△Recent photos of this author
article丨Zhang Ji
originally planned to start my Ancient Silk Road journey in 2020. Various fateful meetings have led the plan ahead. The pace of exploring the Ancient Silk Road will be launched with the trip to Singapore in August 2019.
Tilo Yayi Street: The ancient atmosphere is filled with the vitality of the integration of multicultural cultures
I heard that I was going to visit the National Museum of Singapore. My friend Angel said, "Come and find me! First, go to our Singapore Musical Box Museum, the National Museum is close to us."
Tilo Yayi Street has the smell of old Beijing alleys. This is a straight street facing northeast and southwest. The tree-shaded trees are Brazilian undum tufts suitable for tropical climates. The tiny leaves are very similar to locust trees or elm trees. The layer of yellow leaves just laid on the ground also reminds people of many ginkgo trees in Beijing alleys. August 12th is a holiday in Singapore. Most shops and offices are on holiday, and there is no hurry to go to work, so the streets are very quiet.
The breeze blew the swaying shield and pillars, and the yellow leaves falling on the ground did not lose their vitality, and they were still chasing the wind and playing. They occasionally land on my insteps, giving me a sense of joy and warmth to be welcomed, as if the owner has not shown up yet, and the kittens and dogs at home have already run towards me, shaking their tails and sniffing my insteps.
△Step straight to the corner of Yayi Street
Entering the intersection, with several silver-gray skyscrapers on both sides, their spotless glass shining brightly in the morning sun. After walking dozens of steps, after passing an intersection, the height of the building suddenly dropped. There were rows of red doors, green tiles, pavilions, attics, gilded domes, tower spires, and eaves of divine beasts... What came to the ancient atmosphere of temples of different races and religions, and this ancient atmosphere was filled with a vitality regenerating after the integration of multiple cultures.
Singapore Music Box Museum: A window of a new world opened to me
△Exterior view of Singapore Music Box Museum
Push open the sea blue wooden door, and Angel is waiting for me in the music box store. Her colleague Rainey was about to take a traveler upstairs to visit the Music Box Museum when I joined them.
stepped on the dark brown painted wooden staircase to the second floor. The front hall on the second floor is very small, with several exhibition boards densely arranged in less than 20 square meters to introduce the history of the museum, the founder of the museum, and the basic knowledge of music boxes. The tour guide Rainey pushed open the creaking wooden door of the museum. We looked in the creaking direction at the same time, and what caught our eyes was a deep aisle made of ancient wooden boxes of various sizes. Rainey invited us to walk up the aisle and began to demonstrate and explain to us the antique music boxes on both sides of the aisle.
△Antique music box on both sides of the aisle
Before this, the first and only music box I had in my life was a birthday gift from my boyfriend. It was the largest music box he could find on the market at that time, about the size of a palm. There was a piano in the box, on which was a ballet girl, with a movement sealed under a piano about three centimeters long, and there was a drawer used as a jewelry box in the box. When the happy birthday song is played, the ballet girl will dance on the piano. This music box is almost the entire experience I have experienced with the music box in the past.
And when Rainey showed us the collection of the Music Box Museum, a window to a new world opened to me.
The first thing I saw was a set of 19th-century roller-type (Cylinder Musical Box) music boxes, mainly made in Germany, , Switzerland, , and the United States. If the music boxes in my memory are measured by the palm of my hand, then the music boxes in front of us can be measured by the length of a person. "box" can refer to a box or a box in English. The music box in front of me, in terms of its size, should be translated into a music box.
△ Roller music box
On a long stage, we see a drum music box, which was produced in Germany in 1870. The shell is a brown painted wooden box, about one meter long and thirty to forty centimeters wide, equivalent to the size of a ten-year-old child.The label next to it gives the accurate data of the movement: 22 cm high, 62 cm wide, 24 cm deep, 99 comb teeth, and 6 tracks can be played.
Rainey quickly opened the brown box. This is the first time I have seen the inner mechanical construction of the music box. Roller type is the musical notation cast and burning on a rollable brass cylinder . Those small convex points that are sparse and dense, of varying sizes and spread across the cylinder are musical notes. Their size can only be calculated by the needle tip. The largest one is as big as a few needle tips, and the smallest one is as big as one needle tip. On the side of the brass cylinder are dense comb teeth. When the cylinder rolls, the small bumps pass through the comb teeth, pull the reeds, making sounds of different vibration frequencies.
Rainey opened the first Musical Box clockwork and the music rang out loud. I couldn't help but take a step back half a step, and before I could be surprised, my heart was filled with a kind of reverence. I didn’t expect the music box to make such a loud sound! It is almost comparable to the magnificent music of the organ played in the church, and the sound of the music box is more penetrating, clearer, pure, as crystal-clear, and has a power to cleanse the body and mind! Because the wooden box is big, it resonates with a lot. Now I think it makes more sense to call them "music box" instead of "music box". This is no longer a music box as a toy and jewelry box, it is a music playback machine for playing music in homes or public places.
Then several drum-type music boxes that you will watch are used in stations and squares, and you need to place a coin to sing. In the clear and loud music, we seem to see a scene like this: in a city square in Germany, Switzerland, and Britain in the 19th century, some citizens were wandering around, some were basking in the sun on their chairs, and some were shopping in the surrounding shops. At this time, a man walked towards the music box in a corner of the square. He took out a coin from his pocket and put it into the music box. A music from Bach or Handel sounded loudly. People were attracted by this magnificent music and gradually walked from every corner of the square to the music box...
△Disc music box
Rainey led us to watch a set of disc music boxes. They are the second generation music boxes. The drums casting and burning notes have been replaced by hole-punched disc iron sheets. Their shapes are very similar to the record machine , but the record machine's records are made of hole-punched iron sheets.
Music Box with Rust: Spreading the eternal charm of music
Come to the most spacious place in the exhibition hall, and in front of you is a row of giant music boxes. These Musical Boxes have changed from horizontal and horizontal styles in the drum era to upright styles for automatic song selection, with two adult heights. The music box is divided into two parts: the upper part is the movement part for playing, and the lower part is the storage box for collecting discs, but the upper part also has several records vertically, which are for automatic song selection. These discs are also made of iron sheet holes, with each disc diameter about 50-80 cm.
△Rainey winds up the upright large music box
In front of a giant music box of Polyphon brand, Rainey walked vigorously and "bang" and climbed into a small wooden box next to her. Rainey, wearing white gloves, shook a foot-long handle and began to wind the big music box with a rush, as heroic and elegant as a sailor on a sea boat.
△Upright music box
has been winded up, Rainey handed me a coin and asked me to put it in. I threw the coin into a coin port on the right side of the Polyphon music box, and immediately heard the crunching machine start, a record rose from the stack, and a few seconds later, the French composer Gunno's "Ode to the Mother" echoed in the exhibition hall, everyone was immersed in this magnificent and solemn music, and their bodies were involuntarily swinging to the rhythm of the music. We looked at the huge robot with rust in front of us with admiration, amazed at the immortal vitality of its ancient life and the eternal charm of the music it spreads!
△ Music box named "Atlantic" (Atlantic)
Leaving Polyphon, we came to the front of the music box named "Atlantic". This is the largest music box in the exhibition hall.In addition to the automatically played music, the Atlantic music box also contains six other instruments such as keys, gongs, drums, cymbals, triangular irons and other instruments for it. It is a veritable music box . It plays loud and lively, just like a live performance of a band. I noticed that it was a drum-style music box. The cylinder cast with notes had gone through the vicissitudes of time and had turned into a turquoise-like blue-green, but its singing was still so loud. This is a music robot with extraordinary skills and a Bronze Age warrior temperament.
△The music box called "China" made in Singapore
Next is a very special collection in the museum: the music box made in Singapore, which only has a mechanical movement, and it has become corrupted because of the erosion of time, so it cannot be allowed to sing again. Its mechanical manufacturing period was around 1800-1860 and was named "China" by later generations. It is said that it is precisely in order to send this Singapore-made music box back to your hometown that the Singapore Music Box Museum located on the ancient Telok Yayi Street was found.
From here, the exhibits behind the museum are some inventions that reflect the decline of the giant music robot, the 19th century mechanically manufactured music box. First of all, the wax phonograph invented by Edison in 1878. It can automatically record and playback sounds on the spot and has the basic functions of modern recorders. The museum is exhibited here, one of the only 20 remaining Edison wax phonographs in the world.
With the invention and popularity of wax cylinder phonographs and subsequent wax disc phonographs, plastic disc phonographs, nylon record phonographs, and tape recorders, the era of great music steel robots has slowly declined.
After visiting all the museum exhibits, I saw a brand new world of musical steel robots. I was amazed and intoxicated by their exquisite mechanical craftsmanship and exquisite musical skills. My curiosity was not only not satisfied, but was even more inspired. The story of director of Minami: Singapore music box called "China"
After a visit, I had a strong desire to learn more stories behind the Music Box Museum and share their stories with more people. Director Minami was very willing to accept my interview, and I met at the entrance of the museum.
Unexpectedly, Director Minami is a young and handsome Japanese young man. He is 38 years old, tall and thin, big and long eyes, a high nose bridge, and a searching and friendly smile in his eyes. The Singapore Music Box Museum is an institution that requires a large amount of capital investment and has little financial returns. As founder Mr. Naoto Orui felt great pressure on funding, this year, Director Minami invested in taking over the museum and became the first director of the museum.
Anqi introduced me to do a global trip. Director Minami asked curiously: "What route?" I explained: "Ancient Silk Road." His eyes widened, full of enthusiasm, but immediately flashed with a cunning exploration: "Why?" I blurted out: "Bring the value of history to people today (Bring historical value to people today). This sentence resonated with Minami. Before I could ask a question, I took the initiative to introduce the origin of the museum.
△Author and Singapore Music Box Museum Minami
"The Singapore Music Box Museum was opened from the end of 2015 to the beginning of 2016, and it has been almost four years since then. Why build the Music Box Museum in Singapore? This starts with a music box named "China". It is made in Singapore. For the 19th century Europeans, there were only Chinese and Indians in Asia, so they called the Chinese or non-Indians they met as Chinese. This is why this music box made in Singapore is called "China."
" There are five music boxes in the world. It can be seen that Singapore's music box manufacturing at that time had a certain scale. Out of curiosity, he did a lot of research and found that Singapore in the 19th century had high mechanical manufacturing technology. This is mainly determined by its special geographical location.”
Singapore is a port located in the narrowest part of the Strait of Malacca. It is a must-pass place for entering the Pacific from the Indian Ocean. This time I came to Singapore this time and especially wanted to visit the Keppel Harbour.
Director introduced that in the 19th century, European merchant ship fleets crossed the Indian Ocean and entered the Pacific through Singapore, bringing clocks and music boxes that represent the highest level of European mechanical manufacturing in that era. Because of the natural and man-made damage caused by crossing the ocean, when the fleet docked at the Singapore Port, it not only had to repair the ship, but also repair the broken cargo on the ship. In this way, European watch and music box repair technology was passed to Singapore.
"The manufacturing technology of music box was born from the manufacturing technology of clocks. "Director Minami looked at me with bright eyes. We have discovered this secret in the museum. Their manufacturing principles are the same! Director Minami continued: "In the 19th century, many music boxes as mechanical manufacturing products were large in size, and trans-ocean transportation was expensive, so when transporting music boxes at that time, people used split-type transportation, only transporting the movement part of the music box, the outer box part was made in Singapore, and the assembly part was also completed in Singapore. This factor, coupled with the factors of repairing watches and music boxes mentioned above, made Singapore gradually develop the skills of watchmaking and music boxes. "
" Due to the maritime trade with Singapore, Japan has been influenced by Singapore's watch manufacturing and music box manufacturing techniques, and has gradually learned the technology of watch manufacturing and music box manufacturing. Japan is now a world watchmaking power, but its most famous brand, Seiko watch (SEIKO), was founded in 1860 by benefiting from Singapore's watch technology. Out of new discoveries for the history of Singapore's machinery manufacturing and thanksgiving and reverence for Singapore, the creator of our museum decided to send this ‘China’ music box back to Singapore and establish a music box museum in Singapore so that more people can understand the exquisite mechanical craftsmanship displayed by the music box in the Great Machine Age and this unknown golden age in Singapore. ”
The history that few people know: Singapore once had extraordinary skills in mechanical technology
” The Singapore Music Box Museum has three missions. "Mr Minami continued: "We call it '3C'. ‘Culture’ (culture), spreading culture; ‘Children’ (children), we hope this place will become a base for children to understand history; ‘Cosmopolitan’ (International Metropolitan), ‘International Metropolitan’ is a keyword in the future. Singapore has good conditions to become an international metropolitan, and we hope that the museum will contribute to Singapore in this regard. ”
“The ‘Cosmopolitan’ (metropolitan) you are talking about is the keyword for the future world development. What advantages do you and your museum have in realizing this mission? "I continue to ask questions.
" If anyone recognizes its value and constantly recognizes its value, it will be passed down and passed on. On the contrary, if no one understands and recognizes its value, its life will end. Music has no borders and is a good tool for cultural communication. At the Music Box Museum, one can see Singapore's extraordinary skills in mechanical technology, the importance of Singapore's irreplaceable superior geographical location to the world since ancient times, and its remarkable contributions to many countries in the world, especially to neighboring Asian countries since ancient times. This is Singapore’s culture. Culture gives people faith and courage in difficult times, and its spiritual value is huge.
"There is a saying in China that you can learn new things by reviewing history." Speaking of this, he couldn't help but take my pen and neatly wrote the four words "reviewing the past and learning the new" in Chinese on my notebook.
"Wow! This is a Chinese idiom, from "The Analects of Confucius". The director is really knowledgeable!" I sincerely admired. Director Minami smiled happily and continued, "Also, the fish don't understand water." Director Minami smiled and explained, "It is precisely because the fish lives in the water that it does not understand water.Because water is a part of everyday life for it, it is too accustomed to it and does not understand it. Before foreigners entered Japan, Japanese did not understand themselves. It was not until foreigners entered Japan that Japanese people gradually understood their national character. As foreigners, we come to Singapore to help Singapore understand themselves. ”
Singapore changes every day, energetic and creative
” So do you like Singapore very much? Which country do you prefer between Singapore and Japan? "I asked him.
Minami smiled and replied: "So far, I prefer Singapore. "He looked at me and said, "Do you know, the Japanese are no longer willing to change. People will say that it is OK to change, but please wait until I die and you will change again. This country is really old. The 2011 Japanese "3.11" earthquake, people all over the world saw that the Japanese were shopping in the "Seven-Eleven" convenience store, and everyone was still orderly and quietly lined up. This is the Japanese: keeping order but no longer likes change.
△A corner of Singapore
"Relatively speaking, Singapore is willing to change. They are very tolerant and willing to make friends with different cultures and different people. Look at the Telok Yayi Street in front of us, which is the best example. This is the Chinese Tianfu Palace, but a few steps east is the Nagong Halal Church, the Al Abra Halal Church, and a few steps west is the Methodist Christian Church. These different religions and temples are so harmonious here, which is a scene that cannot be seen in other places. There is a lot of changes here, changing every day, with vitality and creativity, and people always want better, better, and better.
"To a certain extent, whether it can easily accept changes represents the spiritual age of a person or a country. For example, although Jack Ma in China may be in his actual age in his 50s, his mental age may still be 25 years old. From this perspective, Singapore is a very young country, full of vitality and multicultural inclusiveness. A foreigner who lives in Singapore for a while will find that he has become easier to make friends. This is the influence of Singapore’s culture. From this perspective, Singapore's development is unlimited. Of course, Africa's development is also unlimited. "Minami laughed out loud when she talked about Africa for some reason.
I remembered what Angel and Rainey told me that the director had just become a father and he chose to let his child be born in Singapore. Only those who love Singapore very much have such a choice.
music played by the music box is a natural sound
"I have a question, Director Minami, what do you think is the difference between the music played by the music box and digital music? Nowadays, digital music on mobile terminals is so popular, giving people a huge amount of choices. It is so convenient and almost free. How do you view people’s music choices? "I asked a question to Director Minami.
" This is a good question and I'm willing to answer it. "The director paused for a moment and said, "There are scientific institutions that specialize in studying the impact of sounds on people with different frequencies. Their research report said that natural sounds have a good healing effect on people's material body, emotions, and brain, which is incomparable to digital music.
△A corner of Singapore
"The music played by the music box is the same as the sound in nature, the same as the singing of people, and the sound played by orchestral instruments and percussion instruments, belonging to the natural sound. So when listening to the music box, people will feel particularly happy, comfortable, as if their body and mind are washed.
"Now people like digital music, which is normal. People like new ideas, new technologies, and convenient life. Human beings are an existence that seeks meaning and creates value. In this process, they follow the law of yin and yang. When things develop to a cathode, they will transform into the anode. When people hear enough of artificial sound frequency, they will miss the natural sound frequency.”
I highly agree with the director’s insight into people’s music selection vision, and I am very happy that he uses the Yin-Yang analysis method that represents the Chinese cultural thinking model to look at things, and once again lamented the director’s erudition.
The interview with the director was very much in love, but considering that Angel and Rainey were about to get off work long ago, I took the initiative to end the interview.
The best museum in the world I have visited
I told Director Minami: “The Singapore Music Box Museum is the best museum in the world I have visited. My visit to the Ancient Silk Road was originally planned to start in 2020, but today I realized that my visit had begun and the Singapore Music Box Museum was the first stop of my visit to the Ancient Silk Road. "
Minami gave me a classic Japanese bow to express my gratitude, and I also bowed back to express my gratitude. The conversation was very close. We agreed to continue my interview and continue our conversation when I visit Singapore next time.
. Among the various and huge museums all over the world, the Singapore Music Box Museum is just an inconspicuous small museum. Even among similar music box museums, it is not the largest. Rainey said in his visit to us that the world's largest music box museum is in Shanghai. But the Singapore Music Box Museum has a broad international mind and a fraternal humanistic sentiment. Its founder Naoto Mr Orui and current director Mr Minami, two Japanese, built the museum in Singapore and worked hard to run the museum without profit, just to retell the golden age in Singapore's history to add some color to Singapore's international metropolis, so I said it was the best museum in the world I have visited.
(some pictures provided by Angel)
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