Aining Wen
📖 Children's Books
🎄 Little Music Forest Series
🎨 Illustrations
🌟 Sketches
About & Contact Aining Wen
Rooted in the rich heritage of traditional Chinese sound, The Secret of Chinese Music invites young readers into a world where music becomes a bridge between generations. Through the quiet companionship of a child and his grandfather, the story unfolds as an intimate passage into cultural memory, listening, and inheritance.
Inspired by Ba Yin, the ancient Chinese classification system for musical instruments—metal, stone, clay, leather, silk, bamboo, gourd, and wood—the book approaches tradition not as instruction, but as lived experience. Aining combines narrative sensitivity with visual rhythm to guide readers toward an intuitive understanding of how music shapes identity, history, and emotional connection.
Continuing her distinctive multimedia practice, the book integrates illustration, original music, and animation to extend storytelling beyond the page, encouraging children to encounter traditional culture through multiple senses.
First published in simplified Chinese in 2021, The Secret of Chinese Music has sold over 60,000 copies and remains in continuous reprint.
Rights
World rights are available excluding Simplified Chinese language rights.
For more information, please contact Aining