Connecticut College China Yunnan/Mekong Project

Instruments

All photographs by Alice Leng, Deputy Secretary-General of China Yunnan International Cuture Exchange Center in Kunming, Yunnan Province, China.

Yi Instruments | Dai Instruments | Naxi Instruments | Leba/Dongba Instruments | Wa Instruments

Yi (pronounced Yee) Instruments

Moon Guitar
The moon guitar is a traditional guitar made by the Yi, and is often called the 'four-string guitar'. It is called the moon guitar because its body is round and resembles the moon. The head of the guitar is often adorned with the head of a dragon, and the body is adorned with personalized carvings of flowers, animals and traditional symbols.

Tobacco Box
The circular tobacco box used by the Yi can become a percussive instrument by flicking the fingers on the inside of the lid. There are many dances for the tobacco box, and its use is widespread; it has now become popularized and adapted by many ethnic groups.

Spirit Drum
This is a set of two drums made of cattle skin tied to the hollowed out trunk of a large tree. It is struck by two types of mallets, one type is long and thin, used for the counting rhythm, and one is short and thick for the fill rhythm. Both are made from a strong wood called 'ox ligament wood'.

Erhu
This is a bowed string instrument made of a hollow wooden cylinder covered in snake skin like a drum. The neck and tuning pegs are made of wood, and there are two strings made of cow ligaments. This instrument is used throughout China by the Han and many other ethnic groups.

Hulusheng (gourd pipe)
Hulusheng (pronounced Hoo-Loo-SHUNG) has four to seven bamboo pipes.   This one consists of two gourds spanned by five bamboo pipes which contain free-beating reeds, may be sounded by either exhaling or inhaling through the blow-pipe and, at the same time, closing the finger hole on the pipe. Variations on this instrument can be found among many of the ethnic groups in southwest China.

Tree Leaf
The tree leaf is one of the most widespread and simplest of ethnic instruments in Yunnan, consisting simply of the leaf of a tree. This leaf is lightly pressed between the lips and the player blows across the edge to create vibration and sound.

Sooni Drum
The Sooni Drum is used for rituals performed by the Sooni sorcerers. It is made of a soft wood that is bent into a ring and tightly wrapped with goatskin. Inside they place seeds of local wild fruits to create a rattling sound. The Sooni holds the drum with strings attached to a wooden dragon's head, and beats the drum with a wooden mallet with his left hand.

Dai (pronounced DYE) Instruments back to top

Hulusi
The Hulusi (pronounced Hoo-Loo-SE) is made of a gourd and three hollow bamboo shafts containing free-beating reeds. Among the three shafts, the larger one in the center is the main shaft, with finger-holes. The two auxiliary shafts can be blocked off. When opened, one shaft is for alto, and the other is for bass. The instrument is vertically held and the mouthpiece faces upward, attached to a side of the player's mouth. The right hand of the player is on the upper part of the instrument, and the air stream enters the main and the secondary pipes at the same time. The melody is played on the main pipe which gives a delicate sound, while the secondary pipes work as a kind of drone pipes which provide a harmonious, blurred sound. The gourd flute originated among the Dai people of Yunnan Province, and is now one of the most well-known ethnic instruments of Southwest China.

Bawu (bamboo flute)
Bawu has a bamboo body and an opening at the lower or right hand end, while the upper or left hand end is stopped. There is a rectangular opening at the upper end which serves as the mouthpiece, to which a bamboo or copper reed is attached with beeswax.The instrument comes in single and double barrel forms. This flute is widespread among the Yi, Dai, Hmong, Hani, etc. throughout Yunnan Province.

Naxi (pronounced Na-HSEE) Instruments back to top

Naxi Mouth Harp (Jew Harp and Jaws Harp)
The mouth harp also called jew harp and jaws harp. It is constructed of thin bamboo strips. The Naxi term for it, is gue gueq; the Chinese is kouxian (pronounced Ko-HSIEN).  One type is vibrated by pulling on a small string; the vibration resonates through the player's mouth, amplifying the sound. The other type is split into three strips, and is vibrated by plucking; it is amplified in the same manner. The player can add her own voice and tone to the sound, and use certain sounds to convey information in a substitute for speaking. These instruments are found with slight variations throughout the ethnic groups of Yunnan and Southeast Asia.

Leba/Dongba Instruments back to top
Pronounced Luh-BAH/Doong-BA, these are some of the instruments used in the Dongba ritual dances (Dongba are the indigenous priests of the Naxi.) The drums are held by a handle and struck either with a stick or by spinning so that the leather straps on the sides strike the skin. The wooden plank is decorated with religious symbols. Other implements are cymbals and a tassel.

Wa Instruments back to top

Wa Instrument Rack

Once upon a time there was a Wa man named Dagelei; he built a thatch hut in the shape of a water buffalo, and covered it on all sides with every imaginable musical instrument. He used this to carry his instruments to every corner of the earth and introduce music to early mankind. He did this to unite the peoples of the world so that they could grow and thrive together.

Wa Hulusheng (gourd pipe)
The Wa Hulusheng (pronounced Hoo-Loo-SHUNG) follows a design that is common throughout Yunnan. Two gourds are connected by five bamboo pipes. The gourds represent the reproductive organs, and the five bamboo pipes represent the five children of the Great Mother, who split off to create the tribes of the world.

 

 

 

All photographs taken by Alice Leng, Deputy Secretary-General of China Yunnan International Cuture Exchange Center in Kunming, Yunnan Province, China.