Xinjiang's "Ethnic Music Recorder" Protects and Inherits Old Skills through Digitization | Wang Jiangjiang | Skills
Urumqi, August 14th, China News Agency (Xinhua) - "Ethnic Music Recorders" in Xinjiang Protect and Inherit Old Skills through Digitization
Author Hu Jiachen
In the past 13 years since arriving in Xinjiang, Wang Jiangjiang has traveled to over 300 villages and recorded written and visual materials for over 2000 intangible cultural heritage inheritors and folk artists. "What is the meaning? What is the ultimate goal?" Many people are puzzled by this. "It's not like stepping on a road and looking forward to the end of the road," said Wang Jiangjiang. "The process is more important than the result when you devote yourself to doing what you love.".
Wang Jiangjiang, born in Hebei, has been fond of music since childhood. He studied at Xi'an Conservatory of Music in university and then went to Italy for further studies, majoring in opera performance and composition. During his nearly three years of studying abroad in Italy, Wang Jiangjiang's understanding of Western music has gradually deepened, while also discovering that he knows very little about Chinese culture, especially music, overseas. He couldn't help but ask himself: shouldn't the various forms of music in the brilliant Chinese culture be known to more people?
In 2009, Wang Jiangjiang returned to his home country and embarked on a journey of searching for "music" one by one, traveling through more than 10 provinces. He learned many music forms that he had not been exposed to before. Until I accidentally saw a segment of Xinjiang Uyghur elderly performing Muqam in a documentary, I was deeply shocked. "He has a strong sense of immersion and can easily resonate with his inner self." Afterwards, he became fascinated by searching for various Muqam materials and developed a strong impulse: to go to Xinjiang.
In 2010, Wang Jiangjiang went through several setbacks and became a volunteer at the Culture and Sports Bureau of Ruoqiang County, Xinjiang. The unfamiliar situation in life can be changed by music. "I met my first friend through music, and then I made more friends. It can be said that it is a process of 'making friends through music'. In Wang Jiangjiang's view, the collision with music art and the way of getting along with people are the same. From mutual attraction to deep understanding, the most important thing is respect and tolerance.".
The picture shows Wang Jiangjiang and his team conducting filming and recording work. The interviewee provided pictures themselves
Uyghur Muqam of Xinjiang is a large-scale integrated classical music art form integrating song, dance and pleasure. Its music structure is complete, its melody is rich, and its beat and rhythm change are distinct. During his time in Ruoqiang County, whenever Mukam performed, Wang Jiangjiang always went to watch and listen up close at the first time. "Muqam expresses rich and delicate emotions, with strong fusion and a global musical characteristic."
As Wang Jiangjiang became more familiar with Mukam, he also had hidden concerns. "Mukam has a variety of forms of expression, with different forms in different regions. In addition, besides inheritors, there are many folk artists who understand Mukam, and this old skill is already a part of their lives. However, there is no systematic audio and video materials to record these."
Afterwards, Wang Jiangjiang pursued different forms of Mukam's expression and systematically recorded and organized his travels between southern and northern Xinjiang. "Searching for inheritors and folk artists, recording all the segments that can be sung, taking portrait photos for them, and establishing electronic archives." Mukam became a bond between Wang Jiangjiang and the artists to bring them closer and communicate emotions. He also learned Uyghur language and has created over 40 music works with regional characteristics.
In 2021, Wang Jiangjiang began to divide the recorded materials into columns such as face-to-face conversations with inheritors, intangible cultural heritage exhibitions, and filming behind the scenes, and diversified audience dissemination on different online platforms to cover more groups. He said, "This work has also fulfilled the original intention of coming to Xinjiang, presenting traditional culture to more people and attracting more attention."
Once pursued for music in Xinjiang, Xinjiang has now become Wang Jiangjiang's second hometown. Except for Mukam, the diverse cultures of the Kazakh people, such as "black horses" and earthenware making, all attract him to explore, record, and organize in this hot land of Xinjiang. "Here, I see the diversity and diversity of Chinese culture. Compared to others, the work I have done is only a small part, and the path of cultural inheritance and protection will continue."
