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Gao Zhanchun

05-2818Ethnic Instrument Making CraftsmanshipTraditional CraftsmanshipMinxing, ShanghaiBatch 5 (2018)

Lineage & School of Heritage

He learned pipa making from his father, Gao Shuangqing, and later moved to the Shanghai No. 1 National Musical Instruments Factory, where he chiefly made pipas.

Mastery, Signature Works & Repertoire

He is a national representative bearer of National Musical Instrument Making Techniques (Shanghai National Musical Instrument Making Techniques), a fifth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. He is a senior technician. In the early 1960s the pipa research and development team he led installed a pair of inverted splayed sound bars inside the soundboard of the pipa, raising the acoustic quality of the instrument to a new level. The pipas he made are handsome in appearance and comfortable to hold, with a bright, crisp, full and resonant tone. The celebrated pipa players Wei Zhongle, Lin Shicheng and Liu Dehai all played instruments made by him. His essay "Pipa Making" was the first professional article ever published in the history of Chinese pipa making.

Honors & Recognition

Male, Han ethnicity, born in February 1937, died in October 2021, a native of Jingjiang, Jiangsu Province.

References & Archival Sources

  1. Gao Zhanchun · National Representative Bearer Archive

Representative Items of This Bearer

Profile

Representative item
Ethnic Instrument Making Craftsmanship
Item code
Ⅷ-124
Category
Traditional Craftsmanship
Region
Minxing, Shanghai
Born
—
Batch
Batch 5 (2018)

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