The 75-year-old Liang Bingguang is a Miao ethnic group member from Wuji village, Rongshui Miao autonomous county, Liuzhou, Guangxi. He started to learn the skills of making reed-pipe wind instrument when he was 12 years old.

In August 2008, Liang made a big reed-pipe wind instrument with a weight of 219.5 kilograms for the local celebration activity of the Beijing Olympic Games. Then he gained a title of “The king of reed-pipe wind instrument”. In 2012, Liang Bingguang was chosen as a national level intangible cultural heritage project representative inheritor.

The reed-pipe wind instrument is a traditional Chinese instrument and a symbol of ethnic groups of Miao, Yao and Dong. The process of making the instrument is complicated and needs great patience. There is strict requirement in every step of the making process. The maker should first choose appropriate material, then roast and forge the material into reed. After that, the maker can produce the bamboo pipe part of the instrument and install the reed into the almost-done instrument. The last step is to tune the tone and a reed-pipe wind instrument is finally completed.

Above: The process that Liang Bingguang follows to make the reed for a reed-pipe wind instrument is an intricate one. [Photo by Long Tao/Xinhua]

Liang Bingguang tests a reed on Feb 9. [Photo by Long Tao/Xinhua]

Now, Liang needs to make over 800 reed-pipe wind instrument every year. He has more than 20 apprentices, who have become the hard core in inheriting the culture of Miao reed-pipe wind instrument.

Liang Bingguang teaches his granddaughter – Liang Zhan, who is a student at the Guangxi Arts Institute, to play the reed-pipe wind instrument on Feb 9. [Photo by Long Tao/Xinhua]

Edited by Jake Hooson