Perhaps not everyone is familiar with the name Chen Zhe, but most Chinese have heard the works of the lyricist which include some of the most popular songs in China.

"The Same Song" (Tong Yishou Ge) and "Fill the World with Love" (Rang Shijie Chongman Ai) are just two of the hits sung and listened to around the nation.

However, for most of the last decade, Chen has been devoted to another task - helping minority people preserve and spread their traditional music.

"Various ethnic cultures maintain a spiritual heritage for human beings," said Chen.

Chen recently showcased his work in a series of lectures and demonstrations called "Songs and Dances of Western Yunnan in College," which were held from October 19 to 23 in six colleges in Beijing and Tianjin including the Capital Normal University, the Beijing Dance Academy and the Tianjin Conservatory of Music.

Attendants not only heard Chen talking about his experience in preserving the minority culture in southwestern China's Yunnan Province, but also had a rare chance to appreciate the performance of singers and dancers from five ethnic groups in Yunnan, including the Pumi, Va, Lisu, Bai and the Mosuo people, the latter a division of the Naxi people.

These presentations are part of Chen's "Earthy Wind" project, which aims at the live transmission of minority culture. By "live transmission" Chen means to "activate a system of existence which enables the culture to live in labor."

The forerunner of the "Earthy Wind" project was the "West-Bound Journey of Ethnic Music" project, which Chen initiated in 1994. It mainly involved the recording, filming and reporting of ethnic music in Western China.

"The difference is that in the first project we were using minority people's culture to serve us, while in 'Earthy Wind' we began to serve them," Chen said.

Ideal start

There are 55 ethnic minority groups in China. Chen chose the Pumi as his first focus, because they are a small ethnic group with a population of only 32,700, who dwell exclusively in Southwest China's Yunnan and Sichuan provinces.

"When we first arrived at a mountainous village in Lanping one midnight in September 2002, a group of girls welcomed us with their songs," Chen recalled. "I felt the great cultural tradition of this ethnic group at once."

Lanping Bai and Pumi Autonomous County in northwestern Yunnan seemed to Chen an ideal place to carry out his plan. The region was not a tourist destination, which saved it from external disturbance and it had a great cultural heritage, but it was endangered. It also transpired the local government to realize the problem and wished to develop the local culture.

Chen started a training group of traditional Pumi culture in 2002. With the joint work of experts, volunteers, folk leaders and the government, the group has been inviting local artists to teach young Pumi people seven courses, including playing kouxian (a small instrument which is held against the teeth or lips, and plucked with the fingers), blowing leaves (among the Pumi, leaves are held between two hands and blown to produce melodies), playing sixian (four-stringed plucked instrument), Pumi folk songs, dance, language and history.

With the unstable fund of some enterprises and plentiful work of volunteers, the group is on course.

"I was not aware of the importance of our culture until I came to study in the group," said 19-year-old Yang Dexiu, a trainee of the group. "I'm so lucky to have this chance."

Yang always loved music and dance, but there was no instruction of traditional Pumi music and dance in local schools. Her mother did not support her idea of studying in the group, as she was unsure of its nature. In addition, the group had financial problems, and at a time Yang was the only student. However, Yang hold on for the love of their Pumi culture.

"Now more and more people want to learn Pumi songs," said Yang. "I'm now confident to introduce Pumi culture to more people."

In the lecture-demonstrations in the colleges of Beijing and Tianjin, Yang and a group of young Pumi women performed Pumi dance "Twelve Tunes," kouxian playing and a song called "Huzidu."

Pumi is a legendary ethnic group whose ancestors were the Di and Qiang people in northwestern China. Through centuries they gradually went through the Hengduan Mountains and moved to Yunnan and Sichuan provinces.

Perhaps because of their constant migration caused by wars, Pumi music is mostly melancholic. The most characteristic feature of their songs is the twittering of the voice. Many Pumi songs are performed together with dances, and it is often hard to divide them.

"The lecture and demonstration shows that traditional culture must be transmitted as a whole," said Zhang Xin, a graduate student from the China Conservatory of Music. "The music or dance can not live outside the context of culture."

This is just what Chen means by "live transmission," of which Chen is trying to make Lanping an example. Chen said they will focus their work on young people, trying to help minority people to preserve their comprehensive culture, firstly through music and dance.

"The most important task is to help them build up confidence about their own culture," said Chen. "I hope they will hold on to their own cultural identity."

Now the training group of traditional Pumi culture has been listed in the "Project of Preserving Chinese National and Ethnic Culture" by the Ministry of Culture, and is being supported by the Ford Foundation.

Ambitious plans

With more support, Chen is going to invite experts from Beijing to go to Lanping to teach the trainees musical theories, in an effort to enrich their understanding of music.

Chen said if possible he would like to expand his work to other ethnic groups, but priority will be given to smaller communities.

In fact, Chen has already started to expand his project. His work in Yunnan not only resulted in the training group, but also in two CDs of local music.

The first album, "Folk Music of Lanping," includes the music of not only the Pumi, but also the Yi, Lisu and Bai, three ethnic groups who also live in Lanping. The second CD is "Folk Music of the Bai People in Jianchuan." Jianchuan, a county in the Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, is famous for its rich musical resources.

Apart from the two CDs, the "Songs and Dances of Western Yunnan in College" events also presented folk artists of the Va, Lisu, Bai and Mosuo, all of whom performed to warm applause from college students.

Among them, three artists are especially notable. Xiong Zengmei, an expert of Pumi folk songs, dance, and kouxian and sixian, is a teacher at the training group of traditional Pumi culture. Che Siheng of the Lisu ethnic group is an acclaimed Lisu pipa (four-stringed plucked instrument) player. Probably the most welcomed performer in the demonstration was Ai Bing, a 57-year-old musician of the Va ethnic group. In his performance, Ai Bing demonstrated his collection of 48 instruments, all of which were made by him, and some he even invented.

"Listening to the vivid music of these minorities makes one inquire the alienated urban lifestyle," said Chen. "That is what spurred me to do this work."

Chen also gained inspiration for his lyric-writing from his work with the minorities, most directly in a song called "Lanping Girl":

"...Lanping girl, growing up under the blue sky

Singing softly, like discussing with heaven and earth

In the valley sits the original look of your village

Honest and virtuous, she is being forgotten by the world...

The blue sky has cut out a dress for you

How can this world forget you..."

"After these years of experience in Yunnan, there's something purer in my lyrics compared to before," said Chen.

Li Qian, a graduate student of Chinese folk dance at the Beijing Dance Academy, said she also benefited a great deal from her volunteer work with the training group.

"My greatest gain is probably a change in my attitude towards culture," said she. "Now I have a deeper understanding of the roots of culture, which will help all my work."

Chen's future plan includes producing CDs and VCDs of minority music and dance, establishing a website to promote ethnic culture, and organizing touring performances for the folk artists. He believes when the folk artists receive enough reward for their life and artistic activities, the culture will continue with realistic encouragement.

"China will make great contribution to world music in the 21st century," said Chen.

(China Daily November 9, 2004)