The instrument

In 1995, CCTV's Oriental Horizon program introduced wudu, China's only clay musical instrument that is capable of resonance. Bi Yinsheng says the sounds of the instrument was among the first music appreciated by humans.

The fish-shaped instrument was created by shepherds in Jiayu during the Three Kingdoms period, when the county, on the south bank of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, was under the rule of the Wu Kingdom, before, as the Jiayu County Chronicles says, spreading to the river's middle and lower reaches.

The instrument is hollow, with 10 holes in its belly and back. The performing technique is similar to that of a flute. When the music is soft, it can make people calm. And when it is loud or sonorous, it can energize the listener.

Bi, 74, a pensioner with the Jiayu county cultural center, was born into a financially restricted family and lost the sight in one eye as a child as the result of an illness. However, he had a gift for music and can play various instruments.

In 1994, he played the wudu in Thailand and South Korea with the China Disabled People's Performing Art Troupe, led by Deng Pufang, then chairman of the China Disabled Persons' Federation.

The county has three training centers that teach people how to play wudu. Visitors can watch performances there, according to the Jiayu county's publicity department.