Shakuhachi is an ancient Chinese traditional bamboo blowing instrument, named after the pipe length of one foot and eight inches. Cao Hao, 35, is a guqin teacher in Shijiazhuang's Xinhua district, and for years he has had a soft spot for ancient instruments. As a non-hereditary inheritor of the Shakuhachi production technology of Tang Puhua, cao Hao is like a number of family treasures when it comes to the shakuhachi instrument making technique, he can not only handcraft the shakuhachi instrument, but also play ancient music. "In the future, I will try my best to inherit this ancient handicraft, let more people understand the story behind it, and let more cultural treasures of the Chinese nation return to the lives of young people." Cao Hao said confidently.
Cao Hao is playing shakuhachi.
Shakuhachi production reproduces sheng tang chinese tone
The morning light is faint, and a few rays of warm sunlight obliquely shine through the window, shining into a row of emerald bamboo placed against the wall of the house, and a faint bamboo fragrance spreads out. Every morning, when he opened his eyes, Cao Hao simply washed himself in the bamboo fragrance, walked into his shakuhachi workshop, sat down at the workbench, and started his obsessive shakuhachi production.
"The production of shakuhachi ancient musical instruments, rigorous selection of materials, exquisite process, the need for thick bamboo fibers, the current main selection of southern gui bamboo." Cao Hao casually picked up a piece of bamboo to dry and told it.
Tangpuhua shakuhachi production is different from other schools, bamboo has different forms, curves and straights, does not cut and stitch, attaches importance to bamboo talent, and has strict proportional requirements for the spacing of each bamboo knot. Initially, in order to find high-quality bamboo, he often ran into the mountains to personally select them. "After turning over a bamboo mountain, you can find 10 bamboo that meet the conditions, even if you are lucky." Nowadays, I mostly entrust local bamboo farmers to help find and send them back. He sighed that even the bamboo selected by experienced bamboo farmers can not be made into shakuhachi, "After slowly roasting the selected bamboo in the stove, you need to leave it in the sun for 1 and a half to 3 years, until it changes from emerald green to white or yellow, and it is difficult to leave two or three good bamboos." ”
Cao Hao put on fireproof gloves, placed an emerald green bamboo on the electric oven, turned it up and down, and rubbed the bamboo to make it heat evenly, "When the sun is good and the natural light is good, I will 'kill' the selected bamboo, in order to roast the water vapor and oiliness in the fresh bamboo, so as to carry out the next step of production." Watching the emerald green bamboo fade a little, Cao Hao said: "Sometimes I feel that the 'killing green' process is particularly romantic and beautiful. ”
It is reported that the production of a shakuhachi needs to go through dozens of processes such as material selection, drying, cutting, rough grinding, jointing, diameter adjustment, fine grinding, inlaying, digging holes, painting, and branding. On the same day, Cao Hao demonstrated to reporters one by one at the scene.
"All processes are basically pure handmade, in order to exercise and maintain the craft, I do not use power tools, all rely on the eyes and hands to control the details, only by excellence, can we reproduce the shengshi huayin." Cao Hao said that especially when shakuhachi is used and adjusted, every action should be fully concentrated, and once the strength is deviated, the shakuhachi will be scrapped due to changes in performance and sound quality. "Once, I stabbed it with a file, confiscated the force, and the inner diameter went more, and the sound collapsed. The sound of blowing out is not qualified, and the whole pipe is wasted. ”
In Cao Hao's view, the production of shakuhachi must be made with hands and hearts, and it must be decisive when starting. "It is our insistence to open and close widely, thick and thin, so that we can produce a qualified shakuhachi."
Bamboo is greened.
After graduating from university, he aspired to become a local shakuhachi pipe master
Cao Hao's persistence has lasted for more than ten years.
Cao Hao was born in 1987 into a cultural family. The instrument-making techniques he inherited were passed down from generation to generation by his family. "My mother loved music, and for as long as I can remember, my family used to play some classical and pop music." Under the influence and ear of his family, Cao Hao has loved music since he was a child. Later, through study, the family accumulated more than 20 kinds of musical instruments, Chinese and Western halves, "all-round" brought him a steady stream of inspiration.
After graduating from university, he began to concentrate on studying the guqin, one of China's most classic instruments, and learned to play shakuhachi. Shakuhachi, a forgotten ancient musical instrument, and its innate sense of history, made Cao Hao intoxicated, so, on the basis of family tradition, Cao Hao went to chengdu to learn the shakuhachi blowing and production techniques for nearly 10 years.
"This shakuhachi is not handed down from the court music, but Zen Buddhism." Cao Hao said slowly. Shakuhachi, is an ancient Chinese traditional bamboo blowing instrument, evolved from the Han flute and Qiang flute, because of its length of one foot and eight inches, so it was named "shakuhachi". During the Sui and Tang dynasties, the shakuhachi became one of the main musical instruments in the court. After the Southern Song Dynasty, the shakuhachi technique was transmitted to Japan and gradually developed, but in the mainland, it was gradually replaced by instruments such as flutes, flutes, flutes, and reeds, and was rarely played again. Until recent years, with the continuous return of traditional culture, the shakuhachi, an ancient musical instrument, has gradually entered the vision of young people and has been rejuvenated.
However, Cao Hao found that the shakuhachi is still very niche in the mainland. "When it comes to shakuhachi, many people associate it with concepts like 'Japanese wind' and 'ninja'. Few people know that shakuhachi is our traditional musical instrument in ancient China, with a long history of more than 1,000 years. Cao Hao was distressed, and secretly determined to carry forward the shakuhachi culture, "I not only want to pass back the shakuhachi culture, but also be a local pipe maker and non-hereditary inheritor." ”
In 2021, as China's first local heritage shakuhachi pipe master, Cao Hao applied for the Shijiazhuang Xinhua District Intangible Cultural Heritage Project, and established the "Beibuki Bamboo Tang Puhua Shakuhachi Workshop" in Xinhua District, with more than 30 students.
Trimming the newly made shakuhachi.
Hope to "universalize" shakuhachi
Every Sunday, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 a.m., it is Cao Hao's time for voluntary teaching. While inheriting the skills of instrument making, he constantly innovates the production process and pays more attention to the exercise of breathing.
"Before learning to make a pipe, you must first learn to play, and the two complement each other." Cao Hao said that the shakuhachi sound after being made is desolate and vast, can express an ethereal and idyllic artistic conception, more vigorous and powerful than the cave, more straightforward, it triggers dantian qi, in fact, the practice of breathing method, which is almost the same as the traditional inner fist breathing method. On weekdays, he would lead the students around the square in front of the workshop, walking heavily and blowing shakuhachi at the same time, thus practicing the breathing method.
"Blowing while walking tests people's concentration and strength, lack of concentration will be distracted, and the sound of less than shakuhachi will have a direct reaction." People today need such a 'mirror' to examine their mental and physical state. Cao Hao's student Li Yaqi said.
"Modern people like to play with mobile phones, lack of concentration, the spirit is easy to scatter, shakuhachi can be said to be a way of cultivation, making people more stable and resolute." Cao Hao said that shakuhachi can exercise people's strength and enhance their spirit. Pan Dong, a student of Cao Hao, said that the chinese medicine saying that "breathing to the navel" is exactly the shakuhachi breathing method.
Among Cao Hao's students, there are many young people after 95. After feng guanlin graduated from high school, he studied guqin with Cao Hao and came into contact with shakuhachi. "This instrument is ancient and mysterious, and if it can't be played, it can't be played at all." In the past 8 years, Feng Guanlin has witnessed The inheritance of Cao Hao on the production of shakuhachi ancient musical instruments to the truth and purity, and under the teacher's words and deeds, he has slowly realized the true meaning of shakuhachi, "inner peace, unity of things and me". Feng Ziyuan, 24, followed Cao Hao for 3 years to play shakuhachi, "If you have the ability in the future, you must also learn to make shakuhachi with your teacher and inherit traditional Chinese culture." ”
"Although I make instruments, I don't want shakuhachi to be just an instrument." Cao Hao hopes to "popularize" the shakuhachi so that more people can find inspiration and feel the true meaning of life.
At the same time as volunteer teaching, bamboo crack repair is another feature of the workshop, which Cao Hao calls "happy to hear bamboo cracks". Originally, shakuhachi is easy to crack in the north, and many people will choose yin drying and other ways to avoid this situation, while Cao Hao is more willing to maintain the original state of bamboo, and when it is cracked, it will be repaired. "The same is made of bamboo, the flute is a thin-walled instrument, the better the quality, the less likely it is to crack." The shakuhachi is the opposite, it is a thick-walled musical instrument, the thicker the bamboo fiber, the easier it is to crack, which indicates that the material is good. Cao Hao did not charge money for the repair of the shakuhachi, but only collected some production and maintenance materials such as tying wires, raw paint, and files. Cao Hao explained that this is a kind of goodwill cycle, "Shakuhachi enthusiasts all over the country can send shakuhachi to repair, as long as it can be repaired, I will do my best." And the 'reward' they gave me will also be used for free on more shakuhachi enthusiasts in the future. ”
At the end of the interview, Cao Hao picked up his elaborate shakuhachi and reproduced the Sheng Tang Dynasty with a wonderful rendition, showing the world its long-sealed light.
Text/Figure Yanzhao Evening News Rong Media Reporter Du Hui Intern Li Xiaoyan
Editor Li Bing Editor Lao Ke