TheTale of the Moon Cuckoo (Mongolian:Saran kökögen-ü namtar) is a traditional Mongolian opera by thecomposer, writer, andincarnate lamaDulduityn Danzanravjaa, composed between 1831 and 1832 and first performed in 1833. It tells the story of a prince who is tricked into being a cuckoo by a manipulative companion, who then impersonates the prince and causes the decline of their kingdom.
A significant work ofMongolian theatre, theTale of the Moon Cuckoo is unrelated toWestern opera and was significantly influenced by the Tibetan tradition oflhamo. Danzanravjaa based the opera's story on a 1737 Tibetan work of the same name, and combined Tibetan elements withChinese costuming andBuddhist philosophical concepts. Performed by at least eighty-seven actors in a specially designed theatre, the Tale of the Moon Cuckoo lasted for a month and was interspersed with unrelated comedic or educational pieces. It was performed for many years after Danzanravjaa's death in 1856 until theCommunist purges in the 1930s.
A prince lives happily in his father's kingdom, beloved by all and engaged to a beautiful woman. A jealous advisor of the king manipulates the prince into replacing his friends with the advisor's son. Together, the prince and his new companion become experts at transferring their souls into other bodies.
One day, when the two are meditating in the forest, they decide to transfer their souls intocuckoos. The companion seizes his moment, and he places his soul in the prince's body before throwing his own body into the river. Returning to the kingdom, the companion poses as the prince. Distraught by their son's apparent death, the advisor and his wife kill themselves, but their son does not care—he replaces the prince's fiancée with her jealous friend and acts so dubiously that the queen dies and the king loses heart. The kingdom begins to decline.
The fiancée resolves to figure out what is amiss. After months of wandering, she meets a travelling monk with a cuckoo companion; the monk tells her that the cuckoo was a prince who had been betrayed and who was now teaching the animalsBuddhism in the hope that he could one day become human again. Although the fiancée tells the king what has happened and the impostor is discovered, the prince is unable to return to his human body. Since that day, the cuckoo's song, calling for a change in fate, has indicated the coming of spring.
Dulduityn Danzanravjaa was born in 1803 into an extremely poor family. After being accepted at the age of seven into aBuddhist monastery, he quickly displayed poetic and religious talent.[1] Danzanravjaa was soon acclaimed not only as alama but as the fifth incarnation ofNoyon Khutagt. He studied the poems ofKelden Gyatso and philosophical debate before beginning a life of secluded wandering, drinking, and the occasional building ofhermitages in 1822.[1] Having become a disciple of the third Jangjiya Khutugtu (another lineage ofincarnate lamas), Danzanravjaa was alternately excluded from and included inInner Mongolian society. He died in 1856.[1] Danzanravjaa's most famous works, aside from theTale of the Moon Cuckoo, includeUlemjiin Chanar (lit.Extraordinary Qualities),Galuu khün khoyor (lit.The Goose and the Man),Öwgön shuwuu (lit.The Old Man and the Bird), andIchige, ichige (lit.For Shame, for Shame).[2] His works heavily mockedorganised religion and displayed Danzanravjaa's own eccentric spiritual orientation.[3]
Danzanravjaa conceived the concept of theTale of the Moon Cuckoo when staying in 1831 inAlashan, at the temple ofBaruun Khiid, which had a tradition of performingTibetan-style opera.[4] His composition was based on a 1737 work of Tibetan religious literature, also entitledTale of the Moon-Cuckoo, which had first been translated into Mongolian in 1770.[5] Performances began in 1833 after he had hired actors from Alashan and built a woodentheatre in Mongolia. A complete performance of the opera lasted for a month; each day's performance would begin in mid-morning and end in mid-to-late afternoon, and was interspersed with unrelated comedic and artistic pieces. The shorter version of the opera lasted fifteen days.[6] Danzanravjaa wrote thelibretto, which was subject to constant revision. He also designed the colourful costumes and trained the cast, which numbered at least eighty-seven.[7]
TheTale of the Moon Cuckoo combined Tibetan influences—most prominent in the opera'stsam dancing—withQing Chinese cultural elements, such as the makeup the opera used in place of the Tibetan tsammasks.[8] The opera emphasised numerous concepts ofBuddhist philosophy, most notablytranscendence throughmeditation, the principle ofkarma, and the significance ofrespect for nature.[7]
Despite being temporarily banned after Danzanravjaa's death, the opera was very popular and was performed very often until the 1930s, when theMongolian People's Republic carried outa series of repressive purges in which Danzanravjaa's monastery was destroyed.[9] Many of his documents were hidden in mountain caves by the monastery's curator and survived the purges—the curator's grandson exhumed the artefacts following the1990 revolution.[3] They are today housed in theDanzanravjaa Museum inSainshand.[7]