The sound of tradition

One of the band's signature sounds are performances based on the 12 shichen — the traditional timekeeping system in which each day was divided into 12 two-hour periods (known as shichen), each represented by a different Chinese character.

Music is performed according to different shichen. For example, traditional weddings and funerals usually last for three days, sometimes longer, so bands perform different pieces in the morning, at noon and in the evening.

"Their sound is original and from the olden times," says Yu Feng, president of the Central Conservatory of Music, who invited the band to perform during the third International Conference on Contemporary Studies of Chinese Music in a Global Perspective, which was held at the school between Oct 20 and 23.

"The Gong family's music is deeply rooted in folk culture. Their playing is also solid," Yu says.

The first time Yu met Gong Yuhong was in the winter of 2018. Together with a team of 20 teachers from the Central Conservatory of Music, Yu spent 10 days at the Lyuliang Art School, giving music classes to the school's students and long-term music training to its teachers. They also donated pianos, wind and string musical instruments and teaching materials to the school.

Gong Yuhong is one of the teachers at Lyuliang, where he teaches the suona, a Chinese double-reed woodwind instrument known for its distinctive loud, high-pitched sound.

"I had never met so many music teachers from Beijing, and I was excited because they were very interested in my instrument, which is often considered antiquated," says Gong Yuhong.

One of those teachers was Jia Guoping, who is also the director of Institute of Musicology at the Central Conservatory of Music. Jia asked Gong Yuhong to tell his family stories and urged him to preserve the family tradition.

"Jia told me that the band is like a family heirloom, and its sound is valuable," he says. "I was excited because for a very long time, I was not sure if I should continue to keep the band going.