The Man who Taught Himself to Play and Sing

In his fifties, he decided to learn the traditional Lisu mode from his older master. He has been learning for seven years now.

The musical instrument he plays is the Qiben, a traditional Lisu plucked string instrument, which he taught himself to play. I went to his house twice a day without being able to meet him, and I couldn't reach his house at night because some dogs were barking in the dark. One evening, Xiaoshu (the youngest uncle) took me to his house after a drink, and they sang this song together.

The lyrics basically describe a young Lisu who lives on a higher mountain. When he meets the girl at the festival celebration, they both express their love through song, and hope to live together in a place with better conditions.

After the singing, I gave him the Lisu flute, which can only be bought in the chief town. He told me that he had wanted to learn the flute for many years, but had never had the opportunity to go to the chief town. The younger generations here are not at all interested in these instruments.

The Lisu flute was made of a 13cm long bamboo, about the thickness of a human thumb. This small musical instrument that is convenient to carry with and it can imitates the sound of birds, it sounds crisp, bright and full of spirituality.

Part of the lyrics:

Follow me, there's nothing to worry about,
You don’t need to bring food, you don’t need to carry pots and stoves
Don't worry about death, don't worry about illness
We can eat pheasant on the mountain,
We can eat wild vegetables on the mountain
Go live in Waba, Go live in Numu
...
Where Uncle Waba lives
The food and crops are so good, let's live a peaceful life there.