这件乐器，天生就适合人的灵魂 | A crush on China’s Xun

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Renowned Chinese writer Jia Pingwa once wrote a short essay about xun, a traditional Chinese musical instrument, called "Sound of the Earth": "The xun is made of clay, hence its sound comes from the earth. The modern civilization has bred various new instruments that make magnificent sounds, yet no other instrument has the magical power like xun does. When the goddess made human beings out of clay, she also made xun. While both are endowed with seven apertures, men get a soul, and xun gets the charm."

中国著名作家贾平凹曾为埙写过一篇短文，《吹土为声》：“埙是泥捏的东西，发出的是土声地气。现代文明产生的种种新式乐器，可以演奏华丽的东西，但绝没有埙那样蕴涵着的一种魔怪。上帝用泥捏人的时候，也捏了这埙，人凿七孔有了灵魂，埙凿七孔便有了神韵。”

The ancient and melodious sound of xun is very enchanting. Such a simple instrument changed the whole life of Zhang Xun.

埙声响起，古朴、悠扬，令人沉醉。这种不起眼的乐器，改变了张埙的一生。

Zhang Xun, originally named Zhang Jun, was born in a poor family northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. Due to his family's economic situation, he dropped out at the age of 14. As a migrant worker, he worked as a coal miner and a street vendor.

张埙，原名张军，生于宁夏。因为家境贫困，他14岁就辍学打工，下过煤窑，摆过地摊。

"I loved music since childhood. My grandfather once made me a clay gadget. I always played it when I was herding the sheep." Says Zhang. "I thought it was just a toy. But not until I met master Zhao Yao in Shanxi Province, I realized that it was actually an ancient musical instrument called xun.”

“小时候我喜欢音乐，爷爷就给我做了个泥哇呜，形状跟埙类似，每天放羊的时候就吹。”张埙说。“那时候以为它只是一个玩具。后来我在山西遇见师傅赵遥先生，才知道那叫埙，是古代很古老的乐器。”

Zhao is a master craftsman in xun-making. During the encounter, Zhang managed to learn to play a musical piece within one night without any musical background. Zhao was surprised and accepted Zhang as his pupil in making and playing this unique instrument.

赵遥是埙制作大师。张埙在偶然碰见他，在没有任何乐理知识的情况下，一晚上练出了一首曲子。赵遥很惊讶，同意收他为徒，教他埙制作和埙演奏。

"A xun-maker must know how to play it." The key is to relax shoulders and elbows, while keeping one's eyes ahead and chin tucked-in. This posture helped Zhang adjust xun's overall shape and the sound holes better to suit the player.

“制埙人必须得会吹埙。”沉肩坠肘，目视前方，下颚微收。这些经验能让他调整埙的形状和音孔位置，让手持更加舒适。

Zhang has learnt from many artists in the fields of Chinese painting, martial arts and Chinese calligraphy, etc. "All the art forms are interconnected. I utilize my knowledge in martial arts and painting in the processes of making and playing xun. It helps me improve my mentality, my perception, and my self-cultivation."

之后，张埙又拜过许多老师，学习中国画、武术、书法。“艺术都是相通的，我会将武术和绘画上的心得技巧都用在制埙和吹埙上，在心态、认识和修养上都自我提升。”

His works are all made in the earth mound kilns. The shapes are primitive and simple. The traditional technique that he adopts is called "charring in heaps", which creates patterns on the instrument's surface like ink wash paintings. This art of fire and clay makes every xun one of a kind.

他所制的埙，都出自土窑，在造型上追求原始、简单。烧制的时候，采用传统的堆烧法。这会在埙的形成窑变的花纹，如同水墨画。这种火与土的艺术，让每一只埙都独一无二。

Zhang's biggest innovation was turning the flat blowing hole into a U-shape sound hole. He also made adjustments on the inner coating. "It increases the volume and expands the vocal range while maintaining the traditional shape and tones."

张埙最大的创新在于，将埙传统的平型口改为U形口，对胎壁也作了调整。“这样既保持了原有的外形和音色，又增大了音量，拓展了音域。”

There're many types of xun, although Zhang only make it with 9 sound holes, which he believes to be able to make the most beautiful sounds. "It sounds elegant and ancient, primitive and pure, but not sorrowful at all." He also tunes the xuns according to international standards, so that they can be played together with any modern instruments. 

另外，虽然埙有许多种形制，他目前所做的埙都是九音孔，因为这种埙的声音最好听，“既高雅又古老，简单纯粹，不悲不伤”。而且他的调音和国际标准统一，因此可以和所有现代乐器一块儿演奏。

Many of Zhang's works are collected by world famous musicians, such as Oscar-winning Chinese composer Tan Dun, Chinese tenor Fan Jingma and Swedish violinist Jan Stigmer.

现在，出自张埙之手的埙被多位世界著名音乐人收藏，包括获得过奥斯卡奖的中国音乐家谭盾、男高音歌唱家范竞马，以及小提琴“跳弓之王”让•斯蒂默。

“人如其名，埙者如埙，来自大地，也行走于大地。”张埙用这句话总结自己的人生与埙的缘分。这份哲思，也是埙这一乐器的魅力所在。

"As the name suggests, I am Xun, and I make xun. We come from the earth and live long upon it," Zhang concludes on his fate with xun. Such philosophic connotation may also lie in the charm of this ancient and magical instrument.

Cameraman: Wang Yunfei

Film editor: Liu Yangyang, Ma Mingyuan

Story written by: Zhu Siqi

English editor: Andrew Robert Corless

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