Wang Li who comes from Tsinghao has made the Jew’s harp his favourite instrument, creating little by little a resounding space of quest and liberty.
It takes you into an interior world which takes everyone back to the echoes of their own childhood, from the inner turmoil and the whirligig of life to silence. Here there is nothing but breaths and vibrations, memories and visions. His imaginary world is filled with a resonance which is both personal and universal at the same time.
The jew’s harp is one of the most ancient musical instruments in the world. It was celebrated in the different cultures and traditions, which demonstrates the magical essence of this simple object.
« He is in high happiness.
He plays huang and he leads me to travel.
How glad we are! »
- « jun zi yangyang » in « Shi Jing . wang feng » 500 B.C .Chine
The Chinese Jew’s Harp – Kouxian or Kou-Huang, is named “Huang” (reed) in the ancient time.In «诗经», the first collection of three hundred poems dated 500 B.C, the “Huang” has been descried as a popular musical instrument. The “Huang” was played with the other instruments such as “Sheng” and “Yu”. The first document in writing of “Huang” appeared in the dictionary «释名» («Explanation of Definition») dated in the second century. In this dictionary, the document described how to play and how to make the “Huang”. After the 14th Century, this simple musical instrument disappeared from the geographic and cultural center part of China. However, “Huang” was continually played and celebrated by Chinese minorities in the remote areas.
Beyond a musical instrument, for some ethnic people, “Huang” is a media to convey the language to communicate, and the young girl plays “Kou Xian” to express amour to her lover.
(France 2 television, "La boîte à musique de jean-françois Zygel" 29/07/2010 )
