Xu Yi

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Xu Yi, Male, Han, from Nantong, Jiangsu, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Guqin and its Music (Ⅱ-34). The tradition is documented in Nantong, Jiangsu. Within the regional tradition and school record of Guqin and its Music in Nantong, Jiangsu: The Mei'an school is one of the representative schools of the art of the Chinese guqin; it now circulates in Nanjing, Nantong and Zhenjiang in Jiangsu and in Shanghai, Zhejiang, Anhui, Fujian, Beijing, Jiangxi, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Taiwan, and such bodies as the Nantong Mei'an Qin Society, the Zhenjiang Mengxi Qin Society and the Hefei Mei'an Qin Society all belong to this school. It is confirmed by the materials so far recovered by archaeology that the form of the guqin was already complete by the Han dynasty at the latest. The Mei'an school guqin art originated in Shandong: in the Jiaqing reign of the Qing the Jinan man Mao Boyu summed up the experience of the guqin art and compiled the Longyin Guan Qinpu, and this artistic achievement was inherited at the end of the Qing and the beginning of the Republic by the “two Wangs of Zhucheng” and taught to Wang Yanqing. In 1929 the Mei'an Qin Society was founded and had a wide influence on the qin world. The Mei'an school has relatively great influence in qin circles: the Mei'an Qinpu published in 1931 is the most widely current, most often reprinted and most influential qin manual of the last ten years, and is also the only qin manual so far translated into a foreign language, enjoying international repute. After 1949 the Mei'an school continued to develop, though for a time its activity was suspended for lack of funds and premises.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

The bearer record for Xu Yi is anchored in the documented technical standards of Guqin and its Music in Nantong, Jiangsu. Within the documented technical tradition of Guqin and its Music in Nantong, Jiangsu: The guqin, also called the “qin” or the “seven-stringed zither” and otherwise known as the “green damask” or the “silk paulownia”, is a flat-lying plucked string instrument. The art of the guqin is the oldest and most artistically accomplished of instrumental performance forms in Chinese history and the one most marked by national spirit, aesthetic taste and traditional artistic character; besides the solo it also includes the qin song, in which singing and playing go together, and the ensemble of qin and xiao. Through the creative development of qin players and men of letters of successive generations the art of the guqin grew steadily more mature and complete; it entered into a close relationship with social life, history, philosophy and literature, and made great achievements in the accumulation of pieces, performing technique, the study of temperament, modes of transmission and the craft of making qin, displaying a rich humanistic content. The Mei'an school changed the aesthetic ideas of traditional qin music, emphasised the artistic quality of guqin music, attached importance to performing technique and brought out the beauty of melody, embodying a positive spirit of innovation. The Mei'an qin manual marks the rhythm and opened the way for the marking of beats; its qin pieces absorb the style of folk music and have very strong appeal, and many of them are not to be found in the qin manuals of earlier ages; its representative pieces include Lament of the Long Gate, Wild Geese Alighting on the Sandy Shore, Beating the Silk, Scratching the Head and Questioning Heaven and Autumn Thoughts by Lake Dongting. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Lament of the Long Gate": A representative piece of the Mei'an school, among the distinctive qin pieces of the school's repertory. "Wild Geese Alighting on the Sandy Shore": A representative piece of the Mei'an school of guqin art. "Beating the Silk": A representative piece of the Mei'an school, not found in the qin manuals of earlier ages. "Scratching the Head and Questioning Heaven": A representative piece of the Mei'an school of guqin art.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 2025, Xu Yi was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Guqin and its Music, with Nantong, Jiangsu as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Guqin and its Music in Nantong, Jiangsu: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2008 (batch 2), with Nantong, Jiangsu as its declared area, and Nantong Intangible Cultural Heritage Research Society as its safeguarding unit. Since the project was inscribed in the national inventory, its declared area and safeguarding unit have carried out documentation, transmission and presentation within the national safeguarding framework. Together, the inventory record and the project archive form the public documentary basis for the bearer’s transmission practice.

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. Xuyi (Nantong, Jiangsu) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Xuyi · China ICH Official Archive