Musical feats of the magnificent seven

In July 2011, Liu Yelong, 22, who had just graduated from Nanjing Agricultural University, arrived in Meigu county of Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture, Sichuan province.

After having studied in the fields of labour and social security he had done charity work and did research on rural development. During his second year at university, he went to a school in rural Anhui province as a volunteer teacher, which inspired him to continue the role after graduation.

He had planned to teach at a school in Meigu county, in a remote mountainous area, for two years, and then either to pursue a master’s degree or get another job.

Instead, 10 years on, he is still teaching in the county, during which time one of his feats was discovering the musical talent of his students and forming a band called Shiguangzhe Jihua, comprising six high-school students –three boys and three girls.

On 25 November 2021, the band released an album, The Sounds of Time. It features four songs written by the band members that express their thoughts about growing up, and two songs adapted from Yi folk songs, one of which is about a traditional wedding and the other a ballad about a shepherd.

Since July 2019, when Liu first distributed their music on social media, the band has gained a large fan base. Their first video, in which Liu’s students sing Yi folk songs while dressed in traditional garb, playing the guitar and hand drums and sitting by a campfire, gained the band more than 10,000 fans in one day and has been viewed 250,000 times. The band has performed more than 100 Yi folk songs, sharing them online with their 180,000 followers.

In July the band was crowned champions of the fifth season of the China Yi Singing Competition, produced by the TV Station of Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture.

“I’ve known them since they were children,” Liu said. “Now they have grown up and become good singers. I’m so proud of them.”

He recalls that when he first met the students, 113 in total, he was nervous because none spoke Mandarin and were reluctant to talk to strangers.

“I tried to use music to help them open up and to make them happier. We all studied and lived in the school, which soon brought us closer.”

In 2013 Liu decided to set up a chorus. The six members of Shiguangzhe Jihua were there from the start. While teaching them to speak Mandarin and learning to speak the Yi language himself, Liu taught the students to sing in Mandarin. The first Mandarin song they learned was Chong’er Fei, or Flying Bug.

“That day the school electricity had been cut,” one of the students, Shama Tuoqian, 19, said. “Liu turned on his phone’s flashlight and taught us to sing the song. He waved his phone while singing. It was dark outside and it felt like a lightning bug flying.”

Shama, who lost her mother when she was young, is a main vocalist in the band and writes lyrics. “Liu is more than a teacher,” she said. “He also takes care of us and gives us a hand whenever we need help. He is family.”

Liu and the students also collected and adapted Yi folk songs into choral singing, keeping the traditional music alive. The next goal of each of the band members is to study at a music conservatory and return to their hometown to teach more children to sing.

Previously published on Chinadaily.com.cn