The article discusses how the preservation of the storytelling tradition was affected by the policy of ‘ethnic preservation’ applied by the Chinese authorities to the Oirats of Xinjiang from the late 18th to the mid20th centuries. The policy of ‘ethnic preservation’ applied by the Chinese authorities to the Oirats of Xinjiang from the late 18th to the mid-20th centuries. During this period, the traditional way of life of the Oirats favoured the preservation of the complex of traditional knowledge of nomadic pastoralists and the tradition of living epic. The information we have obtained about contemporary narrators testifies to the continuing living existence of the epic tradition of the Oirats of Xinjiang. Acknowledgements. The article is a part of the RANEPA state assignment research programme.
Dzhangarchi narrators; narratorial tradition; Oirats of Xinjiang; Dzhangar epic; epic tales.