When it comes to Chinese traditional instruments, you will probably first think of the guqin (the seven-stringed plucked Chinese instrument), the guzheng, (an ancient plucked instrument with 21 or 25 strings), the pipa (the four-stringed Chinese lute) and the erhu (a two-stringed bowed instrument), but probably not the sanxian.

Few have heard of the traditional three-stringed Chinese musical instrument. You won’t find it in Chinese orchestras, nor is it included in popular Chinese ensembles like “The 12 Girl’s Band.”

However, about one century ago, the sanxian was so popular among both the rich and the poor that its popularity was comparable to that of the guitar today.

Today, the instrument is mostly found in the more traditional quyi performances. Quyi is a general term used for various local folk performing arts in which speaking, chanting or both are performed.

It is also used in modern works by contemporary Chinese composers; for example, in Tan Dun’s Mountain Song, Chen Qigang’s San Xiao and Qu Xiaosong’s Life on a String (Ming Ruo Qinxian).

But unfortunately, not many people listen to these kinds of music, and many people today don’t even know what a sanxian is.

How has its popularity declined so much over the last century? And how can it be revived? Those are the questions Xiao Jiansheng, one of the most distinguished sanxian players and a retired professor at the Beijing-based China Conservatory of Music, has tried to answer all his life.

“Sanxian is a representative instrument of the music culture of Beijing and Tianjin, it would be a pity if we just let it decline and then finally die out,” the 76-year-old professor said.

The instrument, like most of the traditional Chinese instruments except the guqin, is used as an accompanying piece. However, over the past decades, major innovations have been made to make it also capable of solo performances.

However, the developments seemed to be restricted to the academic field only. Professor Xiao, who has devoted himself to the study and development of the sanxian since he was a teenager, has seen its decline over the decades.

The last straw came in 1998 when he found out there were only two applicants for the sanxian major at the China Conservatory of Music. And the applicants, with years of training on the instrument, had never even seen the bigger sanxian, an innovation made in the 1960s.

Xiao decided to do something. Though retired, he, with the help of his student Zhao Chengwei, an associate professor at the conservatory, started a free amateur sanxian class for primary school students at the China Conservatory of Music in 1998.

Later Zhao’s student Wang Lifeng, who is now a teacher at the Academy of Chinese Traditional Opera, joined their efforts.

“We three generations of teachers volunteer to do this work because we do not want the sanxian to die out,” said Zhao.

Xu calls the class “a popularization programme.” Every Saturday morning and afternoon, about 30 students attend the three grades of free courses at the conservatory. The lessons go on all through the year, except for two weeks during the Spring Festival.

“I knew it would be hard but we had to do something,” Xu said. “If we teach one student, at least his parents will know about the instrument. If he plays it well, his relatives will know, too, then his classmates.”

“Through the class, we hope not only to ensure a continuous stream of sanxian players, but also that the programme will spark extensive popularity to get more people to learn about the sanxian.”

At the same time, Xu and Zhao also compile textbooks and record instructive CDs to help others launch teaching programmes in other parts of China.

The first five years were quite successful.

In October 2002, more than 40 students from the class took part in the Beijing Music Festival, performing in a concert of Chaozhou (eastern Guangdong Province) music held at the Poly Theatre in Beijing. The performance was highly acclaimed.

At the same time, there has been an increase in the number of sanxian applicants for the college enrollment.

But the greatest comfort for Xu comes when grateful parents of the graduates still visit him to show their gratitude.

However, the sanxian class is now facing a problem in attracting new students. Since the lessons are free, Xiao and Zhao have no money to advertise the class. They recruit students at present by going in person to nearby primary schools.

Xiao and Zhao are sometimes not welcomed by certian schools, for the staff there do not know about their work and do not believe that they really offer lessons for free.

Only eight students enrolled over the past two years.

“Sometimes I just wonder why,” Xu said.

One of his regrets is that folk music nowadays is usually performed in orchestral concerts in a style copied from Western culture.

“Sanxian is an instrument of strong personality but is lacking in harmonic potential,” Xu said.

That is probably the reason that led to its exclusion from Chinese orchestras, which in turn has discouraged people from studying the instrument.

Moreover, the government and the public have attached far less importance to the development of folk music than that to pop.

“I am not against pop music. But when everything has to be pop to be successful, then there is a problem.

“How can it be wrong to stick to our own culture?

“We are now working to preserve the art of the guqin because it was proclaimed by the UN to be a masterpiece of oral and intangible human heritage, but why did we almost lose it in the first place?

“I hope that we won’t wait until the sanxian is on the verge of extinction before we move to preserve it.”

(China Daily 03/18/2005 page6)