Acho Namgyal playing piwang in 1937

The chiwang (Dzongkha: སྤྱི་དབང་; Wylie: spyi-dbang)[1] is a type of fiddle played in Bhutan.[2] The chiwang, the lingm (flute), and the dramyen (lute) comprise the basic instrumental inventory for traditional Bhutanese folk music.[1]

Although the chiwang is considered typically Bhutanese, it is a variety of the piwang, a Tibetan two-stringed fiddle. It is heavily associated with boedra, one of two dominant genres of Bhutanese folk music, in which it symbolizes a horse.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Kinga, Sonam (2003). "The Attributes and Values of Folk and Popular Songs" (PDF). Journal of Bhutan Studies. 3 (1): 132–170. Retrieved 2011-10-30.
  2. ^ Dorji, C. T (1994). History of Bhutan Based on Buddhism. Sangay Xam; Prominent Publishers. p. 15. ISBN 81-86239-01-4. Retrieved 2011-10-30.
  3. ^ Clements, William M. (2006). The Greenwood Encyclopedia of World Folklore and Folklife: Southeast Asia and India, Central and East Asia, Middle East. Vol. 2. Greenwood Press. pp. 106–110. ISBN 0-313-32849-8. Retrieved 2011-10-16.


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