A herding people made the horse the origin of national music

Evidence

For the 10-year-old (Ages 9–11): The tale of Suho and the White Horse explains the origin of Mongolia’s national instrument, the morin khuur (horse-head fiddle), and it is also a tale of injustice (the cruel lord who breaks his promise and steals the horse) and of a love between a boy and his horse that even death cannot end — for Suho transforms his grief into music that carries the horse’s voice forever. Compare it with other tales where love or loss is transformed into something lasting: the Butterfly Lovers (Week 17), the Crane Wife (Week 18). Why might a herding people like the Mongols, whose whole life centers on horses, tell their most beloved tale about the bond between a boy and his horse — and make it the origin of their national music? What does music allow Suho to do with his grief that nothing else could? — , A Year of World Stories, 9047

Categorization

• XREF: Ties to the grief-transformed-into-art pattern across the Crane Wife and Butterfly Lovers, and grounds the morin khuur in a specific material culture.