Ethnic Instrument Making Craftsmanship

Ⅷ-124Traditional CraftsmanshipShufu, XinjiangBatch 2 (2008)Newly Added Item

01 · Historical Records

The Uyghur musical instrument-making craft of Xinhe County, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, originated in the ancient Kucha Kingdom of the Han dynasty and has a history of over two thousand years to the present.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Chinese ethnic musical instruments have a long history and an extended lineage; closely related to the cultural life of all ethnic groups, they are an important component of traditional Chinese culture. These instruments have simple and elegant shapes, reasonable structures, exquisite workmanship and pure tones, and have been loved by music lovers of all ages. Throughout history, whenever folk celebrations of festivals, weddings, funerals and auspicious events, or temple fairs, or when courts and government offices held major political, military and religious activities, ethnic musical instruments were performed. The craft of making ethnic musical instruments has become an important traditional manual skill in our country, transmitted to the present day with far-reaching influence. Chinese ethnic musical instruments come in a great variety, with superb craftsmanship, renowned at home and abroad. Among them, the making crafts of Changzi resonant-bronze instruments, Korean ethnic instruments, Suzhou ethnic instruments, Caifumei drum-making and Uyghur ethnic instruments are relatively distinctive. Shufu County in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region is known as the "home of ethnic musical instruments"; the instruments it makes reflect the ethnic characteristics of the Uyghur people and are closely linked to that ethnicity's cultural activities. The Uyghur ethnic instruments produced in Shufu County are finely made, exquisitely decorated and uniquely toned, fully manifesting the wisdom and artistic talent of the Uyghur people. It is strict in its choice of making materials, selecting superior mulberry wood, thereby producing a special acoustic effect. The instruments of Xinhe are made rigorously, decorated exquisitely and uniquely toned, and are mostly used for family banquet music, displaying the traditional cultural characteristics of the Uyghur people.

Choosing mulberry wood

Fine mulberry timber is selected for its close grain and long fibre.

Cutting and joining the body

Sections are planed and glued into the soundbox and neck, leaving no visible joint.

Mounting the soundboard skin

Shifting the soundboard skin from cow and donkey hide to snake hide gave a purer, more penetrating tone.

Carving the decoration

Patterns are worked by pecking, carving and incision to sit naturally on the wood grain.

Making dutar and rawap

Soundbox, neck and pegs are made apart and joined, then tuned until the tone is clear and wide.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Shufu County is known as the home of ethnic musical instruments; the instruments it makes reflect the ethnic characteristics of the Uyghur people and are closely linked to that ethnicity's cultural activities. The instrument shops are concentrated in the county seat and township markets; each household is a workshop, and finished instruments are hung on the lintels to attract customers. A single skilled person often masters several instruments, and when a family marries off a daughter and needs a full ensemble, the instruments from the qin to the hand drum can all be bought on the same lane. The care over materials is famous: the instrument body uses superior mulberry wood, and the soundbox was once covered with cowhide or donkey hide, later changed to snakeskin, giving a purer tone and stronger penetration. Reheman Abudula, after more than half a century of refinement, masters the dutar, rawap and many other instruments, has built an instrument-making workshop, and has trained over fifty apprentices.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Reheman Abudula (per the official archive of the associated inheritor): Male, Uyghur ethnicity, born in May 1952, from Shufu County, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Representative inheritor of the ethnic musical instrument-making craft (Uyghur musical instrument-making technique), a national-level intangible cultural heritage project in its third batch. Passionately fond of Uyghur instrument making, after more than half a century of craft refinement he has proficiently mastered the making techniques of the dutar, rawap and many other Uyghur instruments. The instruments he makes are all hand-finished, with refined craftsmanship, smooth surfaces, even coloring, seamless and firm gluing, neatly arranged frets, crisp tones and a wide range, and are widely popular. Innovating while discarding the old, he changed the soundbox covering from the former cowhide and donkey hide to snakeskin, making the instrument tone purer and more penetrating. He has built an ethnic instrument-making workshop and trained over fifty apprentices.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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