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At 21:30 on January 29 (the fifth day of the first lunar month), the 2020 New Year special program "National Treasures" of the Central Radio and Television Corporation "National Treasures" "The Water of the Yellow River comes up from the sky" National Treasure Concert was simultaneously broadcast on the CCTV3 Variety Channel, CCTV Network, Central Video, and Station B, playing the surging sound of the Yellow River and triggering many netizens to burn the screen. The Yellow River has shaped the indomitable Chinese nation, and now is the time to unite with the spirit of the Yellow River and overcome difficulties!
In the two seasons of "National Treasure", there are 54 groups of national treasure guardians, all of whom are Chinese. This time, in the National Treasures 2020 Chinese New Year special program "The Yellow River Water Heavenly Rises" National Treasure Concert", a Japanese pottery flute player was invited to serve as the guardian of the national treasure, he is Sojiro.
Sojiro's appointment as the "Guardian of National Treasures" stems from his indissoluble relationship with China and the Yellow River. In 1986, when China and Japan co-produced the documentary "The Great Yellow River", NHK TV invited Sojiro to compose music for the documentary, and he has since become famous. 34 years later, he played "The Great Yellow River" again on the stage of the "National Treasure Concert", and the melodious flute sound conveyed what kind of Yellow River picture in his heart? Between recordings, Sojiro was interviewed in depth by the "Guanghua Rui Review".
Sojiro's music is widely loved in China, especially the well-known Tao Flute song "The Original Scenery of the Hometown". Even if some people don't know the name and creator of the song, as soon as they hear the familiar melody, they will immediately have a familiar resonance and empathy.
In the 2020 Chinese New Year special program "The Water of the Yellow River" National Treasure Concert of the Central Radio and Television Corporation," Sojiro not only played and shared "The Original Scenery of the Hometown", but also played his famous work "The Great Yellow River" completely. Many netizens said: It is really good to cry, like a clear stream washing the soul.
Some people commented: The melodious and long-standing sound of the pottery flute in "The Great Yellow River" perfectly interprets the ancient and magnificent nature of the Yellow River, and contains the vicissitudes and nostalgia of the thousand-year-old road. It is as if on the endless Gobi Desert, feeling the whistling of the wind and the vastness of the world, people can't help but burst into tears.
As everyone knows, before sojiro composed this famous song, he did not see the Yellow River with his own eyes, but only touched the image of the Yellow River in the documentary material. "I see that those who live in the upper reaches of the Yellow River Basin have a very strong will. The simple and warm smiles of those grandparents touched me very much, and I felt that I could use music to convey the voice of their hearts. Sojiro recalled.
The water of the Yellow River: it is altruism, not self-interest
As the guardian of the national treasure, the national treasure that Sojiro guarded this time is the Bingling Temple Grottoes Infinite Life Buddha.
Located in Gansu Province, the Bingling Temple Grottoes are the confluence of the Silk Road and the Yellow River, from which Buddhism was introduced, forming a splendid fusion culture. The Bingling Temple Grottoes were built in the early 4th century AD, two hundred years before the famous Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes.
This Buddha of immeasurable life, the Buddha statue has a square face, a high and straight nose, thin lips and beard, and strong majesty. Not far in front of the Big Buddha, the clear water of the Yellow River ushered in the confluence of the Tao River. It is from here that the color of the Yellow River water changes from blue to yellow and becomes the most familiar to us. For more than a thousand years, it is this big Buddha that guards the last clarity of the Yellow River.
The first time Sojiro saw this Buddha in his life was in 1986. At that time, China and Japan co-produced the documentary "The Great Yellow River". NHK asked him to compose music for the documentary. At that time, the staff took back the footage from the shooting, and Sojiro saw the Bingling Temple Grottoes and the Yellow River for the first time in the videotape.
In Sojiro's impression, the Yellow River is a great mother river, sometimes magnificent, sometimes gentle and quiet, and its majesty brings people a strong will. People living along the coast are nourished by the Yellow River and also absorb the spirit of the Yellow River. The young Sojiro was deeply moved, "Buddhism spread from the Silk Road to Japan. An important point in Buddhism is altruism, considering the interests of others rather than self-interest. I want to convey this through the timbre of the pottery flute. The Yellow River is silent, rushing between heaven and earth, deeply interpreting "water is good for all things without dispute", Sojiro felt that this ancient Chinese saying very accurately summarized his mind when creating.
The Yellow River is home to Chinese; the Silk Road is a original scenery in the hearts of the Japanese. Around the musical story of "The Great Yellow River", on the stage of the "National Treasure Concert", we imagine that civilizations met here more than a thousand years ago, and also witnessed that more than a thousand years later, China and Japan continue to work together to create a new integrated culture.
The sound of the pottery flute: from the earth, echoing in the earth
In Sojiro's creations, he is always full of reverence for the mountains and rivers of heaven and earth and for all things in nature. The land is the inexhaustible source and ultimate proposition in his creation.
"I think that everything is born from the soil, and cultivating the land is the life that people should have." Although Sojiro has long been a world-renowned musician, he still chooses to live away from the city and the crowds, living in the mountains, a 2-hour drive from Tokyo. He built his own simple house in the mountains, grew vegetables, studied clay, fired pottery flutes, immersed himself in writing and practicing playing... Feel the harvest and joy brought by the land, listen to the breath between the clay, constantly ponder and refine, and find the purest sound that belongs to your heart.
The pottery flute used by Sojiro, also known as ocarina, is said to have originated from a small town in northern Italy in the mid-19th century, when a baker used his oven to produce a small goose-shaped ceramic whistle toy, so it was named "ocarina", the Italian dialect is the meaning of "little goose", which has been used to this day. Rustic, intimate and full of deep beauty, the Ocalina flute sound overwhelmed everyone and quickly spread from Europe to the whole world.
However, the Ocalina flute sound, which was once popular, did not receive attention in Japan in the early days. It can be said that it was because of the music created by Sojiro in 1986 to perform the NHK program "The Great Yellow River" that its tone spread throughout Japan. Nowadays, there are more and more lovers of Ocalina flute in Japan, and it is not an exaggeration to say that most of them have begun to fall in love with the pottery flute because of Sojiro's performance.
Sojiro dedicated all his energy to The Flute. The Okalis he now uses are all made by himself. From making models, to washi and kiln roasting, although a kiln can fire about 100 sticks, only 3 or 4 can really be used. He carefully pondered the nature of the soil, followed the rhythm of the soil and made it with painstaking efforts, just like ploughing the field and weeding, and walked forward step by step.
Sojiro believes that "the Ocalina flute cultivates the air", it is the echo of the land, which can purify the air and purify our hearts. Like crops, this instrument made of earth is a precious gift from the land, and its tone should be the voice of the heart of the deep heavens of the earth.
The beauty of musical instruments: harmony and difference, beauty and beauty
The flute is a world instrument. All countries and regions in the world have had pottery eras for a long or short period of time, and there have also been records of flutes.
In the first season of "National Treasures", the "Jia Hu Bone Flute" from the Henan Museum is displayed, which is the earliest musical instrument in China, and is recognized by experts as the world's earliest playable instrument, which advances the history of China's seven-tone scale to 8,000 years ago.
It can be imagined from this that the civilization process of all countries in the world, in the long historical evolution, may often jump with distinct different notes, but from the wide angle of time and space, these differences often have a strikingly similar pace, just like a splendid symphony of diverse civilizations, harmony and difference, beauty and commonality.
When it comes to the "harmony and difference" between Chinese music and Japanese music, Mr. Sojiro feels that there is no answer, and he does not feel that there will be differences between the music of different countries. Perhaps in his view, music is the common language of the whole world, and it is enough to listen to the expression of music. He said that he liked China's classical ethnic instruments very much, such as yangqin, erhu, guzheng, and pipa, all of which he bought and collected. Perhaps in his mountain house, there is also a collection of musical instruments from all over the world.
In 2019, Sojiro has already held his own concert tour across China, and he hopes to have more opportunities to bring the timbre of his pottery flute to Chinese audiences after that. He believes that listening to the pottery flute playing on the spot can feel more emotion. "Okarina flute cultivates the air", this is what he wants to pass on to everyone.