動心情。這種創(chuàng)新，不僅很好地利用了蒙古族長、短調(diào)民歌的優(yōu)長，而且毫不沖淡蒙古族民歌的原汁原味。

20世紀(jì)90年代以來，蒙古族歌唱家騰格爾對蒙古族民歌的演唱進(jìn)行了大膽的改革和創(chuàng)新，他所演唱的《天堂》《蒼狼大地》等，巧妙地融進(jìn)了蒙古族長、短調(diào)民歌的各種代表性因素。無論是德德瑪、烏蘭托婭，還是烏蘭圖雅、楊魏玲花，她們對所演唱的歌曲，都十分注意糅進(jìn)蒙古族長、短調(diào)民歌因素，因而成為廣受人們稱道的地地道道的蒙古族歌手。尤其是布仁巴雅爾，他演唱的很多歌曲都恰到好處地運(yùn)用蒙古族長、短調(diào)民歌的優(yōu)長，使歌曲充滿蒙古族民歌的韻味和現(xiàn)代社會的氣息。

進(jìn)入21世紀(jì)后，由額爾古納樂隊創(chuàng)作并演唱的《鴻雁》，更是既繼承了蒙古族短調(diào)民歌的傳統(tǒng)元素，又增添了許多新時代蒙古族民歌的新鮮內(nèi)容。2018年春節(jié)期間，在中央電視臺《星光大道·嘉年華星光大道特別節(jié)目》中，由“團(tuán)結(jié)聯(lián)盟”蒙古族歌手所演唱的新《祝酒歌》，更是對流傳千年的蒙古族傳統(tǒng)《祝酒歌》進(jìn)行了大膽的創(chuàng)新，使得這一傳統(tǒng)歌曲更富活力，更加活潑歡快，更具時代特征。

可見，蒙古族長、短調(diào)民歌在其發(fā)展過程中，為適應(yīng)新的社會、生產(chǎn)、生活環(huán)境，不斷地進(jìn)行著創(chuàng)新和完善，使得這一傳統(tǒng)民歌更為充實、更富生命力、更富有時代感，更受到各族大眾的喜愛。

蒙古族長、短調(diào)民歌是我國十分珍貴的少數(shù)民族傳統(tǒng)音樂，是蒙古族歷經(jīng)千年的文化積淀，是中華民族彌足珍貴的精神財富，也是世界文化不可多得的寶貴遺產(chǎn)。因此，繼承、保護(hù)和弘揚(yáng)蒙古族長、短調(diào)民歌，是我們不可推卸的歷史使命。新時代呼喚新的改革，我們應(yīng)當(dāng)認(rèn)真挖掘蒙古族長、短調(diào)民歌寶貴內(nèi)核，在保持傳統(tǒng)長、短調(diào)民歌精髓的基礎(chǔ)上，大膽改革，勇于創(chuàng)新，不斷吸納清新因素，創(chuàng)作出更多深受各民族大眾歡迎的“接地氣、傳得開、留得下”的好作品。

The nationality of Mongolian is a grassland group scattered in northern China. It has a population of nearly 6 million,distributed in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region,Xinjiang, the three northeastern provinces, Gansu and Qinghai,and some of them are scattered in other parts of the country.The Mongolian people have always been known as the "music nation" and "poetry nation", and its folk songs are rich and diversified in form.In the Hetao area, the Mongolians compare the richness of their folk songs to as countless as the cow fur,and "just finishe singing about the amount of a cow ear for the past three years".The Mongolian folk songs have the unique charm of the grassland people. Whether resounding loud and clearor low-lying in rhythm, they fully demonstrate the Mongolian people's simple, hearty, enthusiastic and unrestrained characteristics with the grassland ethnic style, and in particular,the Mongolian long-tone and short-tone folk songs, which are world-famous, are the most popular traditional forms of the majority of Mongolians for thousands of years.

Distinctive folk songs

Mongolian folk songs are divided into two categories, long and short-tone genres, and the long-toneis mostly spread in the pastoral area, while the short-tone is quite popular in semiagricultural and semi-pastoral areas.It is not only the most representative art form of the prairie pastoral song, but an excellent oral culture preserved by the Mongolian people for generations as well, showcasing an extremely distinct grassland nomadic culture and regional cultural characteristics, resulting in being named as the "living stone of grassland music".In the language of Mongolian, the long-tone has the meaning of "longlasting" and "eternal", and it is also translated as "long song","long-tone song" or "grassland pastoral song". Its long-tone folk songs enjoy a long history with a length of over a thousand years.

Because the long-tone form is basically a folk song that the Mongolians perform during the grazing of cattle and sheep and traditional festivals, resulting in showing the main feature as few words with long tone. And it usually shows only the upper and lower two-line lyrics, and sometimes there is even no lyric at all,just a sound of deep expression of inner feelings.The perform of long-tone is the Mongolian's reflection of their own life experiences, praises of natural objects, inheritance of production experience and sighs of life perceptions, so they can be played by singers merely based upon their own understanding, as the singing style is diversified with different rhythm.Under normal circumstances, the lyrics of Mongolian long-tone are mostly depictions and praises of their most familiar subjects as grasslands, horses, blue sky, white clouds and etc., especially presenting more songs about horses; and the basic themes of long-tone include pastoral and homesickness , hymns, wedding songs and those for wines.

The short-tone is a folk song genre that was first developed by the Mongolian people. The short-tone folk songs are also called rhythm for mountain climbing, Shan Quer, which can be sung in Chinese as well. The characteristics of the Mongolian shorttone music are short with rigorous structure, simple tone, less decorative sound, smooth melody, little ups and downs and distinctive narrative features.Comparing with that of the longtone, the structural form and layout of short-tone’s music and lyrics are more harmonious and symmetrical. The rhythm of short-tone is quite standard and regular, mostly using a single beat, with the musicstyle of symmetrical square structure.In addition to a large number of upper and lower sentence structure, there are also complex music composed by threesentence, four-sentence, five sentence and even more phrases.The lyrics of short-tone folk songs generally take four sentences as a section, creating a form of sub-section songs, which can be repeated and sung in different phonology.

The performing theme of the Mongolian short-tone is very broad, involving almost all aspects of their social life, including love songs, toast songs, wedding songs, birthday songs,narrative songs, lullaby and etc. widely spread amongst the living region of the Mongolian asGadaMeiren, SenjiDema,NuowenJina, WuyunShandan, Two GreatHorses of Genghis Khan,Long Mei, White Mountains in Distance, Great Wineand etc. as the outstanding short-tone folk songs.

Secrets passed down from generation to generation

It is an important matter that cannot be ignored and urgently pursued to carry forward the inheritance and innovation of outstanding national cultures with purpose of realizing the prosperity of a nation’s culture and the continuous enhancement of the national spiritual strength.The Mongolian long and shorttone folk songs, possessing a long history, have been passed down from generation to generation, and the main reasons are as follows:

Mongolianspossess festivals with rich diversity and their uniqueness, such as Lantern Festival, Cold Food Festival, Bath Buddha Festival, Sacrifice Bag, Sacrifice of Aobao, Naadam and Xiaonian.During the festivals, songs and dances will become a crucial part of the Mongolian festive activities. Especially Mongolian folk singers are most good at inheriting fine traditions by singing national history, praising national heroes and virtues through long and short-tone songs.

The unique method of long-tone inheritance integrates with the festive atmosphere, showing strong passion, which can not only inspire people's enthusiasm for participation, but also enhance their self-confidence and cohesiveness, meanwhile, realizing a better inheritance of its excellent national culture through aninvisible manner, resulting in immortal imprints in people’s minds.

Since ancient times, the Mongolian people have been known for their capability in singing and dancing,among which singing has become an important part of their daily life.In everyday life, whether it is regular production, funeral and marriage,banquets, family and friends gathering, important festivals,praying and sacrifice for ancestors, and even in raising children,the Mongoliansuse long and short-tone folk songs to express emotions, feelings and impart knowledge, as the contents of such songscover all aspects of people's lives.In addition,songs of history, politics and nursery rhymes are rich in content concerningproduction and daily necessity.

In the long-term circulation of Mongolian long and short-tone folk songs, due to their unique ethnic charm, the Mongolian region has no distinction between men or women, young or old,songs are almost spread everywhere by all people, turning the Mongolian nationalitybecome one of the most involved ethnic groups with highest degree of folk songs passage amongst generations in China, even the whole world.

The performing method of Mongolian long and short-tone folk songs, especially the short-tones, is free and casual. They can solo, quartet, lead, chorus and etc., so that people could express a sense of identity and participation in the length and tone of the folk songs with diversified methods of performance.In addition,the Mongolian people pay much attention to the inheritance of traditional folk songs. Hence, in the Mongolian region, teachers pass to the students, fathers pass to the sons, forming a tradition of passage and sound degree of national participation as learn as child, sing in youth and educate in the elder, making a much solid social foundation for the inheritance of its long and short-tone folk songs.

However, the Mongolian long-tone is a folk art with oral inheritance as the main method. Because its main way of inheritance is from mouth to mouth, hence, whether it can be better passed down often depends on the inheritors and the changes occurred in the environment.In recent years, due to the great changes in the production and lifestyle of some Mongolians in their living areas, for example, in some areas,because of the further implementation of the grassland contract responsibility system, the herdsmen have changed the nomadic production used to be following the track of grassland that has been in existence for thousands of years, and gradually settled near the contracted pastures, which has changed the natural environment in which the long-tone folk songs are passed down.Especially with the passage of time, some famous longtoneperformers come into their elder period, some have passed away, and the long-tune folk songs,the unique traditional singing style of Mongolian, is also in danger of being lost.In the Mongolian region, areas, once famous for the long-tone songs,as East Tumed, Horqin, Alxa and other places, have fewer and fewer artists who can sing long-tone folk songs. It will inevitably affect the inheritance and protection of the Mongolian longtone folk songs in these regions if necessary methods are not implemented.

Hence, we must consciously establish various protection mechanisms, attach close attention to cultivating specialized research talents and teams of inheritance, and constantly explore the ways of inheriting the Mongolian long and shorttone folk songs. At the same time, it requires to explore ways and methods for Mongolian long and short-tone folk songs’innovation.

Vitality and Sense of Times

Any kind of excellent national traditional cultures will continue to be enriched, perfected, reformed and innovated in the course of its development. The same is true of Mongolian long and shorttone folk songs.

In the development of Mongolian folk songs, in order to adapt to the early Mongolian hunting culture, Mongolian folk songs are mainly short-tone with weak lyricalness, showcasing strong narrative and singing and dancing features in the early stage of its development.With the transformation of Mongolian people from mountainous areas to grasslands and their ways of production and lifestyle, Mongolian folk songs began to evolve into a long-tone, gradually forming a unique grassland nomadic music. After a long process of inheritance and development from simple to complex and from low to high, the long-tone folk songs gradually occupy the dominant position of Mongolian folk songs.

With the development of history, since the Yuan Dynasty, especially after the middle of the Qing Dynasty, the relationship between the Mongolian Plateau and the Central Plains has been further strengthened, and the exchanges between the Mongolian people and the various nationalities in the country, especially in terms of the exchanges between cultures, have been further enhanced.Influenced by the rap artfrom the Central Plains, the Mongolian short-tone narrative songs and long-form rap songs have absorbed many brand-new elements, while the short-tone folk songs have also been reborn and developed rapidly. The long-tone folk songs have better maintained their characteristics and become more mature.

The foundation of the People's Republic of China has enabled the Mongolian people to be completely liberated, and the Mongolian folk songs have entered a new stage of development and prosperity.What is even more gratifying is that with the continuous deepening of the process of socialist modernization, the Mongolian long and short-tone folk songs are constantly progressing and innovating.

As early as the early 1960s, the song ofPraiseby a famous singer HU Songhua has caused a huge sensation.The song skillfully combines the Mongolian long and short-tone folk songs, and sends out the excitement of the Inner Mongolian people to indulge in a high-song, toasting and turning over to be the master.This kind of innovation not only makes good use of the superiority of Mongolian long and short-tone folk songs, but also does not dilute the original flavor of such songs.

Since the 1990s, Mongolian singer Tengri has carried out bold reforms and innovations in the singing of Mongolian folk songs. His singing ofParadise, The Great Land, etc., has subtly integrated the various representative factors of Mongolian long and short-tone folk songs.Whether Dedema,WulanTuoya,WulanTuya or Sene, they have cast great attention to the songs integrating the characteristics of the Mongolian long and short-tone folk songs, and thus become widely praised Mongolian singers.Especially for Buren Bayaer, many of the songs he sang are just right to use the strengths of the Mongolian long and short-tone folk songs, so that the songs are full of the charm of Mongolian folk songs and the atmosphere of modern society.

After entering the 21stcentury, theHongyancreated and sung by the Erguna band has inherited the traditional elements of the Mongolian short-tone folk songs, and added a lot of fresh content of the Mongolian folk songs of the new era.During the Spring Festival of 2018, the newToast Songsung by the "Unity Alliance" Mongolian singer was a bold innovation of the Mongolian traditional Toast Song which has been circulated for thousands of years, making this traditional song more dynamic,lively and cheerful with contemporary characteristics in the special program of CCTV "Star Avenue ·Carnival Star Avenue".

It can be discovered that, in the course of its development, the Mongolian long and short-tone folk songs are constantly innovating and perfecting in order to adapt to the new social, production and living environment, making this traditional folk song more fulfilling, lively with deeper sense of times and popularity amongst the ordinary people.

The Mongolian long and short-tone folk songs are a type of very precious traditional music of ethnic minorities in China. They are the cultural heritage of the Mongolian people after history of thousands of years, the precious spiritual wealth of the Chinese nation and a rare legacy of world culture.Therefore, inheriting, protecting and carrying forward the Mongolian long and short-tone folk songs is our unshakable historical mission. The new era calls for new reforms. We should earnestly explore the precious cores of Mongolian long and short-tone folk songs. On the basis of maintaining the essence of traditional long and short-tone folk songs, we must boldly reform with brave innovation, constantly absorbing fresh factors and creating more and more excellent works that are popular with all ethnic groups, showcasing features as "down-to-earth, wide spreading and easy preservation".