Uchin is a Daur narrative performance tradition. A 2026 report describes spoken-sung storytelling and performance accompanied by the four-string fiddle known as the huachangsi. It traces a shift from unaccompanied solo singing to self-accompanied performance, while noting that songs carry memories of history and everyday life. This is a genre built to be heard: a story unfolds through voice, tune and listeners who know how a familiar line should land.
From the journal
Uchin and Haku Maile: Daur performance in Meilisi
Uchin storytelling and Haku Maile song-dance are separate Daur traditions shared through community teaching and public performance.
In the same city · Qiqihar ↗A story carried by voice and fiddle
Two traditions at one festival
Haku Maile is a song-and-dance tradition, while Uchin carries narrative through sung speech and fiddle. A 2026 Kumule festival account places both in the program at Hala New Village, alongside public teaching elsewhere in Meilisi. Onstage, the forms share a community setting while keeping their own sound and movement.
Listening without flattening
Daur communities live in several regions, and Uchin is not confined to one district. Meilisi is one important Qiqihar setting within that broader geography. A local event shows how a tradition was presented at a particular time; community accounts explain how people learn and use it in daily life. Listen for the storytelling in Uchin, then keep it distinct from the movement and group performance of Haku Maile.