A Chinese intellectual named Sun Deng was dissatisfied during the"Three Kingdoms" period (AD 220-280) and chose to become a hermit onSumen Mountain near today's Xinxiang of Central China's HenanProvince.
It is said that Sun liked to pour out his heart through whistling,and his melodies often attracted groups of birds.
The place on Sumen Mountain where he used to whistle was latercalled "Xiaotai" or "whistling platform," and because of that, Sun isregarded as the forefather of musical whistling in China.
Wang Minglei, a 38-year-old middle-school teacher in Xinxiang,became fond of whistling three decades ago. Since then he has notstopped practising and researching it.
"We have a long tradition of whistling in China," said Wang. "Itis a special music phenomenon and a symbol in the history of Chineseculture."
Author of a book titled "Happy Whistling," Wang is also founder ofthe Xiaotai Whistling Art Research Society, and organizer of thefirst Whistling Competition of China, held in Xinxiang in September2004.
Nineteen whistlers from around China took part in thatcompetition. For them, it was not only a chance to compete but alsoan opportunity to exchange techniques and tricks with otherwhistlers.
One of their most unforgettable memories was whistling as a choruswhile touring Sumen Mountain at Xiaotai.
There have been a number of such spontaneous events of whistlingenthusiasts in recent years, such as the national whistlers' get-together held in Beijing last January, and the Music Festival ofChina Whistler Net in Shijiazhuang of North China's Hebei Provincelast October.
On the Internet, whistlers are communicating every day.
"Anyone with a sense of music can whistle," said Hong Bo, whofounded the "Whistling Exchange" online chat room, the first of itskind in China. "You can do it without knowing how to read the score,and it's a free instrument."
The "whistling exchange" started with Hong two years ago, and nowwhistlers from all over China gather in the virtual forum to learnfrom each other.
Another popular online whistling chat room is "Sweet Whistling."Its founder Cao Qingyao is a staff member of the China Aviation OilHolding Company's branch in Qingdao of East China's ShandongProvince, but he is better known as a whistler.
Cao has released three albums and in 2002 held a concert ofwhistling music with the Qingdao Hisense Symphony Orchestra.
Cao's repertoire consists of both Chinese and foreign works. Theformer includes such pieces as "The White-haired Girl" and "ButterflyLovers," while examples of the latter are the "Love Theme" from thefilm "The Godfather" and Khachaturian's "Sabre Dance."
Cao also plays the Chinese bamboo flute and trumpet, so he canborrow techniques from them to aid his whistling.
Almost every night Cao spends several hours in the "SweetWhistling" chat room. Because of his mastery of whistling techniques,many whistlers consult him on the Internet.
Around 40 to 70 people gather at "Sweet Whistling" every day, andCao often uses the chat room's visual device to demonstrate variouswhistling techniques.
The Internet not only provides resources for those wanting tolearn how to whistle, it is helping to establish whistling as a formof art in China.
Li Lizhong, an employee at the Agricultural Bank of China inShijiazhuang, founded "China Whistler Net" at www.cnwhistler.com,which is the most complete website about the development of musicalwhistling in China. Its content includes news, articles and Chinesewhistling music available for downloading.
Li has long enjoyed whistling, but he didn't know that whistlingcould be an art until he read an article about it in a newspaper over10 years ago. After reading that, he realized there was a lack ofinformation about whistling in China and decided to do somethingabout it.
In 2000, Li set up his site, in which he has collected materialsabout the history of musical whistling in China and information aboutthe contemporary development of musical whistling.
The China Whistler Net has an English version for theinternational whistling community in China.
Li was invited to take part in the International WhistlersConvention, held annually in Louisburg, North Carolina in the UnitedStates, years ago. But due to financial limitations and passportrestrictions, Li didn't make it at that time.
"Now these barries aren't problems any longer," said Li. "I amplanning to participate in the convention, but I want to go with somecomrades, so that we can represent whistlers from China at theinternational stage."
Though there are numerous whistling enthusiasts in China, it ismore of a hobby than a vocation to live on, and whistling is largelyunrecognized as formal music.
The first person who treated whistling as a serious performing artin modern China was Zhang Dihe, a retired oboe player who used toplay in the former Central Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1984, Zhangreleased a cassette tape titled "Whistling and Orchestra," whichinspired many of today's Chinese whistlers.
In that album, in co-operation with the orchestra of NationalBallet of China under the baton of famous conductor Hu Bingxu, Zhangused whistling as a solo instrument to perform pieces such asSchubert's Serenade, Dvorak's Humoresque and Hua Yanjun's "MoonReflected in the Erquan Spring."
On that cassette was also "Yearn" by Ji Cheng and Xiao Ou, whichis one of the few works composed especially for whistling.
Zhang went on to release four other whistling albums in the 1980s,and in concerts he often played an encore of whistling after an oboesolo.
"Due to the limitation of whistling in terms of timbre andexpressivity, it is destined not to have as much development as vocalor instrumental music," said Zhang. "However, it is a highly popularform of music among the people, and it can not be judged only fromthe artistic perspective."
Some whistlers are trying to establish a national whistlers'association, in hopes of promoting musical whistling further.
At the same time, many are doing more practical work. Wang isgoing to record his first CD this year, while Li and Cao arepreparing to take part in international whistling events.
Qiu Ming, a woman whistler from Southwest China's SichuanProvince, is planning to form a women's whistling band.
There is a Chinese saying that "the silk can not compare with thebamboo, and the bamboo can not compare with the flesh," which meansthat blown instruments sound better than plucked instruments, whilesinging sounds still better than blown instruments.
Whistlers believe that whistling also belongs to the category of"flesh," for it is produced by a person's own body.
"The sound of whistling is natural and affectionate, and it iseasy to arouse people's sympathy," said Li. "It is a music that youcan perform any time, anywhere."
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