In 1998 a thirteen-year-old boy approached Li Aping, the famous
erhu player in
Heilongjiang Province, asking for training under him. Although
wheelchair-bound due to congenital osteomalacia, the teenager loved
music and aspired to live and train like other artists. Four years
later, Wang Xuefeng has won the Instrumental Music, Special Honor,
and Newcomer awards at the recent State Art Performance of Disabled
Persons! His other honors included an interview with the Chairman
of the China Disabled Persons' Federation, Deng Pufang, and an
invitation to join the China Disabled Persons' Art Troupe.
Wang's story brought to mind another very different performance I
viewed two years ago during a trip to south China. The performance
of the "Lilliput" Art Troupe, a group of midgets, catered to a
coarser audience, seeking novelty and sensationalism. Their gaudy
costumes and tasteless dance performance accentuated their physical
differences and deformities, in order to make money. In comparison,
Wang Xuefeng, rather than seeking notice and sympathy for his
physical disability, has sought and achieved respect and acceptance
for his musical efforts.
When asked whether he got depressed over his being different from
others, Wang surprisingly replied, "That is how normal people
think; instead, I always think other people are
different from me. Because of my difficulties,
success tastes sweeter to me." It seems that his difficulties have
brought him not only hardship, but wisdom beyond his young age.
Wang Xuefeng was born in 1985 in Lunhe Township, Hailun City, which
is in Heilongjiang Province. His father and brother also had
congenital osteomalacia, and the family was supported from the
meager income of his father's watch repair and lettering business.
After Li Aping had accepted Wang as a student, gratis, the
overjoyed Wang suffered a huge loss. His father's death, and the
resultant loss of the family income, led Wang to decide to give up
his musical studies. Both his mother and brother opposed this
decision, however, and the brother took up their father's business.
At age thirteen, Wang left his family to study in Harbin with his
famous teacher. More hardship followed, however. Wang lived in an
unheated rental house, paying 200 yuan (US$24) a month; he was only
able to afford two packages of instant rice a day for meals. Even a
trip to the toilet meant he had to drive his wheelchair for 40
meters. He relied on neighbors to boil his water, and without their
help, he had to eat his instant noodle, dry at times. Winter was
especially hard; the rental house would get freezing cold, forcing
Wang to return home before December each year.
Despite these hardships, Wang has been happy in the company of his
erhu and the weekly lessons with Li Aping. He has, after
years of strengthening exercises, even learned to walk with
crutches and get around in multi-storied buildings. Under Li's
tutelage, Wang passed the ninth grade examination for erhu
and competed in the Instrumental Music Competition in Heilongjiang
Province several times, winning both First Award and Special Award.
Last September, Wang obtained three important awards at the Fifth
State Art Performance for Disabled Persons. While there, the
Chairman of the Chinese Disabled Persons' Federation, Deng Pufang,
encouraged Wang to continue to strive, saying that one day he
wanted the opportunity to enjoy hearing Wang play the famous piece
for erhu, "The Moon Reflected on the Second Spring."
Faced with honor and success, Wang has managed to maintain a
calmness lacking in ordinary youth. He plans to earn a living by
performing in the Chinese Disabled Persons' Art Troupe, and to
continue his study at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing.
Finally, Wang aspires to open a free conservatory for handicapped
musicians.
(Yang Ningshu for 黑龍江日報
[Heilongjiang Daily], translated by Feng Yikun for
china.org.cn, April 1, 2002)