Folk instruments play tunes of prosperity

First Person | Xing Na

Villagers in Xuchang, Lankao, have witnessed huge changes in the past two decades - more and more people have chosen to stay in their hometown to produce guqin and guzheng, traditional musical instruments, rather than leaving this once-impoverished county.

I left my hometown in 2002 with my husband to work in a garment factory in Shenzhen, Guangdong province.

Long-term outside work made people neglect the old and the young in the family, until I got news that a family member had passed away.

In 2006, my husband and I decided to come back here to better take care of our parents and our little children.

At first, my husband and I worked in a musical instrument factory in Lankao to learn how to produce guzheng and guqin. One day, my husband asked me, "How about running an instrument company by ourselves?"

At that time, there were only two or three instrument companies in Lankao, not like today's more than 50.

My husband and I knew it would not be easy, but the more I learned about guqin, the more confidence I had.

Making guqin requires patience and maintaining a commitment to high quality because all the materials determine the sound of the musical instrument.

Located near the Yellow River, the soil in Lankao is fine, while the temperature varies greatly between day and night, which makes paulownia wood perfect for producing folk instruments. It provides advantageous conditions for developing Chinese musical instruments.

In recent years, I've paid a great deal of attention to guqin culture, it's full of history and knowledge. The seven-stringed plucked guqin is regarded as the "father of Chinese music", its sound is elegant, totally different from that of Western musical instruments.

The booming instrument-making industry in Lankao has lifted many people out of poverty. A few days ago, I was reviewing my wedding video, taken 16 years previously, and felt people looked much younger now than before, because the life is better.

In the past, people could hardly imagine having their own cars, but now it is not beyond a local's life.

Many villagers were offered interest-free loans by the government and encouraged to start up traditional stringed-instrument businesses.

With the instrument gaining more attention, I would like to spread guqin culture as the next step, such as setting up a training school to teach people how to produce it.

Xing Na spoke with Qi Xin.