Xincuolin ancient village, which means "Lin's Houses,” is a community settlement established by the ancestors of the local Lin family in Chishi Town, Haifeng County, Guangdong Province. This village is situated within a rapidly developing urban area where the cultures of Guangfu, Fulao, and Hakka converge. Despite the changing tide of the information age, the descendants of the Lin family still guard the ancestral temples and maintain the custom of ancestor worship. Faced with the fast and unpredictable changes with temptations from outside, the ancient wall separates the new world from the old village, and we transformed the northern part of the wall into the Qin Wall(Qin, as in the traditional musical instrument in China), where people of different generations, dialects, and lifestyles can participate in an ensemble and dialogue on both sides of the wall, connecting through sound.
Chishi Town has over 20 ancient walled villages like Xincuolin, such as Qiu Tang, Yang Keng, and Xin Cheng. However, Xincuolin is the most well-preserved of them all. The village is square-shaped and has a cobblestone floor. On each side of the center street are five three-room, two-entry courtyard-style houses. Each house has a cloth-tiled roof and pot-ear walls. The village wall was rammed by mortar, and glutinous rice and brown sugar made it extremely strong. It is 0.6 meters thick, 5.3 meters high, 93.5 meters long from east to west, and 86.5 meters wide from north to south. Many holes are distributed on the wall, which are the scaffold holes left when the wall was built. They were also used as gunholes for defense. The old houses are arranged like a network, sustaining the traditional family life and belief. The social symbiosis is woven by “trust," slowly but methodically. Nowadays, only a few people remain in the old village. Most of the younger generation have left to seek better income opportunities elsewhere.
The world outside the walls is a modern economic environment that relies heavily on contractual relations and is developing rapidly. During our stay here, we noticed several construction projects underway simultaneously, which caused a lot of dust and smoke due to the constant stream of lorries. The modern buildings are scattered throughout the area outside the village, and people's lifestyles have changed from the traditional family network. Consequently, the sense of distance among people is becoming more pronounced.
We have gathered a collection of old metal jars (used for tea, cigarettes, and food) and copper bowls called containers. These date from the 1950s to the 1980s, and we've placed them as resonating chambers in the holes on the northern part of the wall. The containers are connected by silk strings arranged in a criss-cross pattern on both sides of the border. When you pluck a string, it triggers several adjacent containers to make a sound. When you hear the sound, you'll notice someone on the opposite side of the wall and can choose to play together.
Additionally, if you remove the lid of a container, you can use it as a tin can phone to have a conversation. Thus, the 300-year-old ancient wall is transformed from a barrier into a resonance site. The Qin wall is brought to life through the sound played by locals, and time passes by the fingertips on the plucked strings.
Each container in Chishi village carries the memories of a family, much like the tea jar and copper bowl that hold the significance of tea and food. The people of Chishi prepare Lei Cha, a ground tea, for daily living and to show hospitality. Tea leaves are mashed into powder and combined with water, salt, fried peanuts, sesame, and fried rice. The cultural significance of tea and rice is deeply ingrained in Chishi. Local artisans often invite us to their homes to savor Lei Cha and share stories of how their ancestors survived typhoon season and adapted to changing times. The ancient wall surrounding the village has witnessed generations come and go, making it the town's elder.
Our collaboration with the artisans was always improvised. Our goal was never to damage the wall, so we cut the log to fit the hole, hammer it in, and then install the container. We equipped specific logs with tuning pins to make it easy for us to tune and maintain the instruments. Since the work isn't a permanent display, the logs can be dismantled by pulling them out, and the containers can be recycled or repurposed into separate instruments. For the strings, we went with traditional silk strings commonly used in Chinese folk music. Unlike metal and nylon strings, which are rigid, silk strings have a warm sound and a simple, ancient texture.
Chishi town has been transformed into the Shanwei Special Cooperation Zone in Shenzhen, and this change has increased the number of people visiting for business and tourism. The town's residents have converted their homes into hostels and B&Bs, diversifying their sources of income and attracting more people to visit from nearby villages. Development projects have brought a sense of restlessness to the town, but this change also represents an inheritance of the town's culture. Chishi has a long history of active sea salt and seafood trade, and its merchants have always been known for their hardworking, righteous, and adaptable nature.
We felt the strong local awareness when we arrived here, and people questioned our intentions. However, during our 45-day residency, the initial hostility turned into hospitality. We found the welders, carpenters, and bamboo artisans for our project, either recommended by locals or found through graffiti ads in the downtown area. However, as with many other places in China, the artisans skilled in their craft are primarily middle-aged and older people over 50.
The sounds of Chinese opera, such as Zhengzi, Xiqin, Zhuma, Baizi, and more, fill the air around the Qin wall in Chishi. A local folk band practices nearby, with their house doors wide open and the living room transformed into a stage, making the street their theater. Even the Qin Wall participates in this impromptu “concert." The eldest member of the band, affectionately known as Grandpa, carries his Huqin everywhere he goes, playing at the pavilion in front of the Xincuolin village, in the parking lot, and even in front of his own home. We visited Grandpa's house and inquired about antiques during our preliminary site research. He informed us that most old items had been lost, but he pointed to the wall and said, "That wall over there is the oldest." His words inspired me to create something simple yet meaningful that would not be bloated or redundant. Therefore, I used the wall itself as the basis for my work.
We reside in Jinshi village, situated on the outskirts of town. Like many other villagers, our landlord runs a small business and enjoys karaoke in his free time. He has even installed a jukebox at his house, and his neighbors often join in for a sing-along. The people in our village share close bonds and we often join them for meals or karaoke sessions. Our landlord tells us they rarely venture out to the town as it is too bustling for their liking. Even today, the people of Xincuolin continue to revere Kuixing and Guandi to maintain cultural equilibrium. The old fortress struggles to adapt to its new role between a historical artifact and a residential settlement. As long as people are living within the walls, it won’t collapse so quickly.
Created/filmed by
Miao Zhao (aka miaoz)
Zhang Bingjie
