Beijing, 23 Feb (Xinhua) -- On 23 February, the Xinhua Daily Telegraph published a report entitled "From "Shou Artists" to "Sowers," Bringing "Hainan Eight Sounds" Out of the Country."
Since the Spring Festival, the 86-year-old Huang Zihe and his Hainan Eight Music Team have been continuously invited to perform, and although they are busy, he enjoys it.
Because he has insisted on 14 years of Hainan eight-tone inheritance work, more and more results have been achieved, more and more people know how to play and love to listen, and this national intangible cultural heritage, which has been almost lost, has "caught fire".
Huang Zihe teaches eight-tone playing techniques at Lingshan Town Center Primary School in Meilan District, Haikou City. Courtesy of respondents
"Not only should it not be lost, but it should also be carried forward"
Hainan Eight Sounds is an important variety of Hainan local art, has been handed down for thousands of years, both refers to 8 categories of musical instruments made of local materials coconut shells, yellow pears, betel nut wood, but also refers to "Qingfeng Nian", "New Worship Hall", "Reward Banquet", "BaiShou Song", "Kaleidoscope Lantern" and other more than 500 local unique repertoire, they record the life of the locals, carry people's emotional identity with excellent traditional culture, is a special memory carrier.
In the Qiongbei region of Hainan, whenever there are traditional festivals, wedding and funeral ceremonies, important social and sacrificial occasions, asking the eight-tone team to play is a standard custom, and at its peak, almost all villages have eight music teams, which are passed down from generation to generation, and the "sound" is endless.
However, in history, Hainan Bayin has experienced catastrophes. In 1939, Japan invaded Hainan and implemented the "Three Lights Policy", the people did not have a good life, many people left their homes, the drums stopped, and the bands scattered.
After being included in the second batch of national intangible cultural heritage list in 2008, Hainan Bayin faced many common problems in the protection and inheritance of intangible cultural heritage: the reduction of the audience, the lack of creative talents, and the exploration of the relationship between inheritance and innovation needs to be deepened...
Huang Zihe teaches at the Guansheng Temple in Qunshang Village, Meilan District, Haikou City. Courtesy of respondents
In June of that year, Huang Zihe, who was 72 years old and settled in Australia, saw an article in his hometown newspaper titled "Hainan Eight Sounds Will Become Absolute?" After the report, it was learned that Hainan Eight Sounds seriously lacked professional teachers and was facing the danger of being lost. At that time, Huang Zihe was teaching Hainan Eight Tones to foreigners in Australia. In his first year abroad, he was invited to participate in the Sydney Chinese New Year performance and found that the music of his hometown was very popular with foreigners.
"When I went abroad, I learned that my things are of great value, such as the wind instruments of Western musical instruments with 16 holes and 32 holes, while the eight-tone wind instrument in Hainan has only 7 holes, foreigners are very surprised, the throat tube with 7 holes can play all the notes, such a good thing not only can not be lost, but also should be carried forward." Huang Zihe said that he thought to himself, instead of teaching foreigners abroad, why not go home and teach young people in his own country?
It is better to act than to act. The elderly Huang Zihe resolutely returned to his hometown with the original intention of "inheritance", found the Lingshan Cultural Station in Meilan District, and took the initiative to ask Miao to become an eight-tone inheritor. Huang Zihe grew up learning Qinqin and Erhu with the eight-tone master of the neighboring village, and is also a retired professional musician of the Qiong Theater in Hainan Province, who has the ability to teach the eight-tone blowing and pulling technique to more young people.
Huang Zihe originally taught eight-tone artists at the Lingshan Town Cultural Station in Meilan District, and also went to the park to teach interested middle-aged and elderly people, not only free of charge, but also provided musical instruments.
In practice, he found it urgent to cultivate the younger generation, so he guided the students of Lingshan Town Center Primary School to the cultural station to learn eight tones. In less than a year, students have been able to take the stage to play, and the wonderful performance on the stage has been well received by teachers, students and parents.
"The power of the vernacular is irreplaceable"
With the support of the school and parents, since 2012, Huang Zihe has brought the eight tones into the classroom of Lingshan Town Center Primary School, teaching for six or seven years. "He is the pioneer of the eight-tone special education in our school, he has taught two or three hundred students successively, he has not charged a penny, and although he has now gone to other schools to teach, he is still the eight-tone teaching consultant of our school, and he is often invited to come back to give lectures to the teachers." Chen Jijun, principal of Lingshan Town Center Primary School, said.
In recent years, the intangible cultural heritage project has provided some subsidies, and there are also fixed training centers, and Huang Zihe goes to the missionary school in Qunshang Village, Meilan District, half a day a week to teach, as long as he is willing to learn, he teaches for free, thunder and rain do not change. During the semester, Huang Zihe went to Longfeng Experimental Primary School to teach two eight-tone classes, one lesson per week in each class.
In the past 14 years, Huang Zihe has trained a large number of middle-aged and elderly apprentices and hundreds of primary and secondary school students, many of whom have been trained and can pull out a band at will.
In 2019, Huang Zihe led the "Hainan Xiangyin Visiting Group" to Singapore and Malaysia, which caused strong repercussions when playing for overseas Chinese in Hainan. "The power of the rural tone is irreplaceable, and it can be closer at once, and many old overseas Chinese are in tears when they hear us play "Bai Shou Qu" and "Send Jing Niang"." Huang Zihe said happily that nowadays, more and more young people and primary school students understand Hainan eight tones, and this skill will surely be developed in the future.
Mou Guifen, a member of the Huangzi Heba music team, is a native of Liaoning, who studied with Huang Lao from scratch for 4 years, and also had the honor of following the band to play abroad, "The more you play, the more you like it, you can't put it down when you learn, as long as you have time, you want to play." ”
Speaking of the elderly tutor Huang Zihe, she even exclaimed, "The teacher does not want money, is not afraid of tiredness, does not know tired, sometimes we sit and play for more than an hour are tired, he stands to guide but does not feel tired." In the "Non-Legacy Into the Campus" activity held in October last year, more than 20 members of the band went to 8 schools under the leadership of Huang Zihe to perform 8 consecutive performances.
Chen Shuai, director of the Meilan District Cultural Center, felt that "there must be a belief in spreading the music of his hometown farther away." ”
"I hope that the children will inherit this cultural heritage"
Huang Zihe is not only full of enthusiasm, but also has special ideas and methods in teaching. For elderly enthusiasts and primary school students, Huang Zihe teaches according to his aptitude and adopts different teaching methods. "Teach the elderly to play the music directly, so that they can get started quickly and have a sense of achievement when practicing, so that they can continue to persist." Children can pay attention to laying the foundation, but when they get started, they will find it difficult, so I will inject the rhythm of the eight tones into the children's songs, and the children will find it interesting to learn. Huang Zihe said.
Longfeng Experimental Primary School sixth grade students Li Yanxi, Ouyang Ziyi, Zhang Dingjian and a number of other teenagers, have been studying with Huang Zihe for 3 years, very fond of eight music songs, but also skillfully play and perform. Ouyang Ziyi told reporters that his parents are very supportive of him learning eight tones, and he also learns piano, "Although eight tones are a kind of local instrumental music, they are not earthy at all, but unique in charm, I believe that more and more people will love folk instrumental music in their hometown." ”
More than 500 songs, circulated for thousands of years, show that the eight tones themselves are beautiful and vital. However, old trees still have to grow new shoots, and the legacy left by the ancestors must not only be passed on, but also enriched and developed. In order to adapt to the current artistic environment and aesthetic habits, Huang Zihe boldly innovated, on the basis of respecting tradition, constantly introduced new instruments such as Nguyen Nguyen, Yangqin, cello, etc., updated and improved melodies and accompaniment skills, making them more in line with the preferences of young people and more suitable for stage performances.
"It is a happy thing to be able to work and inherit; it is very valuable to be a seeder of Hainan Eight Sounds; I hope that children will inherit this precious cultural heritage well and bring Hainan Eight Sounds out of the country and to the world." Huang Zihe said happily.