Why did the suona in A Hundred Birds Toward the Phoenix decline?

Among the national wind instruments such as flute, wind, sheng, feather, Xiao and cucurbit, suona is the most difficult to learn. Without five to ten years of childlike innocence, it is difficult to play decent music. Performers should be promoted from "craftsmen" to "everyone" and learn from folk music and local operas.

From the end of 1980s to the beginning of1990s, influenced by pop music, folk weddings and funerals gradually stopped inviting singers. "Young people like to follow the fashion, so they should listen to some pop music, play recordings, find some dance teams and invite some models to entertain them." Less money and less hard work, suona musicians changed careers.

As the product of agricultural civilization and local culture, suona has always served the traditional ethics of agricultural society. With the development of China from agricultural civilization to industrial civilization, suona, an instrument that is no longer useful and needed, will inevitably decline.

In addition to the influence of the development of the times, the inheritance of suona itself has limitations, which has buried hidden dangers for its loss. In the folk, generations of artists have passed down the suona as a "unique vocal skill" from generation to generation. Suona is a token and witness handed down from generation to generation by ancestors.

Extended data:

In a small village in Wu Shuang Town, Shaanxi Province, playing suona, a folk art with a long history, is not just entertainment. More significantly, it is a life evaluation for people who have gone away at the time of funeral-only two mediocre people play, four moderate people play and eight superior people play, and only highly respected people are qualified to play "Birds fly towards the phoenix". "A Hundred Birds Facing the Phoenix" is a difficult piece, and only the chief suona master can be competent. In the whole town, only Jiao Jia, the leader of Jiao Jia's office, a well-known person from all directions, can play "Birds fly at the phoenix". Master Jiao is a venerable old suona artist. He leads his disciples to pursue and inherit the spirit of suona with persistent enthusiasm and firm belief. Now that Master Jiao is old, it is urgent to train successors.

Disciple You was young and immature when he first entered Jiao Jia's class, and he was in awe of focusing. Although he didn't want to be "abandoned" by his father to study in Jiao Jiaban, he was confident to win the approval of Master for the honor of his family. Students who can enter Jiao Jia class must be virtuous, loyal to the virtues of suona artists, and achieve "suona never leaves the mouth" in their bones. In order to test whether the two apprentices are up to standard, Tao Zeru, a black-faced master, tried his best with a cold face and a hot face.

Reference link: Baidu Encyclopedia-A Hundred Birds Toward the Phoenix