(L to R) Li Lingting and Mo Ming, a lusheng player and maker, pose in their village in Leishan County, Guizhou Province, 2014.
Photo by Josh Eli Cogan, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution
“There are more than 40 procedures involved in making a lusheng, from harvesting the bamboo from the forest, to making the instrument sound.” —Mo Yanxue, master lusheng builder/father of Mo Ming, Festival participant
The polyphonic strains of the lusheng are common accompaniments to rituals, festivals, and dances of several ethnic communities in southwest China. The lusheng is a mouth organ made of bamboo pipes—each fitted with a metal reed—that are connected to a blowing tube made of hardwood. The instrument can be as short as four inches or as long as 20 feet. A professional model can have more than twenty pipes. In Miao communities, the lusheng (called qeeg in their language) is a “talking instrument” whose musical tones mimic the tones of speech. It is also considered an important means for communicating with the divine and deceased.
FESTIVAL PARTICIPANTS
Mo Ming莫铭 is a musician and fifth-generation lusheng mouth organ maker from Paika, a village in Guizhou Province that is famous for lusheng making. He majored in lusheng performance at Guizhou University and has helped innovate on the traditional design of the instrument by combining stainless steel and bamboo. His uncle, Mo Yanxue, is a recognized master instrument maker who can make lushengs of more than twenty pipes.
From the Festival
The two lusheng players at the Festival, Yang Zhengchao and Mo Ming.
Photo by Francisco Guerra, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution
Mo Ming, experienced lusheng maker, demonstrates how to construct the musical instrument.
Photo by Rachel Winslow, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution
Mo Ming demonstrates the lusheng by playing a song.
Photo by JB Weilepp, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution
Close-up of various sizes of lusheng.
Photo by Rachel Winslow, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution
A Festival visitor tries his hand at a Chinese lusheng.
Photo by Kate Mankowski, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution
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