The Long Flute that Plays a Thousand Years of Qiang Culture

The Qiang flute is an ancient Chinese single-reed wind instrument with a history of over 2,000 years. Pronounced as “qi li”, “shi bu li” or “bang” in the Qiang language, the flute consists of two bamboo tubes of about 15-20 cm long with the same size of juxtaposed holes. The two tubes, made either of bamboo or bone, are wrapped together with silk thread with a reed whistle at the blowhole. The length, hole spacing and pitch of the two tubes are the same. Each tube contains five or six holes. When playing, the flute is held in both hands, and the reed whistle is held in the mouth.

The Qiang flute is generally made of straight, round, long knotted bamboo, with balanced and even thickness at the head and tail. The bamboo must be hard and contain tight fibers. Arrow bamboos are preferably the most suitable raw material as they’re unlikely to crack or fracture. The pitch is measured by the length, thickness and the diameter of the bamboo tube.

There are no written forms of the Qiang language, hence the Qiang flute has become an important means for expressing their emotions, and the Qiang people often use it to express their joy, anger, sadness and pleasure. When an enchanting melody is played, the ancient culture engraved in the genes of the Qiang people is brought back to life with vitality and vibrance of the ethnic group floating on this vast land.

Producer: Yang Gu

Chief Supervisor: Chen Jiandong, Song Leyong

Chief Planner: Che Jingwen, Jin Linghan

Script Writer: Yue Pei

Coordinator: Zhou Shuodi, Tao Yanyan, Yang Jingyi

Co-produced by: China Internet Development Foundation and GMW.cn