Jin Xingsan

01 · Lineage & Regional School

In 1976 he graduated from the Yanbian Art School and began studying the gayageum under Zhao Shunji; he later studied traditional gayageum music under Jin Zhen, including the sanjo of the An Gi-ok, Choe Ok-sam and Jeong Nam-hui schools, and carried out wide-ranging artistic exchange with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Within the regional tradition and school record of Gayeqinyishu in Yanji, Jilin: Throughout Yanbian, gayageum art is carried on through the College of Arts of Yanbian University, Korean ethnic art troupes and folk teaching centres; after the gayageum was brought from Korea into the areas of China inhabited by the Korean ethnic group at the end of the nineteenth century it was inherited among the people, and the music moved in a single direction from the slow court style to the lively style of sanjo. The gayageum, also called the “Korean zither”, is the most representative plucked string instrument of the Korean ethnic group; it is popular in Jilin, Liaoning, Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia, Hebei and other provinces and regions, and is most prevalent in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture. According to the Korean ancient chronicle Samguk Sagi: “The gayageum too was made in imitation of the zither of the Chinese music department.” By the end of the nineteenth century gayageum music had reached its height, the music gradually changing from the slow court music to the light and lively sanjo. The gayageum that had traditionally circulated was unsuitable for playing the fast notes of sanjo, so it was modified into the sanjo gayageum, which has circulated down to the present. The gayageum was also brought from Korea into the areas of China inhabited by the Korean ethnic group at the end of the nineteenth century, and was inherited among the people. Gayageum art is a typical representative of the traditional music culture of the Korean ethnic group; whether in its form and its materials of construction, or in its timbre and tone colour, its style of musical expression and its playing technique, it embodies the character of the Korean people and fully reflects the historical shape of the life of the Korean people of China.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Male, of Korean ethnicity, born in October 1955 in Yanji City, Jilin Province. While studying traditional music he performed and taught both at universities and among folk communities. Within the documented technical tradition of Gayeqinyishu in Yanji, Jilin: The gayageum has a soft timbre and a deep tone, and in appearance resembles a zither. “The gayageum, though somewhat different from the zither in its structure, is broadly similar to it.” Therefore the origin of the gayageum can be traced back at least to the years 42—551, that is, to the time after the kingdom of Koguryo came into existence and before its downfall, when Yol brought the instrument and fled to King Jinheung of Silla. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Sanjo": By the end of the nineteenth century gayageum music had reached its height, the music changing gradually from the slow court music to the light and lively sanjo. "Slow court music": The slow and solemn court pieces that the gayageum chiefly played before sanjo took shape. "Sanjo gayageum": The gayageum that had traditionally circulated was unsuitable for playing the fast notes of sanjo, so it was modified into the sanjo gayageum, which has circulated down to the present. "Record in the Samguk Sagi": According to the Korean ancient chronicle Samguk Sagi: “The gayageum too was made in imitation of the zither of the Chinese music department… The gayageum, though somewhat different from the zither in its structure, is broadly similar to it”; the origin of the gayageum can therefore be traced back at least to the years 42—551.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

National representative bearer of Gayageum Art, a fourth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. To broaden the reach of gayageum art, he established a compulsory gayageum course in the music education programme of the College of Arts at Yanbian University, devoted himself to training future talent, and taught traditional gayageum technique among folk communities, laying a foundation for the transmission of the art. He has trained more than seventy gayageum performers.

04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier

05 · Fellow National Bearers Lineage

National representative bearers recorded under the same item code, ordered from the first to the sixth batch. Batch order is not a teacher–student relationship.

06 · Archival Sources & Bibliography

1. Jin Xingsan · National Representative Bearer Archive