Ethnic Instrument Making Craftsmanship

Ⅷ-124Traditional CraftsmanshipXinhe, 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.

Selecting mulberry and apricot wood

Mulberry gives brilliance and apricot toughness; the two timbers are matched to different parts.

Pecking the sound holes

Sound holes are pecked to position and depth, each instrument following its own scheme.

Carving the pegbox

Pegboxes carry traditional floral and geometric motifs cut in graded depth.

Mounting and gluing

Skin and joints must be smooth, even in colour and seamlessly glued.

Colour treatment and tuning

Modern colour treatment is combined with traditional handwork and hand tuning.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Xinhe County and Shufu both lie in the old land of ancient Kucha, and their instrument-making tradition comes from the same lineage, but the village form is even more concentrated: over 120 households in the whole village make instruments, every home has a workshop, and everyone has the skill; the finished instruments are sold on the spot to outside merchants who come to the bazaar, and are also taken by disciples and their apprentices to all parts of Xinjiang. The masters here mostly know nearly twenty kinds of instruments, and can handle every process step of chiseling, carving and engraving; when a family needs a set of banquet-music instruments, from the dutar to the rawap can be assembled in a single courtyard. Aiyti Yiming is the third-generation inheritor, has taken on more than seventy apprentices, and is known as the "Instrument King."

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Aiyti Yiming (per the official archive of the associated inheritor): Male, Uyghur ethnicity, born in May 1954, from Xinhe 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 fourth batch. Third-generation inheritor of the Uyghur musical instrument-making craft. He loved instrument making and playing from childhood. He has mastered every process step—chiseling, carving and engraving—of nearly twenty kinds of Uyghur instruments; the instruments are strictly selected in material and finely crafted, using superior mulberry wood and apricot wood. While adhering to traditional hand-made craftsmanship, he also boldly innovates, using modern technology to actively improve the instrument's color and so on; the instruments he makes have fine craftsmanship and good tone, sell well in markets inside and outside the autonomous region, and have become the widely known "Instrument King." Since taking up the art he has taken on more than seventy apprentices, scattered throughout Xinjiang; under his leadership, the villagers engaged in instrument making in the whole village have grown to over 120 households.

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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