Liang Pu, a Konghou teacher in Qiemo County, a small desert town in Xinjiang, did not expect that the children of the "Konghou Dolls Group" would be so obsessed with this ancient musical instrument.

In order to learn Konghou, the Uyghur girl Gulizaipaier Muhetar signed a "contract" with her parents, stipulating that "if there is a slight decline in her studies, she will not learn it"; the Han girl Yuan Xi often rubs blood blisters on her fingers, I don't know how much The second mother rode an electric bike through the sandstorm and took her to the youth center to practice.

Konghou was expensive, and it took Aybanu Wusman two years to convince his parents to buy one. With her excellent high school entrance examination results, she left Qiemo County and went to study in Korla City, where there are better teachers. There were no teachers teaching Konghou, so she returned to her hometown to study. From the day the new Konghou moved home, Mastuge Moueser had a best friend. She said "good night" to Konghou every day and wore a birthday hat for him every year...

Qiemo County is located on the southern edge of the Taklimakan Desert and was an important town on the southern route of the ancient Silk Road in history. In 1996, two wooden vertical Konghous dating back 2,700 years were unearthed from the Zagunluke Tomb here, and Qiemo was therefore called "the hometown of Konghou".

In 2016, the government of Qiemo County, which was not financially rich, established the first Konghou public welfare teaching and teacher training base in Xinjiang, implemented the Konghou "Seed Teacher" and "Konghou Doll" projects, and subsidized a group of primary and middle school music teachers and school students to study Konghou playing.

Six years have passed, and the members of the "Konghou Dolls Group" have gradually grown up. Their common wish is to "become the inheritor of Konghou".

A journey to find the roots makes the voice of Konghou reappear and come to an end

Attracted by the ancient Konghou 2,700 years ago, Lu Lu, the vice-chairman of the Konghou Professional Committee of the Chinese National Orchestra Society and a young Konghou performer, came to Qiemo County, Xinjiang in 2015, and started the first journey to find the roots of the Konghou.

The ancient vertical Konghou placed in the Qiemo Museum is made of local poplar wood. Konghou is a traditional plucked musical instrument of the Chinese nation. It flourished in the Han Dynasty and flourished in the Tang Dynasty. It was gradually lost in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. Since the 1930s, Chinese experts and scholars began to develop imitation Konghou, and finally successfully restored the Konghou in the 1980s, allowing it to reappear in the world with a new look and re-enter the music stage.

Lu Lu believes that more than 2,000 years ago, Konghou was popular along the Silk Road, but no one can play it in Xinjiang today. She is determined to inherit the culture of Konghou and not let the skills of this thousand-year-old musical instrument be lost again.

At the live concert, Lu Lu played the Konghou in Hanfu, and Liang Pu heard the tone of the modern Konghou "Jiu Ding" for the first time. "Everyone at the scene was very shocked. I was deeply attracted by Konghou." Liang Pu said.

In 2016, Qiemo County Government cooperated with the "Lulu Konghou" team to establish Xinjiang's first Konghou public welfare teaching and teacher training base. Liang Pu became the first batch of "seed teachers" and went to Beijing five times to receive free training.

This is a hard and happy "Konghou Road". In order to master the playing skills as soon as possible, Liang Pu will spend 8 hours a day in intensive training, and his fingers will quickly grind out blood blisters and grow calluses.

In order to inherit the Konghou culture in the "Hometown of Konghou", in March 2016, the "Qiemo Konghou Dolls Group" was established. Since then, music teacher Liang Pu has given free training to "Konghou Dolls" every holiday.

fascinated by konghou

When the first Desert Konghou Music Festival opened, Qiemo's children had their first chance to appear on stage. Fascinated by Konghou's "sound like spring water", Aybanu Wusman, a piano student since childhood, rehearsed with members of the "Konghou Dolls Group". The tall and elegant modern Konghou is taller than her, with a double row of 72 Root strings make finger identification very difficult. Although the belly of the fingers was constantly being worn out, she said, "I like Konghou so much. I practice every day and my hands will not hurt."

On the evening of August 13, 2016, the concert "Listening to Konghou Ancient Music in the Desert" opened in Qiemo County. The most striking thing is that under the training of Liang Pu, a group of "Konghou Dolls" around the age of 10 embraced Konghou on the stage and performed the song "Tomorrow Song" without emotion. "The Hometown of Konghou" has a new inheritor.

Because of its remoteness, Qiemo was called a "small town on the horizon" and was once a key county for poverty alleviation in Bayingoleng Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture. In order to let teachers and students learn Konghou, Qiemo County purchased 5 sets of Konghou in 2016. For each training, more than 10 dolls can only be divided into three groups to practice in turn.

In the home of 14-year-old Aidina Yasen, since the 8-year-old sister also joined the "Konghou Dolls Group", the sisters began to rush to practice Konghou. Their mother, Ayguli Tursun, a music teacher at the No. 1 Primary School in Qiemo County, gradually became fascinated by Konghou and became one of the eight "Konghou Seed Teachers" trained by Liang Pu.

Ayguli Tursun opened a Konghou club at No. 1 Primary School, attracting 30 pupils to join, taking advantage of the last class every Tuesday to Thursday and Friday afternoon training.

Contribute to the inheritance of Konghou

"The reason why there are so few people playing Konghou is that the cost of building Konghou is not low, and the cost of learning is relatively high. Moreover, Moxian regularly organizes Konghou public welfare training classes, and provides Konghou for free practice, more and more teachers and students are learning Konghou." Liang Pu said.

Since 2019, with the support of the Ministry of Education and the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Lottery Public Welfare Fund Project, Qiemo County has introduced 700,000 yuan of project funds twice, purchased 42 sets of Konghou musical instruments, and established a Konghou teacher training base in Qiemo County Youth Activity Center , 4 Konghou art and culture inheritance base schools were set up in primary and secondary schools in the county, and the number of "seed teachers" and "Konghou dolls" continued to expand.

What makes Liang Pu proud is that 18-year-old Yuan Xi, one of the first members of the "Konghou Dolls Group", has come out and became a freshman majoring in music education at Sichuan Neijiang Normal University.

"Konghou is full of life to me and is a good listener. When I am sad or happy, I choose to share it with it. Whenever I hear a nice piece of music, I will immediately play it with the Konghou." Yuan Xi said.

When she went to college, Yuan Xicai found herself lucky, she said: "Qiemo Public Welfare Teaching Base allows ordinary children like us to learn musical instruments for free. Konghou, as a rising niche musical instrument, has not been well known by most people. I will wait until I graduate. Later, I hope to become a music teacher and contribute my strength to the inheritance of Konghou.”

Mastuge Mouyeser, a student of Qiemo County No. 2 Middle School and Junior High School, has been practicing Konghou for 4 years. She is a member of the third batch of "Konghou Dolls". One of her favorite pieces is "Qing Ping Le". "When I played it, a grand scene of ancient court music and dance appeared in front of me, and I felt a sense of time travel."

"The most important thing is that, like the ancients, I still watch the hometown of Qiemo Konghou. This kind of dialogue with the ancients is very magical!" Mastuge Muyeser said, "When I grow up, I want to live a thousand years. The Konghou culture will be passed down to let more people know that the Konghou is not a harp, but an excellent traditional culture of the Chinese nation."