Global EditionASIA 中文双语Français
Culture
Home / Culture / Heritage

The seven strings of Yangzhou

By CHENG YUEZHU | China Daily | Updated: 2019-03-23 09:35
Share
Share - WeChat
China's first campus guqin society, Yangzhou University Guqin Society, founded in 2013. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Guqin was among the earliest plucked instruments in China, traditionally known simply as qin, a general term for many musical instruments. It is listed as the first of the four arts, followed by Chinese board games (qi), calligraphy (shu) and painting (hua).

As a nirvana for scholars and artists such as the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou, a group of painters in the 18th century who rejected orthodox methods in favor of a more individualistic style of painting, Yangzhou has its own illustrious story of a connection with the guqin that dates back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907).

The poet Li Qi, in his The Song of Qin (qin ge), tells of listening to a qin performance at a farewell banquet. In this poem the phrase "Guangling guest" specifically refers to the accomplished guqin players, the presence of Guangling guqin players being regarded as underlining the host's hospitality and high status.

Yangzhou's guqin culture reached its zenith during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), when many Yangzhou musicians rose to fame because of their mastery of the instrument, in practice and in theory. The most renowned, Xu Changyu, founded the Guangling school of guqin in Yangzhou. His style of guqin playing features a subdued tone and a flexible rhythm, and displays a taste for simplicity and subtlety.

|<< Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Next   >>|
Most Popular
Top
BACK TO THE TOP
English
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US