Multilingual Audio Database of Spoken and Sung Lyrics from Songs in Oral Tradition (Miao Database [Northeastern Yunnan Miao Dialect/Large Flowery Miao] )

The "Multilingual Audio Database of Spoken and Sung Lyrics from Songs in Oral Tradition" collects audio recordings of commonly used words in some of China’s minority languages that refer to music and dance genres and activities. Currently, the Database includes Yi Central dialect, Northeastern Yunnan Miao and Southern Bai dialect. The Database presents audio recordings of both spoken and sung lyrics from these traditions in parallel with texts in the original language, International Phonetic Alphabet, Chinese and English. ECura currently presents three such repertories and will embrace oral traditions from seven minority populations in total in 2026. (please visit database website ECura for full information; or the backup website Bai Audio Database – Everyone is a Curator: Digitally Empowering Ethnic Minority Music Sustainability in China)
ECura project has made an associated smartphone application ECurator which share the same backend of the database. The full materials could be accessed through ECurator app. The ECurator app could be downloaded for free through Google Play ECurator - Apps on Google Play or through App Store ‎ECurator App - App Store. The ECurator app is also available on WeChat Mini program.
The ECura project has established an open-access multilingual audio database based on the content of Miao Guge (ancient songs, 苗古歌). The team has collected and compiled the data and provided multilingual translations of texts and audio. The documents display the Miao script (New Miao scripts) to label the Miao ancient songs used by the Miao people from Northeastern Yunnan Miao dialect region, along with its Chinese and English translations, accompanied by audio of the text, as well as the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) transcriptions to enhance its audibility and readability for a broader audience. The performances, together with the texts and recordings, are primarily documented by Xuede Li, a city-level Miao ancient song inheritor in China.
CONTRIBUTORS | Audio (Xuede Li 李学德); Chinese Text (Xuede Li李学德, Keyi Liu刘可意); English translation (Lihua Su苏立华, Yunhui Yang杨云惠, Haiyan Long龙海燕, Yalun Yang杨雅伦); IPA (Haiping Zhang张海平, Weiyang Wang王维阳). Database Design & Management: Lijuan Qian钱丽娟. Database Technician: Kai Zhao赵恺. Database Entry Editing: Keyi Liu刘可意, Xi Zhang张曦, Tingting Tang唐婷婷, Tianyu Liu刘天宇, Yalun Yang杨雅伦, Shangcheng Ye叶上诚, Decheng Shao绍德诚.