There Is a Gong from Wuhan, China

By He Sai, Bai Ning, Yi Wanru & Geng Yuanjun

The monsoon season in July has witnessed heavy downpours for weeks.Wuhan, which has just walked out of the coronavirus pandemic, was enveloped in thick humidity. On July 8, the sun finally came out,so we immediately took up the chance for an interview planned long ago, to unveil the mystery of the gongs in the Wuhan Haiping Musical Instruments Factory.

After driving 60 kilometers, we arrived at the factory, a somewhat old workshop, located in Gantang Town, Huangpi District.After we entered the factory, a spacious courtyard immediately appeared in front of us, with every corner of it drenched in bright sunlight. Behind the courtyard and another gate was a timehonored workshop, and all sorts of clanking noises could be heard from there.

Soon we saw a two-story building ahead of the courtyard on the right, and Wang Zhijun,general manager of the factory,led us to the showroom. In it,200 kinds of gongs were on display under two major brand names—“Eastsound” and “Fang Ou” respectively, together with all sorts of honors and trophies of the company since its establishment in 1984. Decorated by thousands of gongs of all shapes and sizes,with some as large as a tall man and some as small as our palms,the whole room glittered with a golden color, and we felt as if we were at a glorious music hall.

7月梅雨季节，一连十几天的瓢泼大雨，把刚刚从新冠肺炎疫情中站起来的武汉笼罩在浓浓的潮湿之中。8日，好不容易逮着一个晴天，我们赶紧执行一次策划良久的采访——武汉海平乐器厂问锣。

经过60公里的颠簸，我们来到黄陂区甘棠镇上一处陈旧的厂房——武汉海平乐器厂。一进乐器厂大院，眼前豁然开朗。阳光洒满院内各个角落。年份已久的生产车间被一道门和大院隔开，里面传出各种各样金属撞击的声音。

大院右前方是一幢二层楼房，总经理王志军带着我们来到锣厂陈列室。室内陈列着锣厂“东声”和“芳鸥”两大系列200多个种类的锣以及公司自1984年成立以来获得的各项荣誉。大到一人多高、小到手掌大小，上千面各种形状的锣布满了室内所有角落，把小屋映射得金碧辉煌，给人置身音乐殿堂的感觉。

迎面可见6面直径1米的抄锣，整齐地挂在支架上。对于世界音乐爱好者来说，这6面锣并不陌生。著名音乐家谭盾于今年4月12日在上海以3D和5G技术形式，携这6面锣隔空对话远在纽约的6面汉产抄锣，共同为世界奏响名曲《武汉十二锣》，全球7000多万观众通过云平台欣赏了汉锣的风采和曼妙音响。

接着，我们艳羡的目光转向一面直径186厘米、重100千克的大抄锣。王志军自豪地介绍，这是世界上最大的锣，是世界上唯一原始反映千军万马奔腾和排山倒海之势的乐器。沿着锣心轻轻敲击，声音如声声闷雷，从远方滚滚而来，有雷霆万钧之势。

Workers pouring hot and red copper water into the mold in the facotry of Haiping Musical Instruments海平乐器熔炼车间内，老师傅们正在将滚烫发红的铜水倒入模具中

Forging, the first step that turns a gong cake to the shape of a gong锻造是将铸好的锣饼锤炼成锣形状的第一步

Right in front of the room were six chau gongs (aka tam-tams)with a diameter of one meter hanging neatly in the frames,which are familiar to many music lovers around the world. On April 12, Tan Dun, a renowned Chinese musician, brought them to Shanghai where he conducted his work, “Sound Pagoda—The 12 Sounds of Wuhan,” together with artists playing another six Wuhan-made chau gongs in New York. The performance relied on modern technological means such as 3D and 5G, and over 70 million audiences worldwide watched the concert via the cloud platform,and appreciated the charm of the Chinese gongs and the wonderful sounds they produced.

Hammering (Photo by Su Zhuolin)成型（苏卓琳 摄）

Polishing cymbals 镲片抛光

王志军介绍，当时海平乐器厂生产了五面同规格的锣，两面在加工过程中损坏。他说，这样的庞然大物是纯手工捶打，把一只上百千克重的铜饼一锤锤打成直径近2米的锣，再抛光定音。多一锤就得重来，少一分温度可能就会出现裂痕，30多位经验丰富的工匠需要半年协作才能完成。

抄锣、虎音锣、吊钗、镲片……出口欧美的、乐团专供的、乐队定制的，王志军一一介绍着。“在德国法兰克福一次展览会上，曾经有一位外国人双膝跪地，耳朵贴着锣面欣赏汉锣的天籁之音，不难想象当时他们发现汉锣这一中国艺术宝藏的虔诚与惊喜。”王志军说，“由于锣声婉转悠远，像纳斯达克这样的证券交易所，以敲汉锣作为开市的告白。”听着他栩栩如生的描述，我们迫不及待想去领略锣浴火重生的精彩。

按照制锣的主要工序，我们首先参观了熔炼车间和锣饼存放仓库。各种尺寸的锣饼整齐码放着，几百克到几十千克不等。“制锣的秘密从这里也就开始了。各种金属严格按一定比例配伍，秘方是公司的核心机密之一。”王志军笑着说。

水汽夹杂着浓浓的金属味道弥漫在锻造车间，匠人王汉波正用铁钎把一片片烧红的毛片拖到水里淬火。

“锻造是将铸好的锣饼锤炼成锣形状的第一步。这个过程不仅需要力气，更需要技术和经验，否则铜锣不成型。”王汉波15岁跟随师傅学艺。如今师傅已经过世，他得把师傅的手艺传承下去。

Tuning 校音

Then, we turned to another amazing chau gong, with a diameter of 1.86 meters and a weight of 100 kilos. Wang Zhijun told us proudly that it was one of the biggest gongs in the world,the only musical instrument that can vividly produce the mighty force and stunning sound of a powerful cavalry on the attack or the momentum of a torrent. If you strike the center of the gong,you’ll hear a sound like thunder rumbling from afar with an irresistible force.

According to him, the factory produced five gongs of the same size at the very beginning, but two of them were damaged in the process. He also told us that gongs of such a large size were purely handmade. Before polishing and tuning, a copper cake weighing over one hundred kilos had to be carefully hammered to the shape of a gong with a 2-meter diameter.The number of hammerings and the temperature had to be precise and accurate, as one extra hammer would ruin the previous efforts, and one degree short on the temperature would lead to cracks on the final product.It might take more than 30 experienced craftsmen nearly six months to finish the work.

Workers with their new work, a 160cm-diameter wind gong 部分员工与刚刚出炉的直径160厘米的风锣合影

谈话间，他看了一眼炉子里锻烧着的红彤彤的铜片：“温度还不够。”王汉波对火候的敏锐力是数十年如一日锻造锤炼而成的。

王志军介绍，海平乐器厂是以出口为主的外贸型企业。虽然受新冠肺炎疫情影响，但出口订单已经排到了8月，目前年产量达300余吨，约七八万面，远销亚、欧、美40多个国家和地区，并为全球多家知名乐器品牌代工。海平乐器厂是世界乐器展的必邀单位，是德国法兰克福、美国NAMM等世界著名乐器展上的常客。

为了营造西洋打击乐需要的爆破感，他们根据海外厂商的需求，不断创新锣面形状，研制出符合镲片的特殊合金，备受国内外打击乐爱好者喜爱。如架子鼓上的中高端镲片，都是海平出口的。

世界乐坛中有一面锣来自中国武汉，这里每一面锣都是匠人们追求卓越、匠心独具的创造，它承载着中华文化，在不断创新中走向世界，成为世界文化艺术中不可或缺的一部分。

The six chau gongs Tan Dun borrowed in performing his “Sound Pagoda—The 12 Sounds of Wuhan” (Photo by Su Zhuolin)谭盾《武汉十二锣》演奏曾借用的6面抄锣 （苏卓琳 摄）

Chau gongs, tiger gongs,suspended cymbals, and hand cymbals... Wang Zhijun introduced his products one by one to us, and told us that some of them were exported to European and North American countries,some exclusive for orchestras,and some tailor-made for bands.“At a musical instrument fair in Frankfurt, Germany, a foreign musician even knelt down on the ground, and pressed his ear closely on the surface of one of our gongs to appreciate its heavenly sound. It’s no wonder why Westerners still marvel at this Chinese art treasure.”

Opera cymbals 京钹

Bao gongs 包锣

“The sound of a gong is peculiarly sonorous and can reach far and wide,” he added. “Many stock exchange centers, like NASDAQ, announces their trading day by striking a Chinese gong.”

Hearing it, we were tempted to witness the production process of a gong.

Wind gongs 风锣

Two gongenthusiasts checking the sound played by the gongs of Haiping两位铜锣爱好者正在试音

A father and son in America are feeling the voice from the East美国一对父子正在感受来自东方的声音

A customer showing her favorite gong atHaiping’s booth in the NAMM(National Association of Music Merchants) Show in America in 20192019 年海平乐器参加美国NAMM展时，一位客户表示非常喜爱自己手中的锣

A German merchant selecting large chau gongs in Haiping’s factory德国客户在海平乐器厂挑选大抄锣

According to the welding process, the first stop we visited was the melt-shop and storage warehouse of gongs. The gong cakes weighing from a few hundred grams to dozens of kilos were placed in order. “The secret of making a gong begins from here,” Wang Zhijun smiled. “The composition of different metals is strictly controlled according to a fixed formula, which is one of our top secrets.”

A strong smell of metal, plus the lingering vapor, filled the air in the workshop. Wang Hanbo, a craftsman, was busy in clamping a piece of red-hot metal into water for tempering.

“Forging is the first step that turns a gong cake to the shape of a gong,” said Wang Hanbo. “It requires strength, craftsmanship and experience—otherwise, the copper gong can’t be formed.” He became an apprentice when he was 15. Now that his mentor has passed away, the responsibility of passing on this craftsmanship rests on his shoulder.

During our conversation,he took a glimpse of the redhot copper sheet that was firing in the stove, and said, “It’s not heated enough yet.” His sense of temperature was perfected through years of painstaking effort.

The chau gong Wang Zhijun, general manager of Haiping Musical Instruments, plays is one of the largest in the world (Photo by Su Zhuolin)海平乐器厂总经理王志军在全世界最大的一面抄锣前演示 （苏卓琳 摄）

Wang Zhijun told us that his factory was export-oriented, and despite the COVID-19 pandemic,the export orders had been fully booked until August. At present, the annual production of the factory has surpassed 300 tons, with around 7000-8000 gongs being exported to over 40 countries and regions including Asia, Europe, and America every year. Besides, it also provides OEM service for many renowned musical instrument brands.This factory has been regularly invited to many international musical instrument fairs, such as Musikmesse Frankfurt in Germany and the NAMM(National Association of Music Merchants) Show in America.

In order to produce an overwhelming blasting effect the Western percussion music demands, they have made continuous innovations to the surface and shape of their gongs.They developed a special alloy for cymbals, which is highly favored by music lovers around the world.Moreover, many of the mid-tohigh-end cymbals employed in drum kits of overseas orchestras were produced and exported by the company.

In today’s music world,gongs from Wuhan, China play an important position. Every single piece of the Haiping gongs symbolizes the unique craftsmanship as well as their mission of pursuing excellence.Through repeated innovation,these gongs, immersed in the profound Chinese culture,will eventually become an indispensable part of the world’s art and culture.