Ulaanbaatar
‘Mongol Bii Biyelgee’ Research Book Published
Art & Culture
Ulaanbaatar,
February 3, 2026 /MONTSAME/. The “Mongol Bii Biyelgee” book opening was
held at the National Library on January 29, 2026.
The School of
Culture in the Mongolian National University of Arts and Culture implemented the
project “Sustaining and Transmitting Mongol Biyelgee,” with support from UNESCO’s
Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund and the Ministry of Culture, Sports, Tourism,
and Youth of Mongolia, from 2022 to 2025. The project aimed to strengthen the viability
of the “Mongol Biyelgee, Mongolian traditional folk dance” heritage, inscribed on
UNESCO’s List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding in
2009.
Within the framework
of the project, field research was conducted in Bayan-Ulgii, Darkhan-Uul, Orkhon,
Selenge, Tuv, Khovd, and Uvs aimags, as well as in Ulaanbaatar city, documenting
208 practitioners.
Over 500 variations
of 54 types of Bii Biyelgee and 75 melodies of ikhel, shanz, and tovshuur were
documented.
Additionally, the book was created based on the
field research and interviews with tradition bearers about the challenges facing
the preservation of the Bii biyelgee heritage. In this book, the authors have
included the history and legends of the Bayad, Durvud, Zakhchin, Torguud,
Uriankhai, and Khoton ethnic groups, as well as the origins, development,
types, movements, musical characteristics, and musical notation of Bii biyelgee.
Through explanations and commentary by tradition bearers, the authors aim to
provide opportunities to learn and study each ethnic group’s distinctive Bii biyelgee
styles and movements, including the ikhel and the rhythms of the tovshuur and
shanz, in connection with rituals and legends, in their traditional form and
manner.
The research book is significant in its tangible contribution to sustaining, transmitting, and safeguarding the heritage of the Mongol Bii Biyelgee.
