At the Yelanggu Small Theater in Huaxi, Guiyang, Miao musician Xiong Tiankun held a three-eyed flute sharing session. The special bamboo national musical instrument of Suojia Township, Liuzhi Special Economic Zone was shown to everyone. Brother Zhang Tianlei, a young Miao nationality reed from Leishan, came to the scene to assist in the performance.

Miao musician Xiong Tiankun

The national feelings behind a three-eyed flute

Sanyanxiao, a bamboo characteristic national musical instrument, is unique to the long-horned Miao branch of the Miao ethnic group. It is named after only three sound holes. It is an intangible cultural heritage in Guizhou Province.

In Suoga Township, Liuzhi Special Economic Zone, the national musical instrument Sanyanxiao has been passed down from generation to generation. Under the inheritance and development of Xiong Tiankun, a young musician of the Miao ethnic group, the performance of Sanyanxiao was featured on the CCTV15 music channel, and received unanimous praise from the judges and audience.

Xiong Tiankun, born in 1990 in a group of Xingxing Village, Suojia Township, Liuzhi Special Economic Zone, is a Miao youth who grew up in a strong Miao culture. Inherit and develop Sanyanxiao well, integrate Sanyanxiao into popular musical instruments, and enter the public's field of vision.

In order to better realize the wish to carry forward the national musical instrument Sanyanxiao, in 2013, Xiong Tiankun was admitted to the vocal music major of the School of Music and Dance of Guizhou University for Nationalities, and began his national feelings and musical dreams.

During the four years of college, Xiong Tiankun continued to study the production and performance skills of the three-eye flute. He often asked Yang Degui, an old-timer of the three-eye flute in Suojia Township, to extensively collect the repertoire and playing method of the three-eye flute, and finally developed his own set of the three-eyed flute. Production method and playing fingering. In life, Xiong Tiankun often discusses with his father the production and performance of the three-eye flute, and has established a deep relationship between father and son at home and friends in music.

Xiong Tiankun said: "The three-eye flute is a musical instrument I like very much. I grew up listening to its sound. It is a unique spiritual culture of our Miao people that has been passed down from generation to generation. Among the young people of our generation, There are not many people who are committed to inheriting it, and being able to spread it so that more people know it and understand it is also a kind of wealth for me.”

However, to inherit and carry forward a musical instrument and a culture with heart requires full devotion. In 2017, Xiong Tiankun, who just graduated, entered the Liuzhi Special Economic Zone Cultural Center and got his first job here, but his job and his wishes are always incompatible. In the second half of 2018, Xiong Tiankun chose to resign and devote himself to the career of Sanyanxiao, concentrating on being an inheritor and disseminator. Since then, making the flute has become his daily routine, playing music has become his life, and inheriting and promoting it has become his own mission.

On August 20, 2019, Xiong Tiankun's three-eye flute performance was invited to perform on behalf of the School of Music and Dance of Guizhou University for Nationalities in the cultural knowledge assessment session in the finals of the China Instrumental Music TV Competition Professional Adult Wind Band on CCTV's CCTV15 Music Channel. On the big stage, he brought a melodious and beautiful three-eye flute performance to the audience.

Talking about this performance experience, Xiong Tiankun said excitedly: "I was greatly encouraged to be able to show the Miao musical instruments that I have always adhered to on such a big stage, and let the audience all over the country know about the three-eye flute. It has strengthened my confidence and determination to continue to do this meaningful thing."

Xiong Tiankun said: "Three-eyed flute is a precious material wealth of our Miao people. Although it has been passed down from generation to generation in our stockade, it cannot be brought to the public, and it cannot be performed in harmony with many popular musical instruments. My biggest expectation is to develop and spread the three-eye flute, so that it is like our common musical instrument and everyone knows it."