Blind Devotion

In 2003 Ya Ni and Tian took the Zuoquan Blind Men's Publicity Team to Beijing and performed at some of the capital's universities, gaining a lot of public attention. That in turn spawned more opportunities for them to perform.

"But now, by dint of urbanization, many villages have disappeared," Ya Ni says. "The blind musicians have better lives and they perform less frequently. When I look back, I still feel touched. Some of my interviewees have died but I have them alive in my documentary."

In February one of the members of the Zuoquan Blind Men's Publicity, Wang Minghe, died, and on the day he was buried, Feb 24, Ya Ni published a tribute to him on her social media platform.

Wang, born in 1956, was the youngest child in his family and lost his sight after being ill when he was 2 years old.

He joined the troupe in 1974 and learned to sing-along piece titled Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, which takes days to perform. In 1984 he suffered a serious leg injury after falling through ice into extremely cold water, so it became difficult for him to walk through mountainous terrain, but that did not deter him from continuing to perform.

"He loved to sing and tried hard to keep up with the team," Ya Ni said."I was really sad that because of the coronavirus I couldn't attend his funeral."

After the Meiyanren documentary has had its premiere－Ya Ni hopes that will be this year－she plans to release another one, centering on a particular family in Zuoquan county. The family has six brothers, all of whom are blind, and whose sister is healthy. The sister, Chen Xizai, helped her brothers perform in the villages of Zuoquan county, and one of them, Chen Rousan, gained a reputation in the village as a fine drummer.

Chen Xizai's husband died when their son was 3 years old and all of her brothers helped her raise the boy. All brothers have since died.

They had all been musicians and made about 1 yuan for each show they performed in, saving all the proceeds for the boy, who eventually obtained a PhD degree from Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

In 2009 when Rousan died there was a big wake and funeral at which blind musicians sang almost continuously for three days. Two years later, when Chen Xizai's son returned to the village to get married and asked her to go and live with him and his wife in Shanghai, she refused.

"The men with no eyes are not 'polluted' by the outside world and they have a bright heart though they live in darkness," Ya Ni says.

"There are many true stories about them that audiences don't known. With my documentary I want to tell all of them."