I thought it might be interesting to start writing more
about Kyrgyzstan, the country we are moving to this summer. There are really so many fascinating things
that we could talk about with regard to the Kyrgyz people and the history of
Central Asia, so I’m just going to try to give you a taste of things that I
have been learning about. Hopefully you’ll
find something interesting here as well, or at least will have a better feel
for where we’ll be and what we’re learning.
So, location, location, location….
Kyrgyzstan is located just west of China. It is south of
Kazakhstan and it also borders Uzbekistan and Tajikistan on its western and
southern borders.
Many people say, “There are so many ‘stans,’ how do you
remember them all?” Well, there are 7,
and to help, just remember there are 2 K’s and 2 T’s, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan
as well as Turkmenistan and Tajikistan.
The other 3 are pretty easy after that, most know Afghanistan and
Pakistan, then just add in Uzbekistan and you’ve got them all!
Now, let’s look at the flag of the Kyrgyz Republic.
Looking at the flag we see a red background that represents the people's valor and bravery. The yellow sun in the center has two very interesting stories behind it. The two sets of 3 lines that cross in the center stand for the family and are also the image of the classic Kyrgyz home, the yurt, that can be seen in many architectural examples around the country. The 40 evenly spaced rays of the sun stand for the 40 tribes of the Kyrgyz people that were brought together under the epic hero, Manas. In some versions of the poem, they can also represent his 40 warrior friends that went with him on many missions and battles to fight against their enemies, including the Chinese and the Mongols.
The story of Manas has been celebrated as being around for more than a 1000 years, though the first written versions date back about 500 years ago, and there are over 60 different versions. It is sung orally by "manaschis" that study and train to tell the 3 part tale over the course of hours, and sometimes days, at local festivals and gatherings. The Kyrgyz people claim it is the longest epic poem in existence, over half a million verses, longer than "The Iliad" or "The Odyssey" combined, and more encompassing than "Beowulf" or the Indian epic "Mahabharata." The tale has all of the epic elements of an amazing and difficult birth, being called at a young age to save his people, rallying together a divided homeland to fight the foreign invaders, and fantastical battles against the enemies and terrible beasts. Also in traditional epic fashion, the hero has subsequent generations that do incredible feats and carry on the "family tradition." In fact the second part of the poem is about Manas' son, Semetei, and the third part is about his grandson, Seitek.
A Manas scholar said, "The epic Manas is not only the history of the Kyrgyz
people, it is a true epic drama which widely reflects all the aspects of their
life: i.e., their ethnic composition, economy, traditions and customs, morals
and values, aesthetics, codes of behavior, their relationship with their
surroundings and nature, their religious worldview, their knowledge about
astronomy and geography, and artistic oral poetry and language."
Maybe we can time your visit to be during a local festival and then we can see one of the Great Manaschis recite parts of the famous epic.
A manaschi reciting the Manas epic at a festival in Karakol.
A statue of Manas in Bishkek.
..and if you can't make it for a vist, here is a Youtube video of one of the 20th Century Great Manaschis, Sayakbai Karalaev, reciting part of the Epic of Manas - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAKt48ogNt0
