Tree leaves are musical instruments which are available everywhere for the Dong; and the melody from blowing leaves is a kind of folk music created in the laboring life of the Dong, which makes use of folk songs of the Dong nationality as keys and of delicate leaves of Qinggang, Huagang and camellia leaves as instrument; and put such leaves tenderly on lips to toot melodious and sweet tune. Particularly when an excellent vocalist of tree leaves plays at the top of a mountain, his beautiful music can attract beasts to enjoy and hundreds of birds come to sing with him. In Tianzhu County, Guizhou Province, tree-leave instruments are mostly widespread at the Dong's villages in such towns as Gaoniang, Shidong, Bangdong and Lantian etc. Every year when flowers blossom in spring and trees turn green, young men and women of the Dong come out in pairs to cut grass; and during the break of their work, they will play tree-leave music in the fields or at the top of a mountain or in a valley so as to enhance their working spirit and look for their lovers.
At the transition of spring and summer, these tree-leaf tunes echo repeatedly in the spacious valleys and come to people's heart. This kind of music may have four sentences or eight or twelve, and each may have five or six or eight words; and the only principle is to be on the beat, after their own hearts and fancy. It falls into categories such as first sight song, first love song, parting song, reunion song, melancholy song, encountering song, love song and marriage song etc.
Presently, Long Zongda and Long Zongcan from Biyou Village in Tianzhu County, Guizhou Province, Pan Xingshu from Daping Village, Wang Xiuwei and Wang Guangdai from Gaoming Village, Long Chengshan from Jiaofan Village, and Pan Xiangqian from Duling Village etc. can be said to be top players of tree-leaf music.
