Sereng

Sereng (1922-?) was born in Moroyin Süme, Tongliao. He was an orphan and grew up in the house of his maternal grand-father Nasuntemür (1880-1945). Nasuntemür was a famous singer of epic poems, and Sereng followed him to the places where he went to perform. It is through the process of listening to Nasuntemür’s performance on countless occasions that Sereng was able to assimilate and memorize the two epic poems Bodi-γalab qaγan “The Enlightened Era Khan” and Altan-γalab qaγan “The Golden Era Khan”, which Nasuntemür used to sing to the accompaniment of the two-stringed fiddle (čuγur). Since Sereng was not well-versed in playing the fiddle, he sang the two epic poems without musical accompaniment. The two epic poems have been handed down orally by generations of eastern Mongolian bards, and Sereng was the last bard to sing them in a traditional style. Sereng performed the two epic poems in his Qorčin dialect, adding a distinctive local character to the narrative.