අස්පෘශ්‍ය සංස්කෘතික උරුම දෙකක් දායද කළ චීනයේ ජිං ජන සමූහය

Two national intangible cultural heritage items of China's Jing ethnic minority

Thanks to the long history and a complete cultural system, the Jing ethnic group, one of China's smallest minority groups, boasts two national intangible cultural heritage items -- the single-stringed musical instrument and the Ha Festival, each with distinctive art and traditions inherited by generations.

The Jing is the only maritime ethnic group in China, with most of its members living on the three islands off the coast of Dongxing, a coastal city of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in south China. The ethnic group currently comprises less than 30,000 people and mainly lives in Guangxi's border regions adjoining Vietnam, where the single-stringed instrument is also played.

The single-stringed instrument, or "duxianqin" in transliteration, is unique to the ethic Jing culture, capable of presenting exquisite melodies with the only string it has.

Composed of three major parts, the single-stringed instrument is shaped like a rectangular box. As its name implies, the instrument only has one string. The performer holds the fiddle in their left hand and plucks the string with a tiny piece of bamboo in their right hand. The instrument is usually played during the traditional folk festival of the Jing ethnic group, as an accompanying instrument, but it is also good for solo pieces.

"It makes sound by vibration. One string can produce many notes by the joystick which can change the pitch and control the tune. The closer the point is to the joystick, the higher the sound. There are many possibilities in playing. For example, it can imitate some other sounds," said Zhao Xia, inheritor of the single-stringed instrument.

The single-stringed instrument was originally used to play accompaniment music for poets reciting poems, and the music was mostly gentle. As time went by, the younger generations of the Jing people improved its structure as well as music, making the style gradually become more vibrant.

The art of duxianqin was formally recognized by the Chinese government as an item of intangible cultural heritage in 2011.

It was also played at the Golden Hall of the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria. And communication centers for the instrument have been established in many countries around the globe, serving as a bridge to promote cultural exchanges between China and other nations.

Another unique culture of the Jing ethnic group is Ha Festival, which was listed as a national intangible cultural heritage item in 2006.

As the most important and grandest traditional festival of the Jing people, the three-day festival is generally marked by rich rituals of worshiping the sea god and grand celebrations of singing and dancing.

The time of holding the Ha Festival varies from village to village, but is concentrated from June to August of the lunar calendar.

Hating (literally "Ha Pavilion"), a major venue for the Jing people to hold the Ha Festival, can be seen in all villages of the ethnic group. It is a public place for local residents to worship their ancestors and gods, as well as carry out entertainment and discussions.

"The pillars on both sides of the Hating are all square in shape, and those in the auditorium are round. The square pillars mean that the ethnic Jing people should be upright, while the round ones represent the unity of all ethnic groups in our country," said Su Haibing, Party secretary at Wanwei Village.

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