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Guqin and its Music

Ⅱ-34Traditional MusicHangzhou, ZhejiangBatch 2 (2008)Extension ItemFeatured

01 · Historical Records

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 ancient Zhejiang school of guqin art began in the Southern Song, its founder being Guo Chuwang. Xu Yuanbai's qin art received the true transmission of the qin master Daxiu Shangren of the end of the Qing, while his theoretical thinking derived mainly from the Qing dynasty Zhejiang school qin treatise the Chuncao Tang Qinpu. In 1939 Xu Yuanbai and Xu Zhisun and others formed the “Qingxi Qin Society” in Nanjing; in 1945 he and Yang Jiewu and others formed the “Tianfeng Qin Society” in Chongqing; and in 1946 he returned to Hangzhou and, with Zhang Weizhen and others, formed the “West Lake Moon Gathering”, at the same time compiling the Tianfeng Qinpu and many essays on the qin, greatly promoting the revival and flourishing of Zhejiang school guqin art by his own artistic practice and theory.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

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. Guo passed his art to Liu Zhifang, and Liu Zhifang in turn to Mao Zhongmin and Xu Tianmin, and in this way the Zhejiang school, which occupied an important place in qin circles at the time, was formed. After entering the Qing the art of the Zhejiang school gradually declined. The rise of the modern Zhejiang school guqin art is inseparably bound up with the qin player Xu Yuanbai. Its performance seeks the tone quality of “subtle, wondrous, round and penetrating” and takes as its goal the artistic realm of “clear, subtle, light and distant”, pursuing a mood at once refined, tranquil, concise and free. Its classical pieces number several dozen, including Guo Chuwang's Mist and Clouds over the Xiao and Xiang, Mao Zhongmin's The Fisherman's Song and The Woodcutter's Song and Xu Tianmin's Chanting by the Marsh, while the Zhejiang school qin manuals that have come down to us include the Zixia Dong Pu, the Xiawai Qinpu and the Wugang Qinpu, more than ten kinds in all. The ancient Zhejiang school guqin art achieved very high artistic results: the histories record that “of the qin exercises practised in recent times there are three: the Jiang, the Zhe and the Min… those who practise the Zhe exercise are six or seven in ten”. The modern Zhejiang school has also made important achievements in performance, qin theory, qin making and the reconstruction of notation.

Mist and Clouds over the Xiao and Xiang

A classical piece of the Zhejiang school, by Guo Chuwang, founder of the school.

The Fisherman's Song

A classical Zhejiang school piece, by Mao Zhongmin.

The Woodcutter's Song

A classical Zhejiang school piece, by Mao Zhongmin.

Chanting by the Marsh

A classical Zhejiang school piece, by Xu Tianmin.

The Zixia Dong Pu

One of the Zhejiang school qin manuals that have come down to us.

The Xiawai Qinpu

One of the surviving qin manuals of the Zhejiang school.

The Wugang Qinpu

One of the surviving qin manuals of the Zhejiang school.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

The Zhejiang school guqin art circulates in the Zhejiang area, and the development of this school falls into two periods, the ancient and the modern.

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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Afterwards the school of Xu Tianmin was transmitted through four generations in the Yuan and Ming, pushing the Zhejiang school guqin art to its height, and for a time there were the designations “the Xu gate of the Zhe exercise” and “the orthodox transmission of the Xu gate”. At present the Zhejiang school guqin art relies mainly on the West Lake Qin Society and the Xiaying Qin Studio as its platforms, and its activity is mostly in a spontaneous state. If effective measures are not taken to protect it and it is left to survive or perish by itself, it will very likely repeat the fate of the ancient Zhejiang school in declining from prosperity. (Associated bearer recorded in the official archive:) Zheng Yunfei, male, Han, born March 1939, a native of Hangzhou city, Zhejiang. He has inherited the traditional performing characteristics of the Zhejiang school guqin since the Song and Ming of being “substantial but not rustic, refined but not pedantic” and the artistic features of the modern Zhejiang school grand master Xu Yuanbai—vigorous and upright, imposing in momentum, ancient and elegant in tone, plain and generous—and has drawn on the strengths of other qin schools, gradually forming his own artistic style, vigorous and ancient, powerful and elegant. In 2015 he published Qin Melodies of the Listening-to-the-Waves Pavilion. Since 1982 he has widely taught the qin and taken apprentices, always adhering to the traditional one-to-one, oral-instruction method, rigorous in teaching and deeply respected by his students. He is a representative bearer of the fourth batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage items, the art of the guqin (Zhejiang school). Xu Xiaoying: in more than fifty years of practice she has both inherited tradition and developed it on the traditional basis, her playing free and easy, fine, quietly elegant and fresh, forming a performing style that has both the characteristics of the Zhejiang school guqin art and her own individual features. She has successively worked in the Hangzhou Song and Dance Troupe and the Hangzhou Art School in the performance and teaching of the guqin and the zheng. Her playing has very strong artistic appeal, and she is famous for her elegant sung qin songs. She is the author of the Xiaying Guqin Course and (jointly) The Art of Zhejiang School Guqin. Her reconstructed pieces include The Ospreys, The Pheasant Flies at Dawn, The Crow Cries at Night and The Inscription of the Humble Room. Female, Han, born October 1937, died August 2016, a native of Hangzhou city, Zhejiang. She is a representative bearer of the fourth batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage items, the art of the guqin (Zhejiang school). In 2001 she founded the Xiaying Qin Studio and widely transmitted the art of the guqin.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

  1. Guqin and its Music (Hangzhou, Zhejiang) · China ICH Official Project Archive
  2. Zheng Yunfei · National Representative Bearer Archive
  3. Xu Xiaoying · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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