Pictured: Chen Maojin, president of the Min Zheng Inheritance Research Association of the Chinese National Instrumental Music Society, playing the guzheng. Photo by Ye Qiuyun
Fuzhou, China, January 4 (Ye Qiuyun) "The establishment of the Min Zheng Inheritance Class is to cultivate new people in Min Zheng, inherit the skills of Min Zheng, and spread the Music of Min Zheng. Recently, Chen Maojin, 89-year-old president of the Min Zheng Inheritance Research Association of the Chinese National Instrumental Music Society, said in an interview with reporters.
Pictured: At the scene of the New Year's Day Min Zheng Concert, the members of the Eight Min Zheng Troupe are performing. Photo by Ye Qiuyun
It has been with the "kite" for decades
The melodious sound of kites echoes in the ancient houses, time seems to travel through a thousand years of time and space, tourists and citizens strolling in the old alleys hear its music, and can't help but stop and listen. In the Ancient House of Jixian Bin Yiwen in Zhuzifang, Fuzhou, Fujian Province, Chen Maojin was playing with his head down, gently picking and slowly twisting, and a beautiful song came out melodiously.
Fujian Zheng, also known as "Min Zheng", is one of the nine major schools of Chinese guzheng, popular in the zhao'an, yunxiao, and Nanjing areas of southwest Fujian. It flourished in the Ming Dynasty and flourished during the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China. In ancient times, there were music halls in Zhao'an and Yunxiao Street, and music club organizations called "Liuxiang" and "Four Ye", etc., and there were frequent kite activities throughout the year, and many musicians were passed down from generation to generation.
"The characteristics of Min Zheng are relatively lively, delicate and elegant, with typical southern genre characteristics." Chen Maojin told reporters that with the passage of time and the downturn in the performance market, fewer and fewer people are now learning traditional kites. Speaking of Min Zheng, Chen Maojin, who has been with him for decades, still maintains a strong passion.
When he was a child, Chen Maojin secretly ran to Zhangzhou and other places to listen to concerts, and when he grew up, he ran alone to ask the minzheng masters Chen Youzhang and Zhang Yonggu for advice, all of which explained his "obsession" with minzheng, but this also made him gain a lot when he was a student.
In 1954, Chen Maojin was admitted to the Art Department of Fujian Normal University (the predecessor of the Music College of Fujian Normal University) to study ethnic instrumental music, majoring in pipa. Chen Maojin talked about his "not doing the right thing", he said: "At that time, on many performance occasions, the teacher let me play the guzheng, so that later everyone did not know that I played the pipa. ”
Pictured: The scene of the New Year's Day MinZheng Concert. Photo by Ye Qiuyun
Committed to cultivating new talents in Fujian Zheng
In 1956, Chen Maojin stayed in the school to teach, and since then some famous Min zheng masters have passed on their ancestral music scores to him. "According to the regulations, the ancestral kites are not passed on. The seniors hoped that I would be able to translate the ancient score and pass it on, so they gave it to me. Mentioning this, Chen Maojin was full of emotion.
If traditional skills are to be better passed on, they must rely on the continuous efforts of generations of inheritors. In 2010, the 77-year-old Chen Maojin founded the Min Zheng Inheritance Class, which has been held once a year, recruiting 8 young students per session; in 2015, the 82-year-old Chen Maojin initiated the establishment of the Eight Min Zheng Group on this basis.
It is worth mentioning that the Eight Min Zheng Troupe is a performance entity belonging to the Min Zheng Inheritance Research Association of the Chinese National Instrumental Music Society, and is the only zheng group in China that specializes in playing traditional classical zithers.
"The recruited students must have a certain guzheng foundation, and the students who perform on stage must be excellent talents who can 'take their hands'." Chen Maojin said that the purpose of doing these things is to cultivate new people in Min Zheng, inherit the skills of Min Zheng, carry forward the art of Min Zheng, and spread the music of Min Zheng.
Over the past ten years, under the leadership of Chen Maojin, the Ba min zheng troupe has frequently performed on stage, and has held special concert performances at the Central Conservatory of Music, Sichuan Conservatory of Music, Guangzhou Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, Hong Kong, Taiwan and other regions.
Pictured: Chen Maojin, president of the Min Zheng Inheritance Research Association of the Chinese National Instrumental Music Society, is introducing the Min Zheng. Photo by Ye Qiuyun
The inheritance and development of Min Zheng
In addition to inheriting traditional skills, Chen Maojin is deeply aware of this problem. He said that the new playing of old songs and the change of sentence length and rhythm are the respect and innovation of contemporary guzheng players for traditional classical zither music. "Just do some small actions, don't dare to be too big, too much change will make the original taste change."
Since most of the popular zither songs in Fujian are left by artists orally, most artists do not understand the ancient rulers, so Chen Maojin also did a lot of work to translate and subscribe to the ancient gong rulers of the Fujian zheng. In 1990, he compiled the "Minnan Zhengqu Collection" to include the unique ancient songs of Minzheng, such as "Sighing and Grabbing Luan" and "Whispering Not Hearing", filling the gap in the zither score of the nine major genres of Minzheng in China.
Chen Maojin said that in recent years, he has choreographed and sorted out a lot of Min zheng songs. "I started learning Min Zheng from "Flowing Water", which is a small song with only 16 plates, but it is very malleable. I cut, added, and adjusted the phrases on the original score, forming a 6-minute-long superimposed piece, which became a standing piece in the Min Zheng concert. ”
Chen Maojin has always been committed to inheriting and promoting the Culture of Minzheng, and the Guzheng Society of the Chinese Musicians Association has awarded him the "Outstanding Achievement Award in Chinese Guzheng Art". Chen Maojin told reporters that with the increase of age, he especially hopes that someone can take over the baton and continue to inherit the skills of Min Zheng, carry forward the art of Min Zheng, and spread the Music of Min Zheng. (End)
Source: China News Network