String instruments are created by the Zhuang ethnic group in the Chinese Guangxi Autonomous Region

Abstract

The objectives of this dissertation were to: 1) investigate the creation of stringed instruments of the Zhuang ethnic group in the Chinese Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. 2) examine the function and role of stringed instruments of the Zhuang ethnic group in the Chinese Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. 3) provide a guideline for the preservation of stringed instruments of the Zhuang ethnic group in the Chinese Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The qualitative research method is used. Data are collected on the spot through interviews with 6 key information providers in this field, and the collected data are classified and analyzed. The results show that:

1. The production methods and improvement ideas of Zhuang stringed instruments are all derived from the basic concepts of musical instrument production, and these concepts are also the core concepts gradually summarized in the long history of musical instrument development. The formation of these concepts is based on the unique natural environment and unique cultural ecological environment of the Zhuang area. When these circumstances change, the core philosophy of instrument creating is bound to change with it.

2. Stringed instruments play multiple functions and roles in the entire Zhuang cultural ecology. When Zhuang stringed instruments take on different functions, their roles often change accordingly. For example, its role is that of a musical instrument when it undertakes entertainment and stagecraft functions. When it assumes the function of folk rituals, it is both a musical instrument and a magic weapon. When it undertakes the function of ethnic cultural exchange and dissemination, it is not only a musical instrument, but also sometimes a historical artifact, sometimes a handicraft, or exists as a representative cultural symbol of the Zhuang ethnic group.

3. For the preservation of Zhuang stringed instruments, we should establish a scientific and stable social education mechanism and form a cultural preservation team covering the needs of Zhuang stringed instruments in craft production, artistic creation, performance skills, theoretical teaching and research, and cultural publicity. The inheritors provide as detailed learning materials as possible, conduct long-term, comprehensive, and systematic training for the inheritors, and cultivate a comprehensive and high-level Zhuang string music art team, which will continue to fuel the preservation of Zhuang string instruments.

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