The next day, Wei Xiaotang came to our house for tea. My father made a pot of aged Pu'er, and put a piece of Xinhui tangerine peel into the teapot.

At first, the two drank tea and talked about fishing. Later, they talked about the instrument.

Wei Xiaotang drank tea and slowly talked about the past and present life of this piano.

Wei Xiaotang said, my ancestral home is Ningzhou, Guangxi, Ning is the quiet Ning, and the state is the state of Guangzhou. I'm still from the Zhuang clan.

Hearing Wei Xiaotang say that he was from Ningzhou County, Guangxi, and he was also an ethnic minority, his father was a little surprised. Although our two families have been neighbors for almost six years, and the two families often move around, our family has never known that Wei Xiaotang's ancestral home is Guangxi, let alone that he is a Zhuang compatriot from Ningzhou, Guangxi.

"Ningzhou?"

"It's that Ningzhou, which borders Vietnam, and the border people of the two countries often walk around, and now there is a border trade point in Ningzhou, and Vietnamese people often pick mangoes, foreign lychees, rice, or something to sell, and many young Vietnamese people come to us to work, and there are also many Vietnamese women who marry over. I was born in Guangzhou and grew up in Guangzhou, my father was also born in Guangzhou and grew up in Guangzhou, but my grandfather grew up in Ningzhou, in the fifties, my grandfather was admitted to South China University of Technology from Guangxi, formerly called South China Institute of Technology, and later stayed in Guangzhou after graduating from university. People can't forget their roots, my dad and I have always been Zhuang, just like my grandfather. ”

"Oh, ethnic minorities are good, ethnic minorities have extra points in the entrance examination, right?"

"We now seem to have 10 points added to the high school entrance examination, and there doesn't seem to be a college entrance examination, but our Zhuang people seem to have 20 points added to the college entrance examination in our hometown. Of course, extra points are trivial, I always feel that since my grandparents are all Zhuang, then we can't become other ethnic groups just because we live in the metropolis of Guangzhou, right? You can't forget the classics. ”

"Then what relatives are there in Ningzhou now?"

"There are no close relatives anymore, but our ancestral graves are all there. Although my grandfather passed away in Guangzhou, he still sent his ashes back to the ancestral grave in Ningzhou to be buried with his ancestors in accordance with his will. There are not many people with the surname Wei in the village, a total of seventy or eighty people, not that our surname Wei is not prosperous. The main reason is that many people have moved to Ningzhou County or to Nanning, and the farthest may be our family. Although we are scattered all over the country, every third day of the third lunar month, people organize people to go back to the village to worship our common ancestors. Like our home, because it is really too far away, therefore, every few years, we send a representative back, we always feel that our roots are in Ningzhou. ”

"Your father and mother are still alive, aren't they?"

"They're all alive. After they retired, they all went to live with my eldest sister in Shenzhen. They said they would only come to live with me when I had children. Alas, we have been married for more than five years, but the two of us are always noisy, we don't have any children, and our careers haven't improved much. My parents definitely didn't want to come and live with us, so as not to be angry. I'm sorry, I said far away, off topic. I'll talk about this piano anyway. ”

"On the third day of the third lunar month last year, I returned to Ningzhou to worship the mountain on behalf of our family. The tun in our hometown is called Clam Tun. The clam is also called the big gecko, which is a very famous aphrodisiac reptile in Guangxi, especially in our hometown, and is now a national second-class protected animal. As for why our tun is called a clam tun, I don't understand. We border Vietnam, and there is a national border monument erected to the west of the village.

"This is the first time I've been back, and my family has informed me early on that I'm going back no matter what.

"It turned out that the government was going to build a highway from Chongzuo to Ningzhou, and that road happened to pass by the ancestral grave of our Wei family, and the government allocated a sum of money for us to move the grave. In the process of moving the grave, we dug up two such pianos in one grave, and the other one was larger and longer than this one, about 1.7 meters. Two pianos of different sizes were unearthed in the same tomb, and several old people in the clan said that this was a male and a female, which were used for pairing.

"The stem and barrel are made of maple wood, which is very hard, and the famous Longzhou cutting board is made of maple wood. The material of the maple wood is extremely dense, and even if it is dried and planed into shavings, it will sink when it enters the water, and will never float. Because of the high density, it is as hard as steel, knocking can make a sonorous sound like metal, it is very difficult to cut and process, and even nails can not be nailed in, it can be said that it is "invulnerable" steel and wood, it is one of the four major ironwood in Guangxi, and it is a precious tree species under national secondary protection. The wood of fir wood is ruddy in color, does not bend, does not crack, is resistant to water and corrosion, and is a high-grade high-quality wood. Another unique feature of the grain of the tree is that on the cross-section of the tree, the growth rings are wide on one side and narrow on the other, and the shape resembles the grain on the clam shell.

"You see, this barrel, apparently made of a whole piece of ironwood, hollowed out in the middle of the wood, dug into a round hole, made a row of barrels, although the age is old, but still very strong, you look around the barrel, carved many images, some like a man with his arms outstretched, some bent elbows raised, some legs spread apart, some bent knees and half squatting. I don't know what it means, it's a book from heaven at all.

Some members of my old family said that it might be an ancient Zhuang script, but no one read it. You may also know that the popular Zhuang text is not the same as the ancient Zhuang text, it seems to be 26 English letters, I heard that after the establishment of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in 1958, I think that the Zhuang people do not have a text that is not good, so the relevant departments organized experts to create Zhuang characters, and in 1962 they came up with Zhuang characters, which are now used in Guangxi Zhuang newspapers, which seem to be 26 letters and a little more tone. The Central University for Nationalities and Guangxi University for Nationalities both have departments of Zhuang literature. This line of ancient Zhuang text at the bottom of the piano, I will have the opportunity to verify what it means in the future. I heard that there is a book called "Yu Bing Bu Luotuo" vocabulary research, I will definitely look for it if I have the opportunity, will this line of ancient Zhuang text at the bottom of the piano be a spell or some kind of spell secret language or something? This mystery is necessary to be solved.

"This instrument is very, very old, I estimate that it is not less than a thousand years. Why? I deduce from this, first of all, Ningzhou has a long history. Ancient Luo Yue land. In 221 BC, Qin unified China, and Qin placed Guilin County, Nanhai County, and Xiang County in the land of Nanyue, and Ningzhou was under the jurisdiction of Xiang County. In the fourth year of Tang Wude, that is, in 621 AD, Ningzhou County was built, which was the beginning of the establishment of Ningzhou County. This is to say that as early as more than 3,000 years ago, the ancestors of the Zhuang people, the Luo Yue people, multiplied in Ningzhou. Secondly, judging from the arrangement of our ancestral graves, this piano is not less than a thousand years. In front of our ancestral grave is a huge mountain pond with a big mountain in the back. When burying ancestral graves, they are all moved from the side of the mountain pond to the mountain, that is to say, the earliest and earliest ancestors are buried near the mountain pond, the later generation is buried in the second row, and the later generation is buried in the third row, and they are buried on the mountain in turn. I counted at the time that there were twenty rows of graves, and the two harps were dug out of a large grave in the first row, probably made of glutinous rice, near the edge of the pond.

"If you think about it, twenty rows of graves, that's twenty generations, if the average life expectancy of a generation is fifty years, isn't that a thousand years? Of course, we don't have that long history, but this is not a contradiction. Our ancestors must have migrated many times along the border and lived in different places. However, the feng shui of our ancestral tomb is so good, no matter where we move, we will still be buried back in that place after death, after all, there is a huge mountain pond, and it is backed by a big mountain, I am afraid that I can't find such a good feng shui treasure anywhere in the border area! ”

Wei Xiaotang also said that there are two kinds of ancient Tianqin: disassembled and fixed, which are purely handmade. The disassembled Tianqin is composed of a barrel, a headstock and a three-section stem, which are five sections, representing metal, wood, water, fire and earth, and some say that they represent happiness, longevity, wealth, safety and well-being. It is designed to make it easy for players to carry it on the go. The stationary lyre consists of a barrel, headstock, shaft, face, strings and saddle. Our Lyra should be stationary.

Wei Xiaotang also told him some legends about Tianqin that he had heard in his hometown of Ningzhou.

A long time ago, there was a major drought in the Zuojiang area for three consecutive years, and the rivers dried up and the fields could not be cultivated. The wild fruits on the mountain were harvested, the wild vegetables in the fields were dug up, and finally even the leaves and bark were gnawed away...... In the midst of the crisis, in order to save her compatriots, an old woman knelt down for three days and three nights in the "Shenlong Cave", chanting her heart, praying to the sky for rain to fall on the world and save the living. On the third night, the old woman fainted in the cave. In a coma, he saw an old immortal floating towards her in the clouds. He untied the gourd in his waist, put down the longevity stick in his hand, plucked out two silver whiskers and said to her, with the old man's 10,000-year-old gourd, 1,000-year-old longevity cane, and 100-year-old beard to make a "dingding", playing it in his hand, reciting his heart, everything will come true......

When the old woman woke up, she really saw the "three treasures" left by the old immortal, so she made "Ding Ding" according to his prompts. Half-convinced, she sang while playing "Ding Ding": "Ding Ding Ding, Ding Ding Ding, pray that the sky will open its eyes, open its eyes and take a look, and give a heavy rain to save lives."

I don't know if it was the old woman's long kneeling that moved the sky, or the sound of "Ding Ding" alarmed the dragon, suddenly the dark clouds outside the cave were heavy, the spirit in the cave was shining, and a giant dragon flew out of the cave with a whizz. Suddenly, thunder rolled, the wind gusted, and the pouring rain fell with a torrential down......

After the heavy rains, the dry trees on the hill have grown tender green leaves, the bare fruit trees on the slopes are full of yellow and clear fruits, and the cracked fields in front of the houses are full of golden rice...... People were saved.

After the news that "Ding Ding" can fulfill people's wishes, people from near and far who have unsatisfactory people come to beg the old woman to play "Ding Ding" and pray for their blessings and disasters. Strangely, this single thought brings good luck to the disaster victims every time. "Ding Ding" has become a thing of all spirits that want wind and rain to rain. This "dingding" is what is now called Tianqin.

Since then, whenever people encounter natural and man-made disasters, people use "witchcraft" to carry out sacrificial activities, ask for spirits from the sky, and bless the common people. The main prop of "witchcraft" is the Lyra, when the mage does the law, he holds the Lyre, sings while playing, and puts a brass bell on his thumb, and shakes rhythmically with the sound of the piano. Most of the sacrificial ceremonies are to dispel evil spirits and pray for blessings. "Witchcraft" gave rise to Lyra. Now the Zhuang people of Ningzhou affectionately call it "Ding Ding" or "Ma Ling Ma Lang". In the evening, according to Wei Xiaotang's account of the piano, my father checked the relevant information on the computer. He later told me something about the instrument.

Finally, Wei Xiaotang talked about Tianqin's life again.

He said that now there is a band in his hometown Ningzhou, "Ningzhou Tianqin Women's Playing and Singing Group". Since its establishment, the band has been invited to Beijing CCTV many times to record programs. It has won many awards. In September 2006, he joined hands with CCTV and the Organizing Committee of Nanning International Folk Song Art Festival to go abroad and perform in Salzburg, Austria and Munich, Germany. Since 2005, at the invitation of Vietnam, the band has traveled to Cao Bang, Lang Son and Thai Nguyen provinces for many artistic exchanges, and has been favored by Vietnamese audiences. ”

After Wei Xiaotang left, his father was still unsatisfied, so he went to the study to turn on the computer to check the information about Tianqin.

Later, my father said to my mother that this Qin Zhuang people called it "Ding Ding". It is now commonly known as "Lyra". It is a plucked stringed instrument used by the Zhuang people (Bubian and Budai branches). This kind of piano has a long history, a unique shape, a mellow and bright tone, and is often used for solo or accompaniment to songs and dances, and is deeply loved by some people. It is prevalent in Dongzhong, Ningming and Ningzhou on the Sino-Vietnamese border in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. It has a history of thousands of years. This kind of harp was originally used by the heavenly woman (witch) to heal people's disasters, and it was called singing, playing, and jumping. Set the chord c1, g or d1, g. The inner string sets the treble, and the outer string sets the bass. Vocal range g—g3. In the long feudal society, the Lyra was regarded as a sacred object, and only the Lyra could use it when she "jumped to the sky". "Dancing Heaven" was originally a secluded form of superstitious performance by a woman named "Tian Po", wearing a long skirt and a beaded velvet hat, holding a lyra while playing, singing, and dancing. She claimed to be a heavenly fairy who came down to earth to have fun, solve problems and bless on earth. Tianpo's lyre is regarded as a heavenly artifact, and it is usually not allowed to move, and it must be used before it can be taken off and played.

A few years later, I thought that the Zhuangren's Tianqin itself was a kind of magic weapon, a special magic weapon used by the ancestors of the Zhuang people to communicate with the heavens. And those who can play it, in addition to musical talent, also have requirements in terms of personality. Anyone can play it. And the Lyra in my hand, more than a thousand years ago, it slept quietly in the tomb with its owner, and it undoubtedly had the aura of its master. When Lyra rediscovers the light of day, who will be its new master? In fact, it has long been predestined.

Although Wei Xiaotang brought this piano back to Sampan Island City from the mountains and rivers on the border of Guangxi, his destiny was obviously not worthy of being the new owner of Tianqin. Therefore, instead of bringing him any blessings, he put the piano under his bed, but caused a lot of bad luck. For example, the couple is infected with various diseases from time to time, and their careers are not going well, and so on.

That night, when Wei Xiaotang and his wife were doing that in bed, the Tianqin placed under the bed suddenly made a mysterious sound, and the mysterious sound, although no one understood it for the time being, could it be the secret words of the thousand-year-old guqin to find its new owner after seeing the light again?