Page 3 - Yunnan Tourism Culture Times (94)

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Our country will thrive only if our culture thrives, and our nation will be strong only if our culture is strong.
——Excerpt from the third volume of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China

文化兴国运兴，文化强民族强。

——摘自《习近平谈治国理政》第三卷

Anhua Township:

Electric yueqin invigorates

Yi songs and dances

江川安化 : 月琴奏出新生活

By Pu Meiling, Li Dan, Han Xuedong and Yang Yixiao □ 浦美玲 李丹 韩雪冬 杨怡霄 / 文

In Anhua Township, located in Jiang- itations in terms of its volume and sound developing the first-ever circuit board for utilized various materials, resulting in the
chuan District, Yuxi City, the Yi ethnic quality. Particularly in situations where yueqin. creation of exquisitely crafted instruments.
group has a rich tradition of singing and large groups of people were singing and “The electric yueqin, powered by a Last year, his first electric yueqin was
dancing. Their musical accompaniment dancing together, its music would some- rechargeable battery, can be effortlessly bought for 7,600 yuan as soon as it was
often revolves around the enchanting melo- times be overshadowed and drowned out. turned on with a finger flick,” said Mu. completed. The electric yueqin has gar-
dies produced by a four-stringed instrument Some yueqin players attempted to solve “With two powerful loudspeakers, it nered immense popularity among villagers
known as yueqin. However, in recent years, this issue by attaching microphones to their delivers a significantly enhanced sound who have had the privilege of playing it.
through their creativity and skill, the young instruments, but this approach often led to compared to the traditional yueqin. Fur- “Both the musical instrument itself and
musicians from this local community have undesirable noise and whistling sounds. To thermore, the integrated circuit board re- the mastery of its playing skills hold im-
successfully transformed the traditional address these challenges, a diligent and in- fines the sound quality, resulting in reduced mense significance in our ethnic culture. It
yueqin into an electric variant. This devel- novative young man named Mu Chen, be- noise.” While the electric yueqin maintains is our solemn responsibility to ensure their
opment has breathed a new life into the longing to the local community, embarked nylon strings, its sound can be easily ad- preservation and transmission across gen-
musical traditions of the Yi ethnic group. on a quest for a solution. After much con- justed to achieve varying reverberation erations,” Mu said. “I’ve noticed a remark-
The traditional yueqin typically features templation, Mu came up with the idea of effects thanks to the built-in circuit board. able surge in the appreciation for our ethnic
high-quality red toon boards as its primary incorporating electronic components into Mu, now 22, started his yueqin journey culture over the past two years. Every
material. To produce its melodic tones, the instrument. In October of last year, he at the age of 15 under the tutelage of Pu time we perform, the audience’s love and
elastic nylon fishing lines are delicately approached an electronic product company Jiaming, a recognized provincial intangible admiration for our artistry brings me tre-
strung across the instrument. Notably, on located in Foshan City, Guangdong Prov- cultural heritage inheritor. Over the years, mendous joy and pride.” Mu is determined
the front surface of yueqin, a set of cres- ince, seeking assistance. Collaborating with Mu has achieved mastery in playing the to safeguard and propagate the yueqin pro-
cent-shaped holes is intricately carved, a senior engineer from the company, Mu Yi saxian music and the rare guojie tunes. duction techniques. He aspires to introduce
serving as the outlets for the resonant sound dedicated an entire month to trial and ex- Through countless experiments and ded- this extraordinary instrument from the local
to reverberate. perimentation. Their joint efforts bore fruit, icated practice, Mu has continuously im- Yi community to the wider world through
The traditional yueqin often faced lim- with Mu and the engineer successfully proved the yueqin production process and innovative development and promotion.