MUZI · STAGE · Suona and Drum-and-Wind Bands

A Hundred Birds Pay Homage to the Phoenix

A whole flock of birds on one suona

Introduction

Ren Tongxiang's suona arrangement caused a national stir at the 1953 folk music and dance festival in Beijing

Bai Niao Chao Feng (A Hundred Birds Pay Homage to the Phoenix) is a suona solo arranged by Ren Tongxiang from a folk tune known as Bai Niao Yin or Shi Yang Jing. The tune was popular across Shandong, Anhui, Henan, Hebei and Jiangsu, where folk players imitated many kinds of birds on the suona. Liu Fengming, a suona player from northern Anhui, had earlier tightened its loose structure. In 1953 Ren, from Heze in Shandong, played it at the first national folk music and dance festival in Beijing and caused a national sensation. The same year he took his arrangement to the Fourth World Festival of Youth and Students and won a silver medal in folk music.