Ma Lanhua
01 · Lineage & Regional School
Ma Lanhua, Female, Hui, from Ningxia, is a second-batch national representative bearer of Hui Minjian Instrumental Music (Ⅱ-63). The tradition is documented in Ningxia. Within the regional tradition and school record of Hui Minjian Instrumental Music in Ningxia: The lines 'The barbarian dust clears the Jade Pass, the qiang flute rings with the war gong' and 'I do not know who is blowing the reed pipe; all the soldiers on campaign gaze all night long at home' in Li Shimin's 'Song of Watering Horses at the Caves of the Great Wall' are both true records of the instruments then in vogue, written after the Tang emperor personally visited the ancient Ningxia region of Lingzhou. Because of changes in history, these instruments have become very rare among the Han and other ethnic minorities of China today, yet as late as the twentieth century they were still popular among the Hui people of Ningxia.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
Female, Hui ethnicity, born in 1939 in Lingwu, Ningxia. In her early years she learned the playing and making of the kouxian (jaw's harp) from her father, and mastered the performance of numerous kouxian tunes. Her playing has a sharply marked rhythm and a rising and falling melodic line; it can voice private thoughts and convey feeling, and it possesses a distinctive artistic style. Her brothers and sisters were likewise skilled kouxian players, and the family is a representative Hui kouxian lineage in the Ningxia plain. Within the documented technical tradition of Hui Minjian Instrumental Music in Ningxia: Through long practice of life and cultural activity, the Hui of Ningxia have inherited the ancient instruments of Ningxia and the instruments of the northwestern frontier region together with their music, and have gradually developed them into folk instruments of the Hui with their own character. In the last century Chinese historians and philologists established that the Ningxia wawu, mimi and jaw harp are respectively the transformations and survivals of the xun, the qiang flute, the reed pipe and the free reed, ancient instruments circulating in Ningxia since the Han and Tang dynasties. The instruments of the Hui of Ningxia have already formed distinctive performing techniques, craftsmanship and the art of singing with instrumental accompaniment. A Hui virtuoso can use crossed trilling fingers to blow florid embellishments on the high-pitched wawu that the instrument can hardly produce by itself. The Hui instruments made by Hui artisans resemble an ox head or a small lamb; they are decorated with Hui artistic patterns and lines and carved with Arabic calligraphy, and they have vivid features of Hui culture. Because they have a beautiful tone, are easy to play and are convenient to carry, they have been handed down through generations among the Hui of Ningxia. In some Hui villages, whether young maidens or white-haired elders, everyone has a small jaw harp, while Hui boys and young men are skilled at blowing the mimi and the wawu. The village saying 'the wawu sings, the crops grow; the mimi blows, the cattle and sheep thrive' is exactly a portrait of village custom. Many artists of the older generation have changed their trade, and many young people no longer know what the jaw harp, the mimi and the wawu are. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Kou-xian jaw-harp playing": Hui women commonly carry a jaw harp and play it, using sharply marked rhythm and a melody of rise and fall to narrate the heart's feelings and convey emotion. "Mimi pipe playing": The mimi is a transformation and survival of the qiang flute and reed pipe of the Han and Tang dynasties; Hui boys and young men are often good at playing it. The village saying 'the wawu sings, the crops grow; the mimi blows, the cattle and sheep thrive' is exactly a portrait of this. "Wawu clay-ocarina craft": It takes forms such as the lentil wawu and the ox-head wawu; the artisans shape and fire it from clay, decorating it with Hui artistic patterns and lines and carving Arabic calligraphy on it. "Crossed trill technique": A Hui virtuoso uses crossed trilling fingers to blow florid embellishments on the high-pitched wawu that the instrument can hardly produce by itself.
Kou-xian jaw-harp playing
Hui women commonly carry a jaw harp and play it, using sharply marked rhythm and a melody of rise and fall to narrate the heart's feelings and convey emotion.
Mimi pipe playing
The mimi is a transformation and survival of the qiang flute and reed pipe of the Han and Tang dynasties; Hui boys and young men are often good at playing it. The village saying 'the wawu sings, the crops grow; the mimi blows, the cattle and sheep thrive' is exactly a portrait of this.
Wawu clay-ocarina craft
It takes forms such as the lentil wawu and the ox-head wawu; the artisans shape and fire it from clay, decorating it with Hui artistic patterns and lines and carving Arabic calligraphy on it.
Crossed trill technique
A Hui virtuoso uses crossed trilling fingers to blow florid embellishments on the high-pitched wawu that the instrument can hardly produce by itself.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
National representative bearer of Hui Minjian Instrumental Music, a second-batch national intangible cultural heritage project.
04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier
Historical origin
Because of changes in history, these instruments have become very rare among the Han and other ethnic minorities of China today, yet as late as the twentieth century they were still popular among the Hui people of Ningxia.
05 · Fellow National Bearers Lineage
National representative bearers recorded under the same item code, ordered from the first to the sixth batch. Batch order is not a teacher–student relationship.
| Bearer | Declared area | Roster code | Relation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ma Lanhua | Ningxia | 02-0311 | This page |
| Yang Dawude | Ningxia | 03-0853 | Same declared area |
| An Yuge | Ningxia | 05-2088 | Same declared area |
06 · Archival Sources & Bibliography
This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript. Compiled from official national representative bearer archival records and the associated project dossier, organized by topic and translated into English. 阅读中文版。