Since the Spring Festival, 86-year-old Huang Zihe and his Hainan Eight Music Team have been receiving performance invitations constantly. Although he is busy, he never tires of it.
Because he has persisted in the inheritance of Hainan's octaves for 14 years, and it has become more and more effective. More and more people know how to play and love listening. This national intangible cultural heritage that was almost lost has become "fire". stand up.

"Not only should it not be lost, it should also be carried forward"

Hainan Ba Yin is an important variety of Hainan local art, which has been circulating for thousands of years. It not only refers to 8 types of musical instruments made of local materials such as coconut shell, huanghuali and betel nut wood, but also refers to "Celebrating the Harvest Year", "Xin Baitang" and "Remuneration Banquet". There are more than 500 unique local songs such as "Song of Longevity" and "Wanhua Lanterns". They record the daily life of local people and carry people's emotional identification with excellent traditional culture. They are a special memory carrier.
In the Qiongbei area of Hainan, it is a standard custom to invite the Eight Music Team to perform on traditional festivals, wedding and funeral ceremonies, important social events, and sacrificial occasions. The "sound" kept going.
However, Hainan Ba Yin has experienced catastrophe in history. In 1939, when Japan invaded Hainan and implemented the "Three Lights Policy", the people were struggling, many people left their homes, the drums stopped, and the bands scattered.
After being included in the second batch of national intangible cultural heritage list in 2008, Hainan Ba Yin faces many common problems in the protection and inheritance of intangible cultural heritage: the reduction of audience, the lack of creative talents, the exploration of the relationship between inheritance and innovation needs to be further explored...
In June of that year, Huang Zihe, who was 72 years old at the time and settled in Australia, saw an article in his hometown newspaper titled "Hainan Octave Will Become a Absolute Sound?" "After the report, I learned that Hainan Ba Yin is seriously lacking professional teachers and is in danger of being lost. At that time, Huang Zihe was teaching Hainan octave to foreigners in Australia. In the first year he went abroad, he was invited to participate in the Chinese New Year performance in Sydney, and found that his hometown music was very popular among foreigners.
"When you go abroad, you realize that your things are of great value. For example, the wind instruments of Western musical instruments have 16 holes and 32 holes, while the Hainan eight-tone wind instruments only have 7 holes. Foreigners are surprised that a throat pipe with 7 holes can be used. Playing all the notes, such a good thing should not be lost, but should be carried forward." Huang Zihe said, he thought, instead of teaching foreigners abroad, why not go home and teach young people in your own country?
Heart is worse than action. With the original intention of "inheritance", the elderly Huang Zihe resolutely returned to his hometown, found Lingshan Cultural Station in Meilan District, and took the initiative to ask Ying to become an eight-tone inheritor. Huang Zihe has been learning Qin Qin and Erhu since he was a child from the eight-tone master in the neighboring village. He is also a retired professional musician of Hainan Qiong Theater.
Huang Zihe first taught octave artists at the cultural station of Lingshan Town, Meilan District, and also went to the park to teach interested middle-aged and elderly people. Not only were they all free, but musical instruments were also provided.
In practice, he found that it was imminent to cultivate the younger generation, so he guided the students of Lingshan Town Central Primary School to the cultural station to learn octaves. In less than a year, the students have been able to perform on stage, and their wonderful performance on the stage has been well received by teachers, students and parents.

"The power of Xiangyin is irreplaceable"

With the support of the school and parents, Huang Zihe brought Ba Yin into the classroom of Lingshan Town Central Primary School since 2012, and he taught for six or seven years. "He is the founder of the eight-tone characteristic education in our school. He has taught two or three hundred students successively without charging a penny. Although he has taught in other schools, he is still our school's eight-tone teaching consultant. He often Invite him to come back and give lectures to the teachers," said Chen Jijun, the principal of Lingshan Town Central Primary School.
In recent years, the intangible cultural heritage project has provided some subsidies and a fixed training center. Huang Zihe goes to the training center in Guansheng Temple, Qushang Village, Meilan District for half a day to teach. As long as he is willing to learn, he will teach for free. Unmoved by thunder, unchangeable by wind and rain. During the semester, Huang Zihe went to Longfeng Experimental Primary School to teach children in two octave classes, one class per week for each class.

In the past 14 years, Huang Zihe has trained a large number of middle-aged and elderly apprentices and hundreds of primary and secondary school students. Many of the apprentices have already graduated and can pull out a band at will.
In 2019, Huang Zihe led the "Hainan Xiangyin Visiting Group" to Singapore and Malaysia, which aroused strong repercussions when he played to overseas Chinese in Hainan. "The power of the local accent is irreplaceable, and the distance can be shortened in one fell swoop. Many old overseas Chinese burst into tears when they heard us play "Song of Happy Birthday" and "Send Jing Niang"." Huang Zihe said happily, now more and more The more young people and primary school students know about Hainan octaves, the more this skill will be developed in the future.
Mu Guifen, a member of the Huangzi Heba Music Team, is from Liaoning. He has been studying with Huang Lao for 4 years from scratch, and he is also fortunate to go abroad to play with the band.
Talking about the senior tutor Huang Zihe, she repeatedly praised, "The teacher does not seek money, is not afraid of being tired, and does not know how to be tired. Sometimes we are tired when we sit and play for more than an hour, but he does not feel tired when he is standing and guiding." In the "Intangible Cultural Heritage Entering Campus" activity held in January, more than 20 members of the band went to 8 schools to perform 8 consecutive games under the leadership of Huang Zihe, and Huang Lao did not fail.
Chen Shuai, the curator of the Meilan District Cultural Center, felt, "It must be a belief in spreading the music of my hometown that supports Huang Lao."

"I hope the children will pass on this cultural heritage well"

Huang Zihe is not only full of enthusiasm, but also has ideas and methods in teaching. For elderly enthusiasts and primary school students, Huang Zihe teaches students according to their aptitude and adopts different teaching methods. "Teach the elderly to play music directly, so that you can get started quickly, and you will have a sense of accomplishment when practicing, so you can continue to persevere. Children can focus on laying the foundation, but they will find it difficult to get started. They will find it interesting to learn." Huang Zihe said.
A group of teenagers including Li Yanxi, Ouyang Ziyi, Zhang Dingjian, sixth grade students of Longfeng Experimental Primary School, have been studying with Huang Zihe for 3 years. Ouyang Ziyi told reporters that his parents supported him very much in learning the octave, and he also learned the piano, "Although octave is a local instrumental music, it is not earthy at all, but has a unique charm. I believe there will be more and more People love their hometown folk instrumental music.”
There are more than 500 songs, which have been circulated for thousands of years, which shows that the octave itself is beautiful and alive. However, the old trees still have to grow new shoots, and the legacy left by the ancestors should not only be passed on, but also enriched and developed. In order to adapt to the current artistic environment and aesthetic habits, Huang Zihe made bold innovations. On the basis of respecting tradition, he continued to introduce new instruments such as the new zhongruan, dulcimer, and cello, and updated and improved the melody and accompaniment skills to make them more in line with the preferences of young people. , but also more suitable for stage performances.
"It is a happy thing to be able to work and to pass on it; it is very valuable to be a seeder of Hainan Ba Yin; I hope that children will pass on this precious cultural heritage well, and take Hainan Ba Yin abroad to go abroad. The world." Huang Zihe said happily.