Qin ancient music, blowing the soil to make a sound. Although its appearance is not impressive, its vigorous and melodious sound, which connects mountains and rivers, is refreshing, and lingers throughout Chang'an City. "'Bo's play Xun, Zhong's play Chi.' The sound of Xun is deep and continuous, just like its history of more than 7,000 years. I have been studying Xun for half my life, and I have learned the slow craftsmanship of my ancestors carefully. This is a tradition; teaching sons, taking apprentices, letting more people know about Xun, and bringing Xun into the homes of ordinary people, this is inheritance." Ji Qingfeng, the inheritor of the city-level intangible cultural heritage of Xun, said.

A few days ago, the reporter and his party drove to Zaoyuan Village, Xiekou Street Office, Lintong District. In Ji Qingfeng's Taoxun studio, they walked into the past and present life of the prehistoric musical instrument Xun together with this Xun maker.

Fine work polished by time

According to legend, Xun originated from a hunting tool called "Stone Meteor" in ancient times. In ancient times, people used a rope to tie a stone or a mud ball to hit birds and beasts. Some spheres are hollow, and they can make a sound when they are swung for a spin. People find it interesting and use it to blow. Over time, this "stone meteor" gradually evolved into a simple musical instrument, and gradually increased sound holes, and developed into a melody instrument that can play tunes. The original xun was made of stones and bones, and later evolved into pottery, and the shapes began to diversify, such as oval, oblate, spherical, and pear-shaped. The pottery whistle unearthed at the Banpo Yangshao Cultural Site in Xi'an is the prototype of the pottery xun. The vast land and strong accumulation, Xun thrives on this fertile soil.

Ji Qingfeng is a famous xun maker in Xiekou. He told reporters, "The steps of making a pottery xun are mainly divided into the following types: taking mud, pulling embryos, opening holes, tuning, and firing. However, if you want to make a qualified xun, you must not be careless in every link."

The local red clay is the best material for making pottery xun. "The red clay is sticky, delicate and smooth. The washed mud will wake up in the tank for a year. After a period of time, take it out and stir and knead it repeatedly. It is better to be soft but not thin, and hard but not brittle." As Ji Qingfeng spoke, he bent down and pulled a section from the plastic-wrapped mud stick, and kneaded it skillfully on the stone platform like kneading dough. "It's not just rubbing out the air bubbles in the mud, but rubbing and rubbing, the small stones and impurities in it will pop out by themselves. This is a very important part. If you don't have enough time to wake up the mud and knead the mud, it is easy to produce xun. Cracks, concave surfaces, and it's useless."

Pulling embryos is a very important part of making xun. Put the awakened mud on the electric embryo pulling machine, and the machine rotates at a constant speed with the technique of being soft on the outside and firm on the inside. "Pulling embryos is a delicate job, and the master's hand feel is very important." Ji Qingfeng pointed to the table and said, "Look at this cup, a quasi-F key Xun, its cavity can just hold such a cup of water. It can't be pulled well. The embryo, no matter how you tune it later, you can't be sure."

The high-quality craftsmanship and elegant appearance are one of the characteristics of Ji Qingfeng Taoxun, and it is also the embodiment of Ji Qingfeng and his old partner Chen Zhanhong's high tacit understanding. One of them is making xun, the other is carving. The swaying pair of fish, the budding lotus, the solemn character carving, as long as it is the customer's request, there is nothing that this "post-80s" carver can't carve. "I have cooperated with Mr. Ji for more than ten years. From the initial flowers and plants to the current insects, fish, birds and beasts, all kinds of auspicious animals, he has many tricks and loves innovation, and he has also given me a lot of inspiration and advice." Chen Zhanhong smiled. Liao smiled and said, "Carved flowers play a role of icing on the cake. It is good to match the beautiful scenery, and the good is the best."

Let the ancient Xun regain its vitality

Ji Qingfeng was born into a pottery family. When his father was alive, he always followed the old man to make pots and jars to make ends meet. "It was also a coincidence that I came into contact with Tao Xun. Many years ago, when I was wandering around the gate of the academy, I found this thing in a small stall. A small ornament was sold for 50 yuan at the time, and a flower pot made by my father and I only Two dollars." This surprised Ji Qingfeng, who was used to estimating value by size. "At that time, I bought one and went back to study it. I wanted to learn how to make it myself, but it got out of hand. Don't look at its small size. Chi, you have a lot of knowledge."

The xuns on the market are divided into craft xuns and fixed sound xuns. As a musical instrument, the dingyinxun has high requirements on production technology. It cannot be played without its appearance. The tuning value must meet the standard and can be played in ensemble with other musical instruments. "Because of the foundation of pottery making, it is easy to get started with craftsmanship. But I like to toss, and I want to make the Xun not only good-looking, but also blowable." So Ji Qingfeng, who knew nothing about music, specially hired a sound engineer . When the master was calibrating, he would stand by and observe carefully, practicing over and over again until the practice session. "There are more and more connoisseurs buying Xun now, and the requirements for pitch are getting higher and higher. I stare at the electronic tuner every day, and tune the sound against each hole, for fear of a little deviation." With extensive research, tuning, and audition, Ji Qingfeng's Xun is not only highly accurate in tone, but also widens the range from one octave to two octaves.

In 2002, Ji Qingfeng founded Siyuan Taoxun, and he also learned Internet technology and opened an online store on Tmall. "If you want to talk about the year, Xun is an old thing. If you want to survive, you can't go the old way. We must conform to the requirements of the times, market it, and let it enter the homes of ordinary people. This is the best for Xun. Protect." Ji Qingfeng said.

At present, there are mostly eight-hole or ten-hole pottery xuns on the market. Siyuan pottery xun is further divided into nine-hole and eleven-hole pottery. Nine holes are divided into popular performance xun, special professional xun, and special professional red pottery xun. Speaking of one year's sales, Ji Qingfeng waved his hand, "I haven't counted that. Now we are doing last year's orders. If you want to buy it, you have to book half a year in advance." June 2015, Lintong District, Xi'an City Ji Qingfeng was awarded the "Intangible Cultural Heritage Project Innovation Award" by the Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center. In December 2017, Ji Qingfeng was recognized by the Xi'an Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television, Press and Publication as the "Representative Inheritor of Xi'an Intangible Cultural Heritage Project". Ji Qingfeng's studio has also been selected as the base for the inheritance of Xiekou Taoxun production skills. For more than ten years, he has brought out students almost all over the country.

Ji Qingfeng commented that he was a tossing person and was busy with his life, "I can't keep my mind idle, I just want to make this thing look like a toss. How can we make the small workshop bigger, how can we spread this old craft more widely, and give ourselves a People's affairs can be made into things that more people in the village can participate in, and I am still pondering these."

Today, Ji Qingfeng's 27-year-old son Ji Jing is also following his father's schooling system. "Young people do this less often. It is influenced by my father. I also love this. It is a very precious thing to restore the original craftsmanship. On this basis, I can combine some fashion elements to make it more perfect. I I feel that my father is doing a very meaningful thing, and I also want to take his lead and go down this road." Ji Jing said.