【Legend of the People】The sound of bamboo flute - grassroots music genius Wu Shilan | author Wang Ether

In the smoke-filled countryside night, in the empty and quiet night sky, the sound of loud and crisp bamboo flutes, accompanied by the fragrance of late cooking dishes, crosses the forest, passes through the grass field, and gently floats in all directions. Like a faint light thunder, if the fragrance, surprise the night in the countryside, please people's hearts. Whose masterpiece is this? --Wu Shilan. A native of Wangzhuang Village, a grassroots music genius. I don't know if he knows the score, but to us, his melodious flute sound and the gentle tune he plays are undoubtedly the most beautiful natural sounds. He can not only play the horizontal flute, but also play the vertical flute, but also can beat the jade drum, knock the board, play the gong and drum family, and can also put a good kite, he will see what he will do, can be described as a hundred children.

Dawangzhuang is roughly divided into four blocks: Weili, Weiwai, Qianwu and Houzhuang. Wu Shilan's family lives in former Wu, a hundred meters away from my home, I don't know which generation of relatives are related, I call him the eldest brother, the eldest sister-in-law is a good person, warm to people, a face of happiness. His father, Wu Wenxiang, I called my cousin Uncle, simple and loyal, feeding cattle and ploughing the land, never saw him idle. His family sits west to east, north of Wu Wenying, Wu Wenfu, south of Ma Youzhan, behind the house Zhou Xiangpeng, Zhou Xiangrui, in front of the door is open land, through a road ditch is my home, all are generations of folk neighbors. Usually, almost every family can hear and see talking and working, not to mention the pleasant sound of bamboo flutes at night! In the countryside, where there were no movies, no television, and almost zero entertainment in the past, it was a pleasure and luxury to occasionally hear such a beautiful bamboo flute sound. Therefore, people regard him as a holy hand who delivers the blessings of the gospel, a rare genius...

In the 1940s and 1950s, the liberated countryside was full of jubilation, markets, trade; schools, education; and the playing village meeting during the Spring Festival was the best form and opportunity to release the joyful mood.

In the play village meeting, whether it is the literary drama "Hanging Whip", "Running Dry Boat", or the martial arts drama "Stilt Walking" and "Lion Club", there are all lively gongs and drums. Starting from the "dang, dang, dang" of the small gong, then the first gong, the second gong and other musical instruments roared in unison to keep up, the big chick "bang bang" joined in the fun, the reed sheng and huqin "hummed haha" bombarded the atmosphere, mixed with the "bang bang" drum sound that was slowly and excited when it was tight, only the small boring on the index finger seemed to be understanding, don't look at it small, but the sound is more crisp, in this warm and magnificent movement, it is indeed a flock of chickens, you listen to its crisp water lingling slightly magnetic sound, talking like a child whispering, In the ensemble of the instruments, it seems to become the center of the attention; only the bamboo flute is unique, the high-pitched flute, the melodious tune, like the notes floating in the blue sky, and like the ribbons in the ensemble, the band marches forward. At this time, I saw that whether it was a horizontal bamboo flute or a cable-stayed erhu, it seemed that ShiLange was the protagonist, and he had to point out other things from time to time! This gong and drum beat the noisy momentum, breaking the tranquility of the village, stirring up people's joy, which is a beautiful landscape when playing the township meeting.

This landscape is not only because of the majesty of the ensemble lineup, but even in the "dry boat" of the literary drama, it is also beautiful and moving, especially when the performance is about to end and leave, it is not simply to end and leave, but to have a set of warm resignations. You see the "dry boat" gradually sliding to the outside of the field, the audience is inseparable to stay and send, the four girls on both sides of the "dry boat" with heavy makeup are still dancing and singing, the band is hugging in front of them while mixing and slowly opening the gap in the field; that side is enthusiastically retained, while staying and sending; this side is not willing to give up, and walking and singing, the host and guest are harmonious, and the scene is moving. They sang the story of the white snake loving Xu Xian in "Water Flood golden mountain temple", the plot was tortuous, the song was transferred to listen, the mourning was miserable, the affection was sincere, which resonated with the whole audience, and the songs that could not be listened to endlessly. At this time, Chen Lingwen, who pulled erhu, and Wu Shilan, who played the bamboo flute, seemed to have a sharp mind, and with tacit understanding, the more they pulled, the more addictive they became, and the more they blew, the more energetic they were. Pulling the bow and pulling it darkly, he lifted his head and played the clouds and blue. The actor girl sang while dancing, her head was already full of sweat, her mouth was rustling and dumb, the "head" looked in the eyes, the joy was in the heart, and the performance was a great success! Eighteen miles to send each other is also different. The leaders of the township meeting and the main stadium saw the fire and bid farewell to each other nostalgically, and the love man who drove the dry boat and the four girls who sang along immediately removed their makeup and put on their livestock (the means of transportation for the actors) and ran to the venue of the next village. The musicians of the ensemble were all adults, so they had to follow on foot. From the second day of the first month to the eighth day of the first month, they "ran the meeting" every day, enjoyed it tirelessly, not only served the township association, but also gave full play to their amateur strengths.

One minute on stage, ten years offstage. In fact, their genius is all hard work. Others don't know, but I know a little bit about Slange. The walls of his house are full of many musical instruments, such as flutes, bamboo pipes, erhu and so on. Maybe it is love well, the farmer practices when he has nothing to do, and he can often hear the bamboo flute tune he plays at night and the sound of the huqin played by hand. Sometimes he also came to my house and had a discussion with my second brother: how to set the strings of the erhu and how to wax it; how to cover the eyes of the flute, how to paste the mold, the flute mold seems to be extracted from the reeds, and it is not easy to get it. I was curious about it, and he encouraged me to learn too, and I also wanted to try it. Erhu is too complicated, and it is a string and a bow, so I pick up a bamboo pipe to blow, it seems simple, a bamboo has several eyes, but a mouth is not good, the eye on the top of the blow is not easy to get, the lips are far away, close is not good, must be put just right, in order to have a little loud, and then it does not work, in short, it did not learn, it also lost interest, and it did not have the strength of this skill.

In addition, Silange's kite is also well placed, and his kite is not a small fight, but a positive flying in the sky. He wrapped a sturdy rope around it and led the huge kite. First pull and try to make it flutter, and then take advantage of the wind to pull the rope line, the kite will float up, and when it flies to the high wind, it will jump up and go to the zenith, he looks up and looks at the past, happily busy loosening the rope in the shaft, the faster and faster in his hand, the kite also flies higher and higher, until the rope is released, the kite is like a bird fluttering in the sky, and the shadow swims back and forth and soars... Looking at the lively us, he clapped his hands happily, and he happily loosened all the ropes in the shaft, and finally fixed the spool to the ground, easily expressed his breath, and quietly admired his masterpiece. He pays great attention to his own success and effect, kites are generally picked at the time of the market, next to the road that people must pass through, before showing their skills, let people share his success and joy...

The past is like smoke, they are all ancient, but in my heart, the beautiful big kite is still flying in the blue sky; the wonderful bamboo flute is still ringing in my ears.