ChineseToday | Erhu Artisan in NE China's Liaoning

CHANGTU, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- Gong Zhiguang is an erhu artisan in Changtu County, Tieling City of northeast China's Liaoning Province. He has been interested in woods since his childhood and got enchanted almost at the very first glance at erhu making in the ancient way. Since then, he has devoted himself to erhu making for over twenty years.

The making of erhu requires many steps such as material selection, processing, assembly, leather covering, polishing and tuning. Each of the steps is essential, and no inattention is allowed during the processes, otherwise deviation in timbre may occur.

Nowadays, some of the processes can be finished by machines, but the key part still needs to be finished by hands. With the processing by Gong and several other artisans, the instrument company named "Hairu" they are working for is a producer with a yearly output of nearly 2,000 erhus.

"A traditional musical instrument in China," Gong said, " erhu always inspires my hope with its melodious sounds that more people could play and fall in love with it."

Gong Zhiguang checks and adjusts an erhu in Changtu County of Tieling City. (Xinhua/Yang Qing)

Gong Zhiguang measures a block for erhu making in Changtu County of Tieling City.  (Xinhua/Yang Qing)

Gong Zhiguang inspects an erhu in Changtu County of Tieling City. (Xinhua/Yang Qing)

Gong Zhiguang assembles an erhu in Changtu County of Tieling City. (Xinhua/Yang Qing)

Gong Zhiguang checks and adjusts an erhu in Changtu County of Tieling City. (Xinhua/Yang Qing)

Gong Zhiguang seals an erhu with leather in Changtu County of Tieling City. (Xinhua/Yang Qing)

Gong Zhiguang cuts a block for erhu making in Changtu County of Tieling City. (Xinhua/Yang Qing)

Gong Zhiguang plays erhu in Changtu County of Tieling City. (Xinhua/Yang Qing)

Gong Zhiguang grinds a block for erhu making in Changtu County of Tieling City. (Xinhua/Yang Qing)

Gong Zhiguang grinds a block for erhu making in Changtu County of Tieling City. (Xinhua/Yang Qing)

Gong Zhiguang picks a block for erhu making in Changtu County of Tieling City. (Xinhua/Yang Qing)

Producer: Wang Jianhua

Coordinators: Wang Qingqin, Meng Chenguang

Reporters: Yang Qing, Chen Wei

Editors: Li Mangmang, Wang Jingqiang, Jin Haoyuan, Fu Tian, Niu Xiaolei, Chen Liqun

Translator: Zhang Haofu

Visual Designer: Meng Chenguang

Video Editor: Li Mangmang

China Story Studio