"We reproduce the hoop not for interest, but to let future generations know that china already had this instrument 2800 years ago." In the Dragon Antique City in Zhongshan, Guangdong Province, there is a studio called "Zhen Zhen Craftsman", which is lined with dozens of ancient musical instruments with different shapes and exquisite shapes, all from the hands of Hong Kong couple Huang Yiqi and Xu Bilan.
"Before coming to the mainland, we opened an 'Oriental Piano Shop' in Hong Kong, which can be said to be the first generation of folk music in Hong Kong. In 2007, we decided to sell our house in Hong Kong and came to Guangdong to focus on the development of the basket. Teacher Huang is now more than 80 years old, as if his life is all about living for the sake of Zhen zhen. The golden couple told the story of how they had known each other for more than 60 years, because of their common musical hobbies, they supported each other and promoted the inheritance and development of Chinese folk music.
The first generation of hong Kong to play folk fun
"I already knew Mr. Huang when I was 13 years old, and as an alumnus, I was invited to come back and teach us, the teachers and sisters, to play the pipa." Although Huang Yiqi and Hui Bilan's acquaintance originated from folk music, in fact, in the early days in Hong Kong, folk music was a very niche hobby.
Huang Yiqi (first from left) performs a pipa performance. /Courtesy of the interviewee
"At that time, the development of Folk Music in Hong Kong was not so ideal, and many schools mainly taught piano and violin, and I took a copy of "How to Play the Pipa" and taught myself section by section." Huang Yiqi said.
When Xu Bilan learned to play the piano, in order to buy a 45 yuan pipa, she could only save the bus monthly pass for school, walk nearly two hours a day to and from home and school, and then pay the money to the school in installments. "It was a very good thing that I learned an instrument during the hardships." Xu Bilan smiled.
In 1983, because of their common love for folk music, Mr. and Mrs. Huang Yiqi opened a studio in Hong Kong called "Oriental Piano Shop". "There were not many students who started to learn folk music, and our work was also carried out more hard." Xu Bilan introduced that it was not until after the reform and opening up in the 1990s that many mainland musicians came to Hong Kong for exchanges, and more and more people paid attention to folk music, and some schools also ran folk orchestras. "We are almost the first generation of folk music in Hong Kong, and we have slowly developed Chinese music."
Reproducing the first person in China to play a vertical hoop
In 1982, Mr. and Mrs. Huang Yiqi met Cao Zheng, a guzheng professor at the China Conservatory of Music, at a concert, and also heard about the ancient instrument "箜篌" for the first time.
"I was studying to make the harp, and when Teacher Cao Zheng heard about it, he told me that there is an instrument in China called 'Zhen Zhen' that is very similar to the harp, but unfortunately no one has mentioned this instrument in the past hundred years. After he returned to Beijing, he sent me a lot of information, and since then I have been studying the basket all day. ”
Because there is little information about the hoop in Hong Kong and the lack of raw materials to make musical instruments, Mr. and Mrs. Huang Yiqi decided to sell their house in Hong Kong in 2007 and returned to Guangdong with the money to concentrate on the research and development of ancient hoops.
Huang Yiqi makes the basket in the studio.
After four years of repeated experimentation and research and development, by the end of 2011, Huang Yiqi had produced two vertical baskets that could be played. "On New Year's Day 2012, at a party in The Nansha Literary Association in Guangzhou, we officially played the song called 'Sheng Shi Hua Zhang", and Teacher Huang was also named 'the first person to reproduce China's playable vertical fence'." Xu Bilan introduced.
I hope that more Hong Kong compatriots will understand Zhen Zhen
In the past 10 years, Huang Yiqi and his wife have produced nearly 60 musical instruments. "After more than 60 years of getting along, our love has become affection, and maybe now Zhen Zhen is the thing he loves most deeply, not me." 」 Xu Bilan smiled.
Mr. and Mrs. Huang Yiqi make baskets in the studio.
At present, Huang Yiqi and his wife take about half a year to nine months to make a basket. After Huang Yiqi made the "white body" of the basket, Xu Bilan then designed the pattern of the appearance according to the characteristics of different baskets, and then found someone to paint and wind. In their view, in addition to being a musical instrument, it is also a high-level craft.
Part of the basket made by Huang Yiqi and his wife.
Although it took so long to make a basket, in Xu Bilan's view, Huang Yiqi never thought of giving up. "Sometimes I ask him, you're 80 years old, is it okay not to do it?" He said, 'If I don't do it, who's going to do it?' His life seemed to turn into a life for the fence, and he went to the studio at six o'clock every day and at eight o'clock. "In the hearts of Huang Yiqi and his wife, there has always been a mission to promote the basket, and I hope that more people will know what the basket looks like and how it should play."
"We also hope that in the future, we can bring some of the basket back to Hong Kong for exhibition, so that Hong Kong compatriots know that it is our wish that someone did such a thing in the Greater Bay Area."
Reporter: Li thought
Intern: Xu Xingyao
Editor: Ke Xiaoming