Villager in central China's Henan goes online to promote art of suona

A suona artist in the countryside of central China's Henan Province is promoting the traditional Chinese musical instrument by playing it on online platforms.

Ma Chunfeng is from Mazhuang village, Hong'en township, Zhecheng county, Shangqiu city of Henan, a village where performances of the instrument have a long history. Ma started to learn the suona when he was eight, and began performing with bands three years later. Since going online this January, he has garnered some 323,000 followers on one livestreaming platform.

(Photo/Henan Business Daily)

Ma, who had been thinking about ways to pass down the instrument, uploaded some clips of him playing suona first on short-video platforms, but attracted little attention. Then his son, who had experience of making video clips and livestreaming, suggested boosting the content of the clips by adopting better forms. Ma then invited his relatives and neighbors to play suona and other musical instruments, and sometimes even danced in the videos.

In addition, he also tried his hand at livestreaming sessions, in which he either played suona solo or along with some villagers. Their performances were received enthusiastically by many of his fellow villagers. At the end of one session, which brought him over 2,000 new followers, Ma and his wife, despite being a little tired, played Hundreds of Birds Worshipping the Phoenix, a masterpiece that requires exceptional skills, igniting the enthusiasm of audiences.

"My family's capability is limited. Inheriting the art of suona requires the joint efforts of the entire village," said Ma, who plans to involve more villagers in the next online performance. 

(Screenshot from Ma's TikTok account)