Ethnic Instrument Making Craftsmanship

Ⅷ-124Traditional CraftsmanshipHaidian, BeijingBatch 3 (2011)Extension Item

01 · Historical Records

In the 1980s, China's art masters named the Hongyin Studio sheng and pipe instruments the "Wu-family wind instruments."

02 · Core Techniques & Process

The Hongyinzhaishengguan making craft is the traditional manual skill by which the Wu family, who founded "Hongyin Studio" in Beijing, produces Chinese ethnic wind instruments; it is the only instrument-making craft transmitted down from the Qing imperial court in China. In the late Qing dynasty, the beile (nobleman) Wu Qirui made instruments and transmitted the court techniques; to this day the Wu family has passed them down through five generations.

Tempering bamboo and wood

Bamboo and wood are seasoned for years so the fibre no longer expands or contracts.

Hollowing

The bore is drawn true and even, and cleaned of every shaving that might choke the note.

Holing and pitch-setting

Tone holes are placed to the scale, then each is adjusted by ear until the scale is true.

Fitting to the player

Holes and mouthpiece are adjusted to one player's height, hands and breath.

Restoring court instruments

Ancient court instruments have been restored so their forms survive as objects, not only as drawings.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

The sheng and pipe making of Hongyin Studio was brought out of the court by the beile Wu Qirui in the late Qing dynasty and settled in a hutong workshop in Beijing; five generations have kept this craft without changing trades, and it is now carried on by Wu Jingxin. Its process steps form a self-contained system: first the bamboo or wood is conditioned so it does not easily crack, then the bore is hollowed, holes are drilled and tuning holes are set, and finally the instrument is custom-adjusted to the performer's physique and hand shape; hence the sheng and pipes made are mostly one-of-a-kind and cannot be replicated elsewhere. More recently, the ethnic wind instruments have been made into series—from xiao and dizi to suona and guan—fully matched as sets, named Wu-family wind instruments. In the 1980s, China's art masters named the Hongyin Studio sheng and pipe instruments the Wu-family wind instruments, and now a Wu-family wind instrument exhibition hall and a performance-and-making training center have also been established.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

The Wu family follows the traditional craft and preserves the court style; through conditioning wood and bamboo, hollowing the bore, drilling holes and tuning, they make instruments custom-fitted for artists, and have innovated ethnic wind instruments by turning Chinese ethnic wind instruments into serialized products, contributing to China's ethnic music cause, with relatively high ethnic-music value, art-collection value and historical-research value. This craft has a high technical threshold and talent is hard to find; it needs further protection. Wu Jingxin (per the official archive of the associated inheritor): Female, Manchu ethnicity, born in June 1962, from Beijing Municipality. Representative inheritor of the ethnic musical instrument-making craft (Hongyinzhaishengguan making technique), a national-level intangible cultural heritage project in its fourth batch. A Hongyinzhaishengguan making technician. Born into a family of instrument makers, from childhood she learned sheng and pipe instrument performance and making techniques from her father Wu Zhongfu. The traditional instruments she makes have exquisite craftsmanship, beautiful shapes, sweet tones and accurate pitches. She developed several new instruments such as the Shanxi guan and the electronic sheng; rescued, replicated and restored various ethnic instruments such as the Tang-dynasty sheng-yu, Dunhuang instruments, Hainan Li ethnic instruments and the instruments of the Tiantan Shenyue Office; and established the Wu-family wind instrument exhibition hall and set up the Wu-family wind instrument performance and making training center. Enthusiastic about international dissemination, she has brought ethnic music culture to countries such as the United States, South Korea and Ethiopia. She has trained inheritors such as Luo Ju, Lü Xianju and Chen Xiangfeng.

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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