On Douyin, a couple of dulcimer players have become popular since they registered an account, "yangqin cp" ("dulcimer duo"), in June. During the past few months, the couple, who play yangqin (Chinese hammered dulcimer), have posted a dozen short videos on their Douyin account, and those videos have attracted more than 3.8 million views.

But who are they? Ye Yuzhao, and his girlfriend, Zhou Tingting. Ye, 26, was born in China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Zhou, 27, was born in South China's Guangdong Province. Ye began studying yangqin when he was 9. He enrolled in the Central Conservatory of Music (CCOM) in 2015. Zhou began studying yangqin when she was 4. She also enrolled in CCOM, after she graduated from Shenzhen Arts School (in Guangdong) seven years ago. Ye and Zhou met on campus, and they eventually fell in love. After they completed their respective postgraduate studies (earlier this year), Zhou became a professional dulcimer player with China National Traditional Orchestra; Ye, a professional dulcimer player with CCOM's traditional chamber orchestra.

D ue to the CO V ID-19 pandemic, many offline performances have been canceled in recent years. So, Ye and Zhou decided to post short videos of themselves playing yangqin, to promote the charm of yangqin. When they registered their Douyin account, in June, neither Ye nor Zhou expected their videos would attract so many viewers.

"At the beginning, we simply wondered what we could do if the offline performances were canceled. We taught children how to play yangqin via livestreaming. We answered netizens' questions about the basic skills needed to play yangqin, and how we solved problems we encountered during formal performances," Zhou recalls. She also explained how she and Ye were influenced by their supervisor, Liu Yuening, the famous yangqin player and music educator.

"Professor Liu is well known for her excellent performing arts. She is a PhD supervisor, and her daily schedule is full. However, she always spares time, during weekends, to teach children who are interested in yangqin. She encourages children to study music, and to love music. Yangqin is not a popular instrument. Given our professor's continuous efforts, quite a number of children have shown their talent and interest in playing yangqin," Ye says.

When Ye and Zhou livestreamed the first time, demonstrating basic yangqin-playing skills, only five netizens watched. Some of the netizens said they had never heard of yangqin. Undaunted by the poor viewership, Zhou and Ye discussed how they could make their online performances more appealing, and how they could make netizens grow an interest in the traditional instrument. For example, they incorporated pop music, by performing melodies that were familiar with netizens. Their "online concerts," which combined yangqin with popular music, soon attracted larger audiences.

"Many netizens have told us they found life boring, especially during the quarantine days under epidemic control. They said they were surprised to realize yangqin could produce such charming sounds. We are extremely happy when netizens are moved by our music, and when they tell us they are falling in love with yangqin — because of us," Zhou says.

Now that they have millions of viewers, the "yangqin cp" is thinking about the future. Of course, they will continue making short videos to promote yangqin-related knowledge. But they will not limit themselves. "We will seek new measures to combine this traditional instrument with modern trends, and we will try to achieve a balance between professional performances and audiences' preferences; in particular, preferences from the grassroots. We hope more and more people will understand the charm of yangqin," Ye says.

A Douyin data report, on the livestreaming of performances involving traditional Chinese instruments (released earlier this year), indicates 87 types of traditional instrument have been used during performances broadcast live (to the end of June) on Douyin. During the past year, netizens have watched a combined 2.33 million hours of livestreamed performances, involving traditional Chinese instruments, on Douyin.

Photos Supplied by Interviewees

(Source: Shenzhen Evening News/Women of China English Monthly October 2022 issue)