Feng Zicun: flute player. Born in 1904 in Yangyuan County, Hebei Province. Feng Zicun is a well-known representative of the northern school of flute circles and a veteran who has made great contributions. He has superb skills and rich experience in both flute playing and flute composition.

Feng Zicun was born in Xiyantou Village, Dongjingji Town, Yangyuan County, Hebei Province. Feng Zicun has a high artistic talent. At the same time, he has been influenced by the folk music of his hometown since he was a child: his eldest brother can play the banhu and sihu, and has been a drummer; the second brother can play the flute. Under the influence of his brothers, Feng Zicun also fell in love with music. He especially loved the flute, so he learned to play the bamboo flute with his second brother since he was a child. At the age of 11, he learned to play the flute and began to accompany the village's stilt team. Due to the difficult life, he followed his eldest brother to Baotou at the age of seventeen to earn a living. He learns fur skills from his elder brother during the day, and gets together with local musicians at night to play and sing. Feng Zicun was fascinated by the high-pitched, bold and rough "climbing the mountain" of Inner Mongolia, so he imitated it with the flute. In the past four years, he not only learned the unique "mountain climbing tune" of Inner Mongolia, but also learned "Mongolian folk songs" and "Errentai", which had an important influence on his flute art, especially the study and integration of the flute in Errentai music. "Sliding, rubbing, wiping, chopping" and other unique playing skills have formed a complete system of five major playing techniques of "lip, tongue, finger, air, and combination".

In 1925, Feng Zicun and his friends formed a performance team to bring the two-person show back to their hometown, which made this opera popular in Zhangjiakou area and was welcomed by the masses. At the same time, Feng Zicun's flute art also became famous in Yangyuan area. In 1927, Feng Zicun wandered to Shangyi County, which is located in Bashang. While selling cigarettes and melon seeds, he continued to practice the art of flute. The Bashang area of Zhangbei has been plagued by sandstorms for many years, and the climate is cold. He often lives in small shops, temples, drinks ice and snow, and eats frozen buns. Valleys, high slopes, courtyards, and mills are all places where he performs. Diligent study and hard practice brought his flute art to a level of perfection. Sometimes he would ride a camel and play the flute alone in the uninhabited yellow sand field against the strong wind. In 1948, Zhangjiakou was liberated, and Feng Zicun, like many folk artists, gained a new life. He once again organized a troupe with his friends, and used the local people's favorite opera "Shanxi Bangzi" to sing the new play of the people's liberation.

In 1950, Feng Zicun was recruited to the Chabei Literature and Art Propaganda Team as a band player. During this period, although Feng Zicun was nearly fifty years old, he studied music theory assiduously and gradually began to compose and compose dizi music. The solo pieces "Happy Encounter" and "Flying Kite" were produced during this period. In 1953, he participated in the first National Folk Music and Dance Show with these two pieces, and his flute solo made a sensation in Beijing and overwhelmed all the audience present. After the first National Folk Music and Dance Festival ended, he was left as a soloist in the Central Song and Dance Troupe. Since then, a wandering folk artist has become the people's flute player.

Since 1958, Feng Zicun has performed frequently with Chinese artist delegations, and his flute has spread all over the country. Both countries and regions are warmly welcomed by a broad audience. Wherever he went, there were applause and flowers everywhere. Feng Zicun's flute playing is known as "magic flute" in foreign countries. In 1964, he was transferred to teach at the China Conservatory of Music, and trained a large number of flute players and performers such as Liu Sen, Ma Baoshan, Zeng Yongqing, Lu Jinshan, Yang Ming, Tu Chuanyao, Guo Hongwu, Wang Xiang, etc., and spread the Northern School Dizi. to all parts of the country.

Although the Chinese flute has a history of thousands of years, under the constraints of the long-term old music system, the flute is an ensemble instrument that is dependent on court music and literati qin music, and the bamboo flute has lost its independence of development. Feng Zicun was the first flute artist to bring the Chinese bamboo flute to the stage in the form of a solo, making the bamboo flute a solo instrument.

Feng Zicun's creation and performance can be regarded as a milestone in the history of the development of flute art in the use and play of various techniques.

Feng Zicun usually plays very vigorously, and the flute is dozens of cents higher than his mouth, even half a tone. In order to increase the playing color, he used the technique of "glossy tongue". On this basis, various tricks of long, short, dense, thin, soft and hard came into being. In order to enhance the expression of cheerful and jumping emotions, various accents are produced. In order to be as euphemistic and coherent as singing, various techniques of "slipping", "wiping", "kneading" and "pressing" have also been fully displayed. In order to make a certain sound extremely powerful, he used the technique of "chop" to combine "flying fingers" and "flower tongue", and the sound of "flying fingers and tongue" appeared again. In order to describe the scene of the kite falling slowly, a special "six-hole overtone" was developed. In order to describe the crying of people when they are in grief, the sound of "qi rushing" is played and so on. "Play", "Tie", "Tremble", "Increase" and various decorative sounds can also be seen everywhere in Feng Zicun's performances. According to the different content of the music and the needs of performance, the skills are organically embedded in the music.

Mr. Feng Zicun's long-term artistic practice has formed his unique style of flute playing. His flute style is "folk songs", "Shanxi Bangzi", "Errentai" and other folk music and operas in Inner Mongolia, northern Chahar, Zhangxuan area, etc. It was formed under the direct influence of the people in the north, reflecting the character and language characteristics of the northern people. His playing was high-pitched and loud. He has a full and solid breath; bright timbre; rich and varied lips, tongue, fingers, and air; strong and hot local flavor and strong singing, all of which have the typical characteristics of northern bangdi. Feng Zicun made people feel the charm of this ancient musical instrument with his gorgeous and unrestrained playing skills and strong Chinese national style flute music.

Feng style bamboo flute has a great influence in the whole country, and he has become one of the pioneers of bamboo flute for half a century. He devoted his whole life to the bamboo flute business. Mr. Feng Zicun's noble spirit and morality of dedicating his life to bamboo flute have long influenced and inspired people. He worked hard all his life and made outstanding contributions to the development of the national music industry, which is the pride of the Chinese music industry.

He has arranged and composed a large number of Dizi pieces, which are rich in the characteristics of folk instrumental music and have a strong earthy atmosphere. In the past 30 years, he has composed, arranged and performed Dadizi pieces, leaving a large number of solo pieces. Published: "Feng Zicun Dizi Selected".

The "Happy Encounter" he co-organized with others has not only become a famous piece in the flute world, but has also been adapted into piano, violin, and xylophone performances, and has been compiled into music textbooks in various countries by the World Asia-Pacific Conservatory of Music. Published "Feng Zicun Dizi Songs".