In the 1960s, in order to prevent sandstorms, Jiao Yulu led the people of Lankao to plant a large number of paulownia trees. Today, the paulownia tree has become the best material for making Guqin, Guzheng and other national musical instruments. The texture is clear and the sound quality is excellent.

The post-90s luthier Xu Yachong grew up in Xuchang Village, known as the "Chinese Musical Instrument Village". A farm boy who dropped out of school at the age of 15, with his love and persistence, became a master of ancient musical instruments. A qin can be sold for a high price of 180,000 yuan, and he also gained love for a piece of qin music. Now he and his wife are in love with live teaching Guqin culture. , I hope more people will feel the charm of the Voice of the Ages.

Attracted by the sound of the guqin, the 15-year-old went to Yangzhou to study art

In the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, along with a long ink scroll "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" slowly unfolding, a leisurely and ethereal Guqin music "Sounds of the Ancient Times" echoed over the Bird's Nest Stadium, attracting the attention of the whole world, including Xu Yachong. .

"Isn't this a qin made in the village? How can it have such a unique and charming tone?" Xu Yachong, who was 15 at the time, dropped out of school and went to work at a construction site before returning to his hometown within a few days. Light illuminates the chaotic daily life and rewrites the trajectory of his life since then.

Paulownia Lankao grows in sandy soil, with loose wood and high vibration frequency, so it has a particularly good pronunciation when struck. Since the value of paulownia musical instruments was discovered, the value has doubled all of a sudden. Xuchang Village, where Xu Yachong is located, has also developed a national musical instrument production industry, and every household will make guqin. To Xu Yachong's disappointment, he searched all over the village and no one could play.

A thought repeatedly appeared in his mind: if he knew music theory, would he be able to make a better qin? Hearing the old man in the village say that the qin made in Yangzhou, Jiangsu is famous, Xu Yachong packed his bags and went away to a guqin home. The factory became an apprentice.

Unexpectedly, Xu Yachong was allergic to paint. Every time he painted Qin, his arms were red, swollen and itchy. Being told by the master that his physique might be "missing with the guqin", he still chose to grit his teeth and insist, and paint carefully day after day until his body gradually got used to it.

After a few years like this, Xu Yachong learned to make piano during the day and played the piano at night. Without any foundation in music theory, he made rapid progress. The masters gradually fell in love with this serious and studious apprentice and were willing to teach him some special skills. If I ask dozens of times, I always get ridiculed by everyone: "Xiao Xu, you are like a dog's skin plaster, you can't shake it off."

Adhering to the spirit of craftsmanship, a piano sold for a high price of 180,000 yuan

After returning from his studies, Xu Yachong returned to his hometown and built his own guqin workshop, named "Mowu Qinfang", determined to use the ancient method to make a good guqin, "which can last forever."

Selecting materials, shaving the surface, digging the belly, assembling the piano, ash... A piece of wood, after more than 200 processes, has become bright and agile. Xu Yachong introduced that in the past, most of the pianos made in the village were mass-produced, and he didn’t know how to audition, but his requirements for timbre were almost harsh. Which piano board needs to be thinned and which needs to be thicker.

Due to the exquisiteness in raw materials, paint, and production, other people's assembly line operations can make thousands of sheets a year, but Xu Yachong can only make a dozen sheets a year. However, the timbre and quality of the ancient violin made many professionals become Xu Yachong's customers. With word of mouth, music schools and performers came to buy it.

"The earliest one was 8,000 yuan, and then it was 30,000 to 50,000 yuan. The most expensive one sold for a high price of 180,000 yuan." Xu Yachong said that he regarded wood as a bosom friend. Once you understand it, it can give you feedback. If you don't understand it, It's a decoration no matter what.

In the process of making the guqin, Xu Yachong also fell in love with the guqin culture, understood the origin of the seven strings, and was also moved by Boya Ziqi's bosom friend. Whenever tourists come to visit his home, he will use the qin to meet his friends and play "Yan of the Wolong", and the momentum of "A thousand soldiers and a thousand men and my heart" always wins a voice of exclamation.

He became attached to his wife because of qin music and staged a modern version of the story of "Feng Qiuhuang"

The paulownia flowers bloom every year, and the ancient music is melodious under the pink and purple tung flowers in Xuchang Village, which also arouses the love of young people. Xu Yachong and his wife Wei Chenxin met romantically in the sound of the piano.

In 2017, Wei Chenxin was invited from Xi'an to Xuchang Village to help debug the musical instrument. By chance, he walked into a small courtyard and was amazed at the melodious sound of the piano, and it was Xu Yachong who played it. One likes to make pianos, the other focuses on tuning, and both of them are masters at playing the piano. In the exchange and collision of musical instruments, the two hearts are gradually approaching.

"It's rare to have a confidant in life, and there are endless topics to talk about." Xu Yachong said that his wife has married since then, and the two also have a baby. Now they live together every day, teaching everyone the knowledge of guqin online, and also let their own guqin Selling on the Internet Express.

After many years of silence, the guqin has once again attracted the attention and love of the public, and has gradually become one of the teaching subjects of major music schools in recent years. "More and more people are starting to learn this ancient musical instrument, and it should not be forgotten." Xu Yachong said.

In 2019, Xu Yachong entered the "Innovation Workshop of Tsinghua University to Revitalize Traditional Chinese Crafts". This public welfare project is planned to last one year. The revival of traditional crafts.

In the learning and exchange, Xu Yachong has a deeper understanding of the inheritance of Guqin culture. If the beauty of Guqin is not spread, it will still be the same as what his parents did, that is, a piece of wood is placed there to take advantage of the resources of the paulownia tree. And the industrial advantages of national musical instruments are transformed into brand advantages, and the national musical instruments of Lankao can go further. "In the past, I just wanted to make a good piano quietly, but now I feel a heavy burden on my shoulders, and I want more people to feel the charm of the sound of the ages. "