Mongolian luthier spreads matouqin art

The 38-year-old luthier Guang Hui has been making matouqins, a two-stringed instrument with a scroll carved like a horse’s head, for nearly 12 years and is proficient in the arts of carving, polishing and painting.

Guang Hui carves the wood on part of a matouqin at his workshop in Hohhot, Nov. 30. (Photo/Xinhua)

In 2006, Mongolian matouqin music was listed as a national-level intangible cultural heritage approved by the State Council.

Guang paints a matouqin at his workshop in Hohhot, Nov. 30. (Photo/Xinhua)

"Matouqins are a proud Mongolian tradition and I want to promote them to future generations," Guang said.

Guang adjusts a matouqin at his workshop in Hohhot, Nov. 30. (Photo/Xinhua)

A matouqin usually involves a variety of wooden materials including red sandalwood, maple wood, and spruce wood. It is a lengthy process to make one, including lineation, cutting, rough carving, elaborate carving, polishing, painting, buffing, waxing and assembling. Nowadays, machines can take care of many parts of the instrument-making process, however, manually-produced matouqins are still of higher quality.

Matouqins displayed at Guang's workshop in Hohhot, Nov. 30. (Photo/Xinhua)

While the machine is excellent, it can't replace the quality associated with manual work, added Guang.

The coast guard of east China's Fujian Province on Tuesday continued to organize law enforcement patrol in the waters off the Taiwan Island.

Zhu Anqing, spokesperson of China Coast Guard's East Sea Bureau, said the patrol focused on drills such as verification and identification, warning and expulsion, as well as visit, board, search and seizure, which tested the forces' regional control capabilities.

Fujian coast guard conducts law enforcement, control drills near Taiwan Island