Chen Fengjun, a villager from East China’s Anhui province, came to learn the craft of violin making at a farmer’s workshop in rural Beijing about 24 years ago. Not even in her wildest dreams did she think she would become the world-class lutenist she is today.
Chen won a gold medal at the International Violin Competition Violin: Soul and Shape in 2014. His works have become prized instruments of top musicians in many countries.
Chen’s career grew with the violin industry in the Pinggu district of northeast Beijing. When he traveled 800 kilometers in 2000 to reach what would become the Beijing International Music Valley, the village was still better known for sweet juicy peaches than violins. Now the valley, or Donggaocun city, is home to hundreds of violin makers, with more than 80% of their products exported to more than 30 countries and regions.
Making the violin was more difficult than Chen expected. He spent hours making fingerboards – the delicate “neck” of the violin, only to have it destroyed by his master. He even paid the price of blood.
In 2003, Chen was so focused on perfecting the fingerboard that he forgot how close his hand was to the running machine. Before he knew it, his left middle finger was almost severed by the spinning blade of the planer.
Such an injury could mean the end of a lutenist’s career. Fortunately, Chen’s finger was saved and he persisted. The deep scar on his left middle finger was one of many on Chen’s robust, battered hands.
“Mastery takes time,” Chen cited his uncle, who guided his journey to the fledgling industry in Donggaocun, as the secret to his success. On the wall of his workshop hung many tools, each for a different task. To make a violin, you have to go through a dozen procedures, which can be further broken down into more than a hundred steps, Chen said.
Chen soon learned from the skilled workers, writing down the details of each step in his notebook and constantly thinking about them in his spare time. “I trained for six months to learn how to make fingerboards,” Chen said.
After becoming an internationally acclaimed violinist, Chen continues to write new entries in his thick notebook. He meticulously recorded every detail of every violin he made in exact numbers. “Any change to the component would profoundly affect how the violin sounds,” he said.
The craftsmanship of Chinese violinists has earned recognition from violinists around the world. “China exports over 1 million violins a year, accounting for more than half of the global market,” said Gregg Alf, a member of the International Violin and String Manufacturers Association.
Even today, Chen is still learning and improving. Chemistry, machinery, art, carpentry… the pursuit of perfection in violin making is endless.
“I’m going to keep making violins until I can’t anymore,” he said.
