Publications

The Expression of Regional Folk Music Styles in Contemporary Music Composition

——A Preliminary Exploration of Music Composition for the Musical "Gaisang Mêdog On the Horizon"

Abstract: One significant issue contemporary composers face is how to fuse traditional folk music with professional music composition techniques that inherit the former and enrich the latter, in particular, ones that present a recognizable regional style and bring the collective memory of a community into the performing arts. This paper uses the musical "Gaisang Mêdog On the Horizon" as an example and initially explores its expression of regional folk music styles, the methods of fusing folk music and art music at different levels, and how to display folk music elements on the stage. This musical distinctly employs Tibetan folk music and carries the culture's collective memory through a contemporary music composition style.

Violin Making: Sound and Beyond 
Theory, History, Practicing and Discussion of Violin Making

Qisheng Zhao, Jie Gao, transl., Dongwei Liu, transl., Joseph Turner, ed., Alyssa Hedenstrom, ed.

Publication date: 2017
ISBN (print)：9787547725337

Violin-making dates back 500 years and was introduced to China over 100 years ago. Today, the number of luthiers in China is increasing, but it is still far from meeting the demand from musicians for high-quality sound. In recent years, many books have been published on the materials and techniques of violin making in basic procedures of violin making and restoration, the history of violin making, and the introduction and appreciation of classical instruments. But there is still a lack of monographs on improving the violin's sound quality. 

This book is based on the author's over fifty years of practical experience. It deciphers and analyses the reasons for making high-quality sound violins from the study of the Italian luthier Antonio Stradivari and the Czech luthier Vitaček. Stradivari's bowed stringed instruments are among the finest ever created and are still played by top musicians today. Vitaček's theory focuses on the effect of time on violin tone. Besides discussing various technical issues related to sound in violin making, the author also reflects on Western violin making theory and practice from the perspective of Chinese philosophy: the meaning of ingenuity, to give the violin better song quality to pass down in the hands of generations of musicians.

Regional Hydrological Response to Climate Change

"Regional Hydrological Response to Climate Change" arises from the work of the International Geographical Union Working Group on Regional Hydrological Response to Climate Change and Global Warming under the chairmanship of Professor Changming Liu (1992-96). The book consists mostly of peer-reviewed papers delivered at the Working Group's first three scientific meetings held in Washington, D.C. (1992), Lhasa, Tibet (1993) and Moscow (1995). These have been supplemented by a few additional chapters that have been specifically commissioned in order to give a well-rounded coverage of the global and scientific aspects of the topic. As editors, we have sought to balance state-of-the-art reviews of methodology and regional research with detailed studies of specific countries and river basins. In the spirit of the IGU, we have devoted particular effort to encouraging contributions from scientists in the non-English-speaking world. These chapters provide valuable evidence of recent climatic change and predictions of future hydrological impacts from parts of the world where little detailed work has been conducted hitherto. They provide much valuable information that is new and interesting to an international audience and is otherwise very difficult or impossible to acquire.

It is hoped that the present volume will be not only a record of current achievements, but also a stimulus to further hydrological research as the detail and spatial resolution of Global Climate Models improves. One notable aspect that emerges from a number of the contributions is that many, though by no means all, recent hydrological trends are in line with global warming predictions. Visit publication link

Bronze Drum of The Zhuang

"Bronze Drum of The Zhuang" is the first “Picture books that can be sung” (with songs) in mainland China. The story is based on a traditional legend about bronze drum of the Zhuang ethnic minority. The pictures and songs root in traditional Zhuang culture with contemporary display. The Picture book published in 2021 by the Guangxi Normal University Press, China.