Why has Donggao Village in Pinggu, Beijing become the hometown of violins? For every few violins sold globally, one comes from here
The violin is known as the "Queen of Music" in the West, and making the violin is a recognized art form. If Pinggu District in the eastern suburbs of Beijing is an important violin producing area in the world, you may be surprised. That's right! This famous hometown of violin is Donggaocun Town in Pinggu District, with the leading enterprise being the East China Musical Instrument Company located in Donggaocun.
Ten years ago, one out of every three violins produced globally came from Donggao Village. Nowadays, the violin production in Donggao Village is shifting from low-end primary to mid to high end. Although the annual output has decreased from 300000 at its peak to 120000, the output value has increased from 50 million yuan to 80 million yuan.
How does violin production take root, sprout, and thrive in small towns in the suburbs of Beijing? Recently, the reporter visited East China Musical Instrument Company.
Assembly workshop of East China Musical Instrument Co., Ltd.
Diligent pursuit
In the corridor of the East China Musical Instrument Experience Hall, there is a huge exhibition board featuring the master violinist Dai Hongxiang. Dai Hongxiang entered Beijing Musical Instrument Factory in 1951 to learn how to make the violin. In 1959, he enrolled in the Advanced Violin Production Class at Shanghai Conservatory of Music. Later, he became a technical model and industry leader at Beijing Violin Factory and Beijing Musical Instrument Research Institute, with deep research on Italian guqin. In 1984, he was awarded the title of "Violin Master".
In the world of violin, on the land of Italy from the 16th to the 18th century, the qin made by Machini, Amati, Stradivari, and Guarnelli represents the highest level of piano makers and is also a reference for countless future piano makers to learn from. In the late 1950s, it was not easy for Chinese pianists to see Italian guqin.
By chance, a long cherished Italian Szczynski piano belonging to violinist Situ Huacheng broke down and was repaired by Dai Hongxiang. This opportunity to learn about the Si Guqin made Dai Hongxiang feel like a treasure. He had his apprentice play the piano while he listened from different positions, recorded all kinds of data with instruments, and used all his skills to restore the piano to its original state. Afterwards, he handed the European guqin to Dai Hongxiang, who excitedly opened it, recorded various data, and reassembled it, deepening his understanding of the Italian guqin.
As Dai Hongxiang's skills became more and more exquisite, he suffered from severe otitis media and completely lost hearing in his left ear after surgery. He used his remaining right ear to feel the sound and made one violin after another with a melodious tone. In 1983, at the first Louis Spool International Violin Production Competition in Federal Germany, his work ranked first in sound quality and won a gold medal in sound quality.
In 1993, Liu Yundong, the founder of East China Musical Instruments Company, visited the company three times and invited Dai Hongxiang to serve as the technical director of the violin factory. Afterwards, the production technology and quality of the violin factory made a breakthrough and was officially renamed as East China Musical Instruments Co., Ltd. The spirit of Dai Hongxiang's diligent efforts in making violins deeply infects every violinist at East China Instrument Co., Ltd.
Dai Hongxiang has an outstanding student named Zheng Quan, from Shanghai. He has served as a professor at the Central Conservatory of Music and the founder of the Violin Production Research Center. He has been awarded the title of "International Violin Production Master" by the International Violin Production Association. Zheng Quan has a graduate student named Liu Zunfei who has professional research in violin culture and production. After graduating in 2018, he joined East China Musical Instruments Co., Ltd. as a qin maker, has his own studio, and is also a spokesperson for corporate culture.
Striving for excellence
"A violin has no vertical angle on its surface, and it is completely polished by manual labor. With a difference of one millimeter, the sound quality is completely different. A piece of wood can be cut and polished in millions of ways, but in the hands of a craftsman, there is only one way to transform into a perfect violin." This is a sentence from the East China Instrument Exhibition Hall, which shows the company's strict requirements for the career and skills of qin makers.
"We have high standards and strict requirements from the beginning of material selection." Liu Yundong introduced that the materials of Huadong Musical Instrument Co., Ltd. mainly come from the white pine in the European Alps. This wood has uniform pores and density, and the finer fibers help to produce rich and warm sound. It has good acoustic characteristics and is specifically used to make violin panels. The materials of other parts are also internationally recognized imported wood.
He said that a violin requires dozens of processes, including material selection, splicing, scraping, sound holes, sound beams, combining, accompanying, carving, making fingerboards, painting, and assembly... Each process requires the qin maker to strive for excellence, only in this way can the violin body be perfect and the moving music be played. "So we demand that qin makers not only understand the art of making qin, but also create a qin that everyone praises, just like creating exquisite works of art."
For many years, the violin produced by East China Musical Instruments Co., Ltd. has won numerous awards in international competitions. In 2010, at the American International Violin Production Competition, the two violinists Chang Zhongqiu and Liu Kai respectively won the Silver Award for Violin Production and the Bronze Award for Violin Production. In 2014, at the Soul And Shape Violin Production Competition held in Moscow, the four violins submitted by Chen Fengjun's team won the Gold and Bronze Violin Production Awards, as well as the Gold and Silver Violin Production Awards.
The reporter met this outstanding piano maker at Chen Fengjun's studio, who was meticulously adjusting the curvature of the edge of the piano body. Chen Fengjun comes from Bozhou, Anhui, with a background in carpentry and a passion for violin making. He came to East China Musical Instrument Co., Ltd. before the age of 20 and has been working here for more than 20 years. He didn't seem to hear the questions from the reporters and others, just smiled and glanced at them, then immediately measured and sharpened the object in his hand.
Liu Yundong smiled and said that regardless of who came with Chen Feng, his mind was not focused on answering questions. Many reporters reported that interviewing him was the most difficult because he didn't speak. "He has a high level of piano making skills, and some companies want to poach him, but he is wholeheartedly here. He is also the son-in-law of our Donggao Village."
A low-end popular violin may cost as low as two to three hundred yuan, while a high-end professional playing violin can be sold for tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of yuan. Nowadays, Pinggu Violin Enterprise, represented by East China Musical Instruments Co., Ltd., is continuously reducing the production of popular violins and producing high-end violins for professional orchestral performances.
The continuous pursuit of excellence by the qin makers has also attracted famous players to come and pick the qin. Famous violinists Emmal Oliveira, Sheng Zhonghua, Lv Siqing, and Xie Nan all have violas produced by Pinggu as their backup for their performances.
Chen Fengjun is in the studio.
Integrated development
In addition to strengthening and refining violin production, the violin industry chain in Donggaocun Town is extending towards music education and training, music cultural exchange, performing arts, cultural and creative industries, promoting the integrated development of the music and cultural industry.
In 2016, East China Musical Instruments Co., Ltd. established the East China Music City and regularly organized a series of public welfare themed concerts and music lecture hall activities to cultivate the music appreciation habits of Pinggu citizens.
In 2017, taking advantage of the exchange of music and culture between China and the West, Pinggu District established a friendly city relationship with Valencia, Spain. Through inviting in and going out, the violin culture was spread in both directions.
In 2020, in order to cope with the difficulties caused by the epidemic, East China Musical Instrument Co., Ltd. took the initiative to seek change. On Tiktok, Kwai and other live broadcast platforms, it invited the piano maker to demonstrate and explain the piano making technology online, led the netizens to visit the piano making operation room online, spread the violin culture, and opened up new channels for enterprise operation.
Pianist Liu Zunfei is in the studio.
In 2021, Donggaocun Town, together with Central Conservatory of Music Affiliated Middle School and Beijing Dance Academy Education College, carried out town school joint construction and established the first music and dance characteristic aesthetic education base in Pinggu District, bringing high-quality teachers to Pinggu District. At the same time, registering and landing a personal studio for artists with both moral and artistic excellence, as well as a violin production training base, promotes talent mobility.
