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Uncle Kuo’s Musical Magic  by Mo Rui Qiu
It was already late in the evening as we climbed several flights of
stairs to the workshop where Huáng Guǎng Kuò (黄广扩) works
his magic. We were concerned about bothering him so late, but our friends insisted that he is typically a night owl. Reaching the top of the stairs, on our left we saw multiple stringed instruments hanging from a row of pegs. On our right, we saw a workshop filled with shavings, a vice, and tools. They introduced us to Huáng Guǎng Kuò and told us to call him “Uncle Kuo.” He warmly welcomed us and let us look around.

He proudly told us that only the Zhuang areas have these unique instruments. The main instruments for the Southern Zhuang are: the hollow horse bone stringed instrument (马骨胡), the three-stringed bow instrument (三弦) and the “local” (土) stringed instrument made from hollowed wood. The Northern Zhuang people use similar instruments, including the hollow horse bone stringed instrument (马骨胡), gourd stringed instrument (葫芦胡) and the moon-shaped instrument (月琴).

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Uncle Kuo ends the evening with a grand finale!

Uncle Kuo said that it typically takes him fifteen days to make one of the horse bone instruments. Just carving and polishing the horse bone portion takes two full days. Sometimes he uses the bone in its natural hollow form. Other times, he will slice the bone into strips and fit them together to make a larger hollow cone. He explained that someone needs to first know how to make the Chinese “two-stringed bowed instrument” (二胡) as a base skill before they could go on to learn to make these other forms. Typically, if someone knows how to make these unique instruments, that person doesn’t know how to play them. Or, if someone is able to play well, they wouldn’t have a clue about crafting the instruments. Uncle Kuo is certainly an exception to this rule because he masterfully crafts the instruments and plays them! He even created a one-man ensemble by recording himself playing the different instruments and then splicing them together on one recording.

This musical interest and talent came from his father who knew how to make these Southern Zhuang instruments, as well as knowing how to make the famous Zhuang wooden puppets. His father taught him to play when he was about eight or ten years old. He even went on to study music at the Youjiang Teachers College (右江师专), which is currently the Baise Institute (百色学院). However Uncle Kuo set music aside for over twenty years when he changed his profession to work in a government office. It wasn’t until he retired in 2002 that he returned to this beloved art.

While some people play these instruments as a casual hobby, for Uncle Kuo, his vision reaches beyond. He sees the Zhuang art, music and life as intertwined with each other. Before the days of electricity and television, people relied on these art forms for their life and culture. Now, if it is not fanned into flame again, the remaining embers will be twisted into something very different. Sadly, many Zhuang people themselves don’t even know about these traditions anymore. He hopes that it will be commonly known again one day. Uncle Kuo believes his musical artistry is his contribution to protecting and promoting Zhuang culture.

When he gathered a bunch of friends to form a traditional music troupe in 2003, he thought carefully about the name for their music group. Finally, he chose the name Tiān Bǎo Zhuàng Jù Tuán (天保壮剧团), which he intends to mean: “Heaven Protects the Zhuang People Troupe.” Earlier, the children would learn life principles through songs, but they have stopped teaching them the songs. In order for today’s children to share in the group identity, they need to start learning the songs again. Uncle Kuo emphasized that each ethnic group needs to have a sense of true home, to have a place where a person really feels that he belongs. As if to end this thought with a musical exclamation point, Uncle Kuo serenaded us by playing refrains on each of the three special Southern Zhuang instruments. We invite you to share in this grand finale of our visit with Uncle Kuo by looking for Zhuang Stringed Instruments on our Sound Clips page.