Through thousands of years, and meet the guqin

-- Xi 'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University Guqin Lecture

Guqin, also known as yaoqin, yuqin and seven-string instrument, is one of the oldest plucked instruments in China. In ancient times, Music, Chess, Calligraphy and Painting is the brief summary of Chinese traditional culture. On the list, the guqin stands first because its clear, gentle, light and elegant musical character embodies the literati's lofty and transcendent attitude towards life. Thus, the guqin is also referred to by the Chinese as “the father of Chinese music” or “the instrument of the sages”.   

On November 9, the third activity of “Arts, travel!—Chinese Traditional Art and Culture Journey”, organized by the Art Education Center of the XJTLU, was launched again. The theme of this activity is “Listening to the Song of Seven Strings-a probe into the culture of guqin”. Lanjing Yu, the master of guqin specialty from Shanghai Conservatory of Music and member of China Guqin association brought a unique lecture on the guqin to the audience.

Born in a musical family, Yu learned to play the piano, the guzheng, the flute and the guqin from childhood. For many times Yu has visited countries and areas including Norway, Holland, Singapore, USA, Hong Kong, Korea, Germany, France and Britain, and on multifarious international arts festivals she has won the gold medals of Chinese instrument Group. In 2018, Yu take part in the large-scale performance of Kunqu opera A Legendary Pipa of national art fund project, as the leading Guqin performer.

At the scene of the lecture, Yu first introduced the history and culture of guqin. “Guqin, with a history of more than 3,000 years, is a treasure of Chinese traditional culture. Its profound cultural background and light and melodious rhyme have attracted people's attention.” She said that even today, guqin often appears in the soundtrack of major film and TV dramas. Then she showed some clips of the guqin from the films Red Cliff and Hero and the theme song played by the guqin of the film Big Fish & Begonia, which brought the audience a preliminary understanding of the guqin art.

 What’s most impressive is the two live ancient songs played by Lanjing Yu, Huaxu citation and Flowing Water. The music is like butterflies dancing in the air, like the tinkling spring water flows in the mountains, sometimes, like bright stars, flashing in the night sky, let the audience intoxicated and euphemism as if to talk with an old friend. At the same time, Yu also vividly explained the guqin tablatures, the structure and its performing requirements, and cordially interacted with the audience at the scene, inviting them to play on stage to feel the charm of the guqin. "I used to seeing the Chinese playing this kind of instrument which has a long history," an experiencer from Germany said excitedly, "It’s such an interesting thing to see and experience by myself!" A student from Industrial Technology named Nathan said: “The sound if guqin is so charming, as well as its long history and profound culture. I not only learned the history, culture and music knowledge at the lecture, but also have a try playing the guqin, which is awesome!”

It is known that the Guqin lecture was a sharing activity in Suzhou scientific and educational innovation district. Nearly 300 people including students, teachers and staff from universities or enterprises in the region volunteered to attend. Many participants hoped to experience the charm of guqin through this lecture and to increase their understanding of Chinese traditional culture. “There are few opportunities to have access to the guqin and listen to live music," said xxx, a student at XJTLU, “this lecture made me feel the appeal of music. It seems to have a magic power, taking me back to thousands of years ago to feel the emotion the composers expressed through music. What a wonderful experience!”