USEUROPEAFRICAASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
    China
    Home / China / Society

    Making music by blowing on leaves

    By WU YILONG | China Daily | Updated: 2017-02-07 07:54

    Qiu Shaochun is arguably the most famous leaf-blowing musician in China.

    Making music by blowing on leaves
    Qiu Shaochun practices blowing on leaves at his home in Fuzhou, Fujian province. LIN SHANCHUAN/XINHUA

    The 53-year-old has performed in more than 30 countries and regions-beginning almost two decades ago, when he toured Spain, France and Italy with a theater company from Xiamen, Fujian province.

    The European audiences were eager to see, touch, and even asked to keep the "magic" leaves he used, Qiu recalled.

    "Leaves may be the oldest, simplest and most accessible musical instrument in the world," he said.

    "Our ancestors learned to blow the leaf more than 10,000 years ago for entertainment and communication."

    Growing up in Fuyang village, Shanghang county, Fujian, Qiu would spend hours listening to fisherman make music by blowing on leaves.

    He learned the technique from his father, a high school music teacher, and later majored in erhu, a two-stringed bowed instrument, before joining the Fujian Provincial Song and Dance Theater in 1985.

    In the years that followed, Qiu became an accomplished erhu player, but he never gave up on his childhood dream of making leaf-blowing his career.

    This he achieved when he joined the traveling theater company from Xiamen in 1996.

    Qiu is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of his art. Over the years, he has extended the range of notes he can play on a leaf to three octaves-more than an erhu-and in addition to Chinese songs, he also plays well-known foreign tunes.

    He has likewise improved his playing methods by emphasizing control and adjustment of breath. "Once you can direct the flow of breath at will, music just flows out through the leaf," he said.

    Though any kind of leaf can be used as an instrument, it is crucial to choose tough, smooth and thin leaves, said Qiu, adding that he prefers the leaves of the banyan, the city tree of Fuzhou, capital of Fujian, where he now lives.

    "Some people suggest plastic or fabric substitutes," he said.

    "That may be all right. But just as the electronic organ cannot replace the piano, fresh leaves are irreplaceable."

    To Qiu's delight, the number of leaf-blowing musicians appears to be increasing in China. Under his tutelage, his home village now boats a leaf-blowing band made up of 10 villagers-the only one of its kind in the province.

    And the master's musical talents are still in high demand-during Spring Festival he performed at a gala in his hometown accompanied by 16 teenage leaf-blowing musicians, playing a melody that he composed himself.

    In October, Qiu was invited to give a series of lectures and performances on the campus of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, encouraging a group of 15 amateurs-including several professors-to give leaf-blowing a go.

    He is now spearheading efforts to get leaf-blowing included on UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage list.

    "We've commenced a long journey of rejuvenating the ancient folk art," he said.

     

     

    Editor's picks
    Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
    License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

    Registration Number: 130349
    FOLLOW US
     
    久クク成人精品中文字幕| 亚洲一日韩欧美中文字幕欧美日韩在线精品一区二 | 亚洲av无码国产精品夜色午夜| 无码专区久久综合久中文字幕| 国产乱子伦精品无码码专区| 亚洲国产成人片在线观看无码| 在线精品无码字幕无码AV| 日韩va中文字幕无码电影| 无码AV中文一区二区三区| 中文字幕一区一区三区| 狠狠精品久久久无码中文字幕| 亚洲Av无码专区国产乱码不卡 | 最近2022中文字幕免费视频| 国产乱妇无码大片在线观看| 亚洲中文字幕视频国产| 久久中文字幕精品| 久久久久亚洲AV无码观看| 亚洲精品无码AV中文字幕电影网站| 亚洲AV区无码字幕中文色| 最近中文国语字幕在线播放| 国产Av激情久久无码天堂| 无码人妻AⅤ一区二区三区| 99久久精品无码一区二区毛片 | 精品久久久久久中文字幕| 激情欧美一区二区三区中文字幕| 亚洲日韩VA无码中文字幕| 中文字幕色婷婷在线视频| 最近中文字幕视频在线资源| 国产50部艳色禁片无码| 韩国中文字幕毛片| 日本高清不卡中文字幕免费| 一二三四在线播放免费观看中文版视频| 日韩美无码五月天| 变态SM天堂无码专区| 国产精品亚韩精品无码a在线| 国产在线拍偷自揄拍无码| 人妻中文字幕无码专区| 无码精品国产一区二区三区免费| 日本高清免费中文在线看| 91久久精品无码一区二区毛片| 国产成人无码18禁午夜福利p|