ECura
Working in collaboration with members of three villages from China’s multi-ethnic Southwest, the research team seeks out ways to empower community members to take up the new digital technologies to become active collectors and curators of their traditional music and dance. The research includes the development of spoken language-oriented database for their Indigenous musical tradition and its associated software program used in digital social media platforms, enabling all villagers to readily record and share their own songs and other musical heritage digitally, and the creation of an online database dedicated to their artistry. The resulting research framework will be transferable to a broad cross-section of endangered cultures globally.
ECura研究团队与居住在中国云南乡村的彝、白、苗三个少数民族的村民合作，研究如何协助当地村民们运用新的数字技术来保存和管理他们的传统音乐和舞蹈。村民们可以使用ECura团队开发的以口语为导向的数据库及其相关的用于数字社交媒体平台的软件程序，记录和分享他们的歌曲和其他音乐遗产。同时，ECura团队还建立了一个网上数据库，用于展示村民们的艺术才能。ECura项目的研究方法和实践成果将会推广给国内外更多面临相同境遇的社区以及相关领域的学者和政策制定者，用来保护更多的濒危文化。
Click on the video below to watch the presentation of ECura project
ECurator App Launches on App Store, Google Play and WeChat, Free Global Access Now Available
Project Collaborative Communities
ECura is collaboratively working with ethnic minority populations from three villages in Southwest border of China. They are Yi people in Mayou, Bai people in Qifeng and Miao people in Xiaoshuijin. Each village community 1) sustains traditional music practices of a considerable scope; 2) has community leader who actively organize various cultural activities; and 3) has experience of working with external bodies offering resources and support.
Mayou village, located in Yao’an County, Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan, is predominantly inhabited by the Yi people, comprising 95% of its 2,223 residents. Known for its rich cultural heritage, Mayou is nestled among high mountains and is renowned for two nationally recognized Yi intangible cultural heritages: Meige, a comprehensive music tradition encompassing folk songs, dance, and oral literature, and Hulusheng, an ancient Asian free-reed mouth organ dating back about 2,500 years. [read more]
Qifeng village, located in Eryuan County, Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, has a population of 3,399, of whom are all Bai people. The village sustains various small community groups that practice various Bai music traditions on a daily basis. The villagers remain highly active in cultural practices, including religious rituals in the village temple, which accommodates three different religions (Daoism, Confucianism and Shamanism) and each religion has its own ritual music ensemble. [read more]
Xiaoshuijing village, located in Fumin County, Kunming city, Yunnan Province. Xiaoshuijing has a population of 469, of whom all are Miao people, 80% of them being Christians. There are several choirs in the villages. The Miao village has developed a new music tradition Miao hymn, a hybrid of Miao traditional music, language, dance and costumes with elements of Western choral practices. [read more]
Xiaohai Xin Village is located in Tangzi Street, Xundian Yi and Hui Autonomous County, Kunming City, Yunnan Province. Currently, the village consists of 77 households, all of whom are Miao people. The Miao people in this Village belong to the Da Hua Miao subgroup and speak the Northeastern Yunnan Miao dialect. In 2020, Xiaohai Xin Village was designated as a Featured Village of Ethnic Minorities in China, highlighting its unique cultural and linguistic heritage. [read more] Miao Flower Mountain Festival 2025 in Kunming
Project Collaborative team
The collaborative elements of this project are of foundational significance to its success. PI and postdoctoral researchers will work cooperatively with local community leaders and musicians in each village. We are mentored and assisted by an international academic Advisory Board with special knowledge in ethnomusicology, anthropology, sociology and computer science, and local non-academic consultants, such as experts working in the government sector and media industry, intellectuals in mainstream culture, and community organizers, and is rely upon technical support for data storage and website maintenance and writing the tailored programs.
Current Team Members
Previous Team Members
Community Leaders
The team works closely with community leaders in each village. These figures guide and approve activities, help us gather and share experience, and maintain good communications. The leaders’ role includes keeping in close contact with villagers who engage with the research and listening to their self-reflections on their communities and culture.
Guo Xiaowei 郭晓炜
(Yi village Mayou)
Head of the Centre of Intangible Cultural Transmission, Preservation and Exhibition, Yao’an County.
Luo Rongxiu 罗荣秀
(Yi village Mayou)
Director of the Meige Cultural and Arts Development Center, Yao’an County.
Zhang Zhongming 张仲明
(Bai village Qifeng)
A community leader of the village, respected for his education and voluntary work for the community.
Wang Bingcui 王炳翠
(Bai village Qifeng)
Former Village Branch Secretary, now serves as the Director of the Senior Citizens Association.
Yang Jifan 杨吉繁
(Bai village Qifeng)
An active Bai folk musician, passionate about photography and documenting music in the Village.
Zhang Hongming 张洪明
(Miao village Xiaohai Xin)
A local primary school music teacher, an active organizer of community music activities.
Long Haiyan 龙海燕
(Miao village Xiaohai Xin)
A local NGO member, providing Miao to Mandarin and English translation.
Advisory Board
The PI is assisted by access to an Advisory Board which meet online twice a year and can be contacted by PI and postdoctoral researchers flexibly as needed. In-person board meetings are scheduled for year 3, at the proposed conference, for year 5.
Prof. Helen Rees
Ethnomusicologist specializing in musics of the Naxi and Han ethnic groups in Yunnan and intangible culture heritage in China. Ethics Advisor of ECura project
Prof. Hui Yu
Ethnomusicologist specializing in Chinese traditional music in the digital era and ethnic minority music in Yunnan
Prof. Lonán Ó Briain
Ethnomusicologist specializing in music and culture of Hmong Ethnicity in Vietnam; External Independent Ethics Advisor
Dr. Xingfu Li
Associate Professor at Yunnan Minzu University, specializing in ethnic minority languages and Yi culture
Dr. Xuemei Li
Associate Professor at Dali University, specializing in Bai language and culture
Local Senior Advisors
Deng Ke. 邓柯 Music program producer, China Central TV Station
Long Chengpeng. 龙成鹏 Chief editor of Journal Ethnicity Today
Su Junjie. 苏俊杰 Director of the Yunnan Provincial Research Base of Intangible Culture Heritage & Assoc. Prof. at School of Ethnology and Sociology, Yunnan University
Su Xiaoyin. 粟小殷 Manager of Yunnan Yingda Film and TV Cultural Media Inc.
Xin Weibo. 信卫波 Manager of Yuansheng Fang
Contributors | 贡献者
Yi Database: Audio (Rongxiu Luo, Zi’an Guo, Zhengjun Guo); Chinese Text (Xiaowei Guo, Rongxiu Luo); English translation (Jin Dai, Keyi Liu); English proof-reading (Mary Dillon, Xingfu Li); IPA (Wei Li, Xingfu Li).
彝族语料库：演唱录制（罗荣秀、郭自安、郭正军）；文本整理（郭晓炜、罗荣秀）；英文翻译（戴进、刘可意）；英文校对（Mary Dillon、李兴福）；IPA 标注与校对（李薇、李兴福）
Miao Database: Audio (Xuede Li); Chinese Text (Xuede Li, Keyi Liu); English translation (Lihua Su, Yunhui Yang, Haiyan Long, Yalun Yang); IPA (Haiping Zhang and Weiyang Wang).
苗族语料库：演唱录制（李学德）；文本整理（李学德、刘可意）；英文翻译（苏立华、杨云惠、龙海燕、杨雅伦）；IPA 标注（张海平）。
Bai Database: Audio (Sen Yang); Chinese Text (Sen Yang, Keyi Liu); English translation (Xuemei Li, Hongqiao Zhu); IPA (Sen Yang, Haizhen Guo).
白族语料库：演唱录制（杨森）；文本整理（杨森、刘可意）；英文翻译（李雪梅、朱泓桥）；IPA 标注（杨森、郭海珍）。
Naxi Database: Audio (Cheng Mu, Huiqiong He, Yunpeng He, Dongyue He, Zhifang Zhao, Xiafen He, Yaowei He, Xiquan He, Jingliang He, and Liqiu He); Chinese Text (Cheng Mu and Tingting Tang); English translation (Shuyuan Shi and Tingting Tang); IPA (Aixin He).
纳西族语料库：演唱录制（木诚、和慧琼、和云鹏、和冬月、赵芝芳、和霞芬、和耀伟、和习全、和敬良、和丽秋）；文本整理（木诚、唐婷婷）；英文翻译（石树元、唐婷婷）；IPA 标注（和嫒鑫）。
Yi (S) Database: Audio (Zhengzhong Yang; Jinfa Li, Qiong Zhang, Zhao Pu); Chinese Text (Jinfa Li); English translation (Jinfa Li and Lijuan Qian); IPA (Jinfa Li).
彝族（南部）语料库：演唱录制（杨正忠、李金发、张琼、普照）；文本整理（李金发）；英文翻译（李金发、钱丽娟）；IPA 标注（李金发）。
Yi (N) Database: Audio (Tou Shi); Chinese Text (Tou SHi); English translation (Hongqiao Zhu, Lijuan Qian).
彝族（北部）语料库：演唱录制（石头）；文本整理（石头）；英文翻译（朱泓桥、钱丽娟）。
Database Design & Management: Lijuan Qian.
语料库设计与管理：钱丽娟
Database Technician: Kai Zhao.
技术支持：赵恺
Database Entry Editing: Keyi Liu, Tingting Tang, Xi Zhang,Tianyu Liu, Yalun Yang, Shangcheng Ye, Decheng Shao.
语料库输入：刘可意、唐婷婷、张曦、刘天宇、朱泓桥、叶上诚、邵德诚。
Related Websites
China Intangible Cultural Heritage
Center for the Protection and Research of Language Resources of China (语宝）
Cooperative Partners
Meige Studio
Yunnan Yingda Film and TV Cultural Media Inc.
Funding and Institution
