Ulaanbaatar
Morin Khuur of Borjigin Culture
Art & Culture
Gobisumber /MONTSAME/. Borjigin, tracing back to Bodonchar, the direct ancestor of Chinggis Khaan, is the imperial clan of Chinggis Khaan and his successors in the Mongol Empire. The Borjigin family who ruled over the Mongol Empire from the 13th to 14th century left a lasting legacy of great cultural heritage.
We are presenting you about Morin Khuur – horse head fiddle traditional musical instrument, a piece of Borjigin culture, as told by Lkhagvaa B., fellow scholar of Borjigin Heritage Museum in Gobisumber aimag.
The bowed string instrument that is often accompanied with Borjigins’ folk long songs is a remarkable symbol of the Borjigin people. Local artists utilize different unique designs when crafting Borjigin-style Morin Khuur, adjusting them to nomadic lifestyle, such as with removable heads or arms, interchangeable tuner and strings, etc. The Borjigin Morin Khuur is made with a wider string on the inside and two strings are interchangeable, and it can even be played with a single string.
Borjigin Morin Khuur has two types of shapes, ladle and square, and its head part is composed of three pieces - peg, arm, and brace, to be suited for Borjigin style long songs and melodies.
Sumber soum of Gobisumber aimag as well as some parts of Khentii, Dornogobi, Dundgobi, Gobisumber and Tuv aimags are considered as places of origin of Borjigin Morin Khuur
The Borjigin Morin Khuur shown in the image is presently being preserved at the Borjigin Heritage Museum of Gobisumber aimag.
