Sounds of ancient bronze drums die out in modern age
Source: Xinhua |
October 29, 2012, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
WEI Zhenli has just finished teaching children how to play bronze drums. After they have gone he feels lonely, disappointed and worries about the inheritance of the thousand-year-old instrument.
"Television, cell phones and the Internet have changed the lives of villagers, and traditional culture cannot attract people's eyes anymore, the young people in particular," said Wei, a Lanyang villager of Hechi City in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
"People who can master the skills of beating bronze drums are few, and many of them are in their 40s or 50s," said Wei, who is one of the successors of the bronze drum, which is a cultural relic of ethnic groups living in south China.
Wei said the young people of his village migrate to cities for work, so people in their 40s or 50s take up the task in teaching the children to play the drums.
Culture needs protection
Dating from 200 BC, bronze drums used to be an important instrument for a family, and it has been a tradition of local people to play drums to pray for rain and a good harvest. Only 2,400 of the bronze drums are estimated to remain, more than 1,400 of which are in Hechi.
Wei still missed the days when every family in his village carried the drums onto a nearby mountain and played day and night. "Things are no longer the same now, and few people can play the instrument," Wei said.
Wei's father, Wei Wanyi, who has collected more than 40 of the instruments, has been considered the "king of the bronze drum."
As his father grows older, Wei Zhenli takes up the duty to pass on the bronze drum culture and teach people skills to play the instrument. He has also led the drum team of Donglan County to perform in Beijing, Shanghai and Nanning to promote drum culture.
"During the Great Leap Forward campaign from 1958 to 1960, almost all metal things, including the bronze drums, were melted down producing steel. Hundred-year-old bronze drums were destroyed at that time," said Liang Fulin, the former director of the cultural heritage management station of Hechi.
Liang said entrepreneurs had rushed to his village to purchase ancient drums from local people for profit, which also led to the loss of the original drums.
"A single bronze drum is a story, and also an irreplaceable cultural symbol for this area," said Li Gang, director with Folk Opera Department of the Public Art Museum in Hechi. He added that they staged bronze drum performances last year calling on people and local government to protect and inherit the custom.
"Television, cell phones and the Internet have changed the lives of villagers, and traditional culture cannot attract people's eyes anymore, the young people in particular," said Wei, a Lanyang villager of Hechi City in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
"People who can master the skills of beating bronze drums are few, and many of them are in their 40s or 50s," said Wei, who is one of the successors of the bronze drum, which is a cultural relic of ethnic groups living in south China.
Wei said the young people of his village migrate to cities for work, so people in their 40s or 50s take up the task in teaching the children to play the drums.
Culture needs protection
Dating from 200 BC, bronze drums used to be an important instrument for a family, and it has been a tradition of local people to play drums to pray for rain and a good harvest. Only 2,400 of the bronze drums are estimated to remain, more than 1,400 of which are in Hechi.
Wei still missed the days when every family in his village carried the drums onto a nearby mountain and played day and night. "Things are no longer the same now, and few people can play the instrument," Wei said.
Wei's father, Wei Wanyi, who has collected more than 40 of the instruments, has been considered the "king of the bronze drum."
As his father grows older, Wei Zhenli takes up the duty to pass on the bronze drum culture and teach people skills to play the instrument. He has also led the drum team of Donglan County to perform in Beijing, Shanghai and Nanning to promote drum culture.
"During the Great Leap Forward campaign from 1958 to 1960, almost all metal things, including the bronze drums, were melted down producing steel. Hundred-year-old bronze drums were destroyed at that time," said Liang Fulin, the former director of the cultural heritage management station of Hechi.
Liang said entrepreneurs had rushed to his village to purchase ancient drums from local people for profit, which also led to the loss of the original drums.
"A single bronze drum is a story, and also an irreplaceable cultural symbol for this area," said Li Gang, director with Folk Opera Department of the Public Art Museum in Hechi. He added that they staged bronze drum performances last year calling on people and local government to protect and inherit the custom.
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