The musician who preserved Muqam

A new biographical film revisits ethnomusicologist Wan Tongshu's extraordinary efforts to save a tradition and legacy from disappearing, Xu Fan reports.

In the spring of 1951, Wan Tongshu, a 28-year-old teacher at the Central Conservatory of Music, was entrusted with an urgent mission: to preserve the fading melodies of the Xinjiang Uygur Muqam, a centuries-old musical tradition then on the brink of disappearance.

Wan set off for Xinjiang with his wife and infant daughter, embarking on a grueling journey of nearly 3,000 kilometers by train, truck and military aircraft. After arriving in Urumqi — then known as Dihua — he met Turdi Ahun, a folk artist in his 70s believed to be the only person in Xinjiang capable of performing the complete Twelve Muqam, a major regional style among different schools of the Muqam tradition.