TELEVISION ESSAYS
The wind of the seven strings
Traditional Chinese culture believes that there are five stars in the sky, five elements on the earth, and five tones in the world's sounds, so it has five strings: palace, shang, horn, sign, and feather. Later, King Wen added a string, and King Wu added another string, becoming seven strings. Seven-stringed qin - Chinese guqin, the tone is deep and macro, the shape is calm and beautiful, the heart contains infinite secrets, and the strings vibrate with ancient winds.
Splendid Jiangnan, gentle and moist, abundant heritage, blossoming everywhere; rich products, ripe for years. And in the place called Changshu, it is connected with the Chinese guqin. Because here, there was a habit of string songs in ancient times, and in the past, the school of Kaiyu Mountain was later called the hometown of the guqin. Coincidentally, in Changshu City, there are seven rivers flowing through it, which is called the Seven Strings River.
Borrowing the high sky as a background, the piano bed is supported according to the earth, a seven-string sound is issued, and the vicissitudes of a guqin are played.
Chapter 1 The String Song of the Years
In the long and splendid Chinese civilization, the Chinese guqin is the oldest string instrument.
Among the piano styles that people have seen, there are Fuxi style, Lingji type, Shennong style, etc., and the most common one is the Zhongni style.
Zhongni, also known as Confucius, was an outstanding representative of Confucianism and a philosopher who influenced China for thousands of years. Someone once commented on him: "Heaven does not give birth to Zhongni, and eternity is like a long night." ”
Confucius had seventy-two brilliant disciples, of whom only one was from the south and was named Yanzi. It was this man named YanZi who laid the foundation of Confucian culture in southern China. Confucius once said before he died, with words, "My way is nanyi." ”
Among the deeds of Yan Zi, the most prominent is to carry forward the morality of "the road is not left behind" with liturgical music, and to educate the folk custom of "not closing the house at night" with string songs. The so-called string singer is to use beautiful piano music to accompany reading and singing. The ancient poet Yong Changshu once had such a famous sentence: "The sound of the old piano is in the old family". It can be seen that Changshu has long had a deep relationship with the Chinese guqin.
Of course, what is inextricably linked to the Chinese guqin is not just Yanzi, because Confucius himself is a piano player who plays the piano. It can be said that the far-reaching Confucian cultural thought, in the initial period of originality, has been injected into the music of the Chinese guqin, the tone of Zhongzheng peace.
Together with the dignified bronze, it is so harmonious.
Together with the crystal clear jade, it is matched like that.
Together with the magnificent silk, it is so close.
Together with crystalline porcelain, it is so harmonious.
As simple as the color of the Book of Poetry, smooth as the luster of "Leaving sorrow", the Chinese guqin, in the long years, in this way, with its ancient sound, with its seven strings, reverberates in the height of the temple, appealing to the distance of the rivers and lakes.
The era numbers on the guqin have left a station of time and a yangguan of culture. Although Wei and Jin bid farewell to the Two Han Dynasties, although the Two Song Dynasties bid farewell to the Sui and Tang Dynasties. However, the seven silk strings on the Chinese guqin have crossed countless times of cold and summer, connecting ancient times with today.
Chapter Two: The Elephant Is Invisible
It can be said that the essence of traditional Chinese culture, in the body of the guqin, has been almost harmonious.
The length of the guqin is generally three feet six inches and five minutes, which is a metaphor for the time of a year; the width of the guqin is generally four inches, which is a metaphor for the four seasons of the year; there are twelve months in a year, and if you add a leap month, there will be thirteen months; and this number is exactly the sum of the number of "emblems" on a guqin as a scale.
Successive generations of virtuoso people have paid special attention to the elegance of the environment, because only in this environment can the concept of "the unity of heaven and man" be vividly reflected. Therefore, those moving piano sounds often appear in front of the window of the half-curtain dream, under the moon of a silver frost, on the water's edge of the reed flowers and snow, and in the smoke-shrouded mountains and forests...
Many piano pieces pay special attention to the indifference of the state of mind, because only in this state of mind can we fully express the true essence of "the state of mind". Therefore, that kind of clear emotion is often immersed in the hanging of history, the admiration of the predecessors, the nostalgia of family affection, and the farewell to the deceased...
In the ultra-dusty environment, the figure of the guqin is more like a reclusive wise man, a well-educated elder, and a kind and affectionate Venerable. He was accustomed to seeing the rise and fall of glory and decline, and experienced the cold and warm of the fishing tree, but the sound of the guqin was not in the slightest snubbed, the sound of the seven strings, quiet and bright, grand and far away, and full of grace and solemnity.
Of course, the charm of the Chinese guqin is far more than that.
In our cultural life, there has always been a saying of "piano, chess, calligraphy and painting". Indeed, the lyrical piano music, the deep sea and wide chess, the calligraphy with excellent pen and ink, and the painting that are suitable for thickness and lightness, with the unique behavior of the East, let our spirit be cultivated by art and inject rich connotations into our lives. However, unlike chess, books, and paintings, there is only one "qin" word that leads the head of the art, which appeals to people's senses with hearing, and makes all noble emotions, or quiet and elegant, or calm and thick, or loose and relaxed, in the timbre of the Chinese guqin, become wonderful and transformed into a mysterious.
In the door of art, the Chinese guqin has formed a guqin theory including instruments, piano music, piano studies, piano paths, and qinren. This theory holds that the Chinese guqin is no longer just a musical instrument, but a carrier of self-cultivation and righteousness, but an embodiment of traditional culture. The Chinese guqin requires skill and understanding, but it has higher requirements for the learning and cultivation of the qin people, and has a deeper hope for the morality of the qin people. The ancients said, "The metaphysical one is the Tao, and the metaphysical one is the instrument." Traditional Chinese culture has always emphasized the unity of "Tao" and "instrument", and the Chinese guqin is the symbol that embodies this oriental concept.
Chapter Three: Qinxiang
The overall cultural conditions of a place are crucial to the development of Chinese guqin art. The reason why Changshu is particularly related to the guqin is not only because the pre-Qin yanzi advocated string songs.
China's Ming Dynasty is a very special era, at least in literature, art and life forms, the pursuit of refinement, the pursuit of perfection, has become a mainstream trend. Taking Jiangnan as an example, Kunqu opera is prosperous in the land of fish and rice, the garden is in the courtyard of the deep house, and the furniture is beautiful and elegant, which is enough to illustrate this point. Later, our Changshu school of Yushan Qin, Yushan poetry, Yushan painting and Yushan printing school appeared, all of which had a pursuit that was relatively consistent with that mainstream tendency. These artistic disciplines are related to each other, open up to each other, and have appeared their own representative figures, which are extremely popular in the history of literature and art in the Ming Dynasty.
Guqin art has been full of genres from the Ariake era. Still, because the Yushan Qin School, which originated in Changshu, is particularly unique, the "light and distant" style advocated by the Yushan Qin School has had an extraordinary impact on the time and future generations.
Yan Tianchi, the founder of the Yushan Qin School, was familiar with poetry and song, experienced the eunuch sea wind and waves, was a typical literati doctor, and later returned to his hometown, specializing in the piano, and hiding in his "Yunsong Nest". However, it is no accident that the millennium seeds can bloom elegant flowers in Changshu, because the cultural climate and artistic soil here have a unique warmth and excellence.
More than 3,000 years ago, the Taibo and Zhongyong brothers came from the north to the south and worked with the local ancestors to create the civilization of ancient Wu Woye. Because Zhongyong is also known as Yu Zhong, after death, he is buried in this verdant foothills, so it is called Yu Shan, and the word "Yu" of Yu Mountain has the same meaning as the place name. According to the contemporary writer Mr. Lu Wenfu, it is said that when the soldiers were surrounded, Yu Ji, who was separated from the sword of the King of Chu but was still cold and beautiful, was also a common acquaintance of ours.
Wu Ren Shangwu was brave for a while, but later, the long wind of history blew over one after another, and even blew out the red light of the tiger tent. However, the lamp of reading was lit up, and the figure of Prince Zhaoming's night book survey was thrown on the pink wall, reflecting the ink polished by Huang Gongwang to a crystal, and embellishing Qian Qianyi and Liu Ruyi's Red Bean Mountain Villa with fragrant warmth and jade.
The habit of reading is almost unique to Changshu. In the history of Chinese printing, book collection and reading, almost no one has forgotten the exquisite carving of the Maiwangguan, forgotten the vast folios of the Kikoku Pavilion, and forgotten that the classics that are full of sweat and cattle come from the land of Changshu, because the aroma of paper and ink haunts the dreams of generations of scholars.
However, reading also has sad times. I still remember Weng Tonggong holding a volume of "Leaving sorrows" in his hand, reverie Qu Yuan asked about the crossing; I still remember the two generations of Emperors and Masters of Tongguang, the two generations of uncles and nephews, this changshu glory, and later, it was temporarily covered by a hanging curtain in the Forbidden City.
Fortunately, there is still a piano. Jiangnan Famous Building is called "Iron Qin Bronze Sword", which really shows the inner character of the reader. The sword is courage, the piano is feelings, and although there are two types of postures, the spirit is one.
The hometown of the guqin must be the hometown of culture, and the hometown of culture must be represented by a special object. Our ancients called Changshu Qinchuan, and this name is so good.
Chapter Four: The Realm of the Piano
Almost every ancient piano piece has a very appropriate name, repeatedly taste the name of the piano music, you will suddenly wake up in an instant to what is really perfect, what is the natural opportunity to leak.
With the guidance of the song's title, the other wine on the road, the plum blossom in the harsh winter, the falling geese in the sunset, all the objects that have already possessed the character of man, gradually appear in the sound of the guqin.
However, the piano people of different genres have their own unique aesthetic ideals for the pressing of artistic conception.
The "qing and faint" advocated by the Yushan Qin school is, in the final analysis, essentially a "qing" character. This "Qing" word, opposite to "turbidity", coincides with "cleanliness", ice and jade purity, is really awe-inspiring. It should be said that the publicity of the word "Qing" is itself a promotion of the guqin art and the original source. While Yan Tianchi emphasized "light and distant", he also abandoned the practice of indiscriminately adding piano songs in guqin art, which is also out of the authentic ethics of guqin art.
In the aesthetic concept of the East, pure beauty has always been a very high level. Ethereal is not empty, concise is not simple, simple is not monotonous, and purity is not cold depression. The law of dialectics has long proved that only the former can embody the "broad peace" that the Yushan Qin School aspires to.
This is exactly what Baopu Huaisu of classical Chinese philosophy advocates.
Chapter Five: Ten Fingers Connected to the Heart
Over the long years, the guqin has appeared in an incomparably wonderful line; countless predecessors have created a variety of fingerings for us.
The ancients played the piano, some said it was playing, some said it was a drum, some said it was a play, some said it was a play. But in any case, the skill of playing the guqin will eventually fall between the fingers.
Human fingers really have an indescribable charm, it creates a thousand worlds, but also conveys a sense of truth.
There is a finger that points through the path of mizu.
There is a finger that lets go of the expectation of the child's heart.
There is a finger that has written parting verses.
There is a finger that sews through the clothes of the trip.
Yes, the depth and shallowness we think of, the distance and proximity we see, are almost all related to our flexible fingers - that is the deep red fruit of the branches, that is the tender green bud at the foot of the mountain, that is the fragrant soil of the hometown, that is the joyful home of the world; that is the empty valley of art, that is the thousand golden tiles of culture, that is the sincerity to the golden stone, that is the book mountain has a way to learn the sea without end.
Our history is like water because of our fingers.
Our lives are as splendid as flowers because of our fingers.
Xu Qingshan, another representative of the Yushan Qin School, said in "The Condition of Xishan Qin": "Strings and fingers, fingers and tones, and tones and meanings", which shows the important role of fingers. Some people call the Chinese guqin art "the dance of the fingers", and use dance to summarize the pure fingering and beautiful form, which really speaks of the magic of the fingers.
The Chinese guqin is a highly unified body of "Tao" and "Skill". The relationship between "Tao" and "skill", like a string, is adjusted to the most moderate pitch by a truly excellent guqinist. Loose, not good, tight, not good.
The upright and dignified strings are an intriguing law of "degrees".
Xiao Xiang's water clouds are lyrical and graceful, that is because the fingers of the light spirit can reflect the calm of the gods.
The ancient road of Yangguan is desolate and distant, that is because the strong and healthy Yu Zhi can bring out the tragic and desolate.
The dance of the fingers is actually the dance of emotions, the dance of the heart, and the reason why these classic seven-string sounds are moving is because they come from the depths of people's spirits.
This is the "ten fingers connected to the heart".
Chapter Six: The Getaway
We do not deny that the Chinese guqin does have the tendency to prefer the white snow of Yangchun and the people of Riba at a distance. But at the same time, we should also point out that in our vast real life, it has also left an indelible deep imprint of the Chinese guqin, for example, we often say the word "Zhiyin". Yu Boya and Zhong Ziqi's life and death coincided, sima xiang was like Zhuo Wenjun's phoenix Yu Fei, and he did not know how many people had been touched. Zhiyin is the spiritual resonance of the soul, and Zhiyin is a hundred generations of heroic beauty.
In the eyes of Chinese, the guqin is often the embodiment of intelligence, talent and talent. Marquis Wuxiang, who was six out of Qishan, used a retreat strategy, and if there was no Yaoqin as a companion, even his opponents would be disappointed. Although the elegant Zhou Lang was in his hand and Xiao Qiao was married for the first time, how could he have such a handsome style by relying only on iron armor. "The song is wrong, Zhou Langgu", it can be said that the weather displayed by the Chinese guqin is no less than the company camp of Cao Cheng xiang's 800,000 horses.
However, if you talk about the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Forest, when you talk about Ji Kang, when it comes to Guangling San, there are relatively few people who know. And the person who left the dust after playing "Guangling San" is precisely the backbone of the Chinese guqin.
The peaceful tone of Zhongzheng makes the Chinese guqin truly become "quiet and far-reaching", so it is not envious of the fashion of the big red and purple, and the tsunami mountain call of the crowd is envied. It will never be popular, it will never go out of date, or it will be. However, because it has already conformed to the truth of "loud sounds and rare sounds" and has been integrated into the soul of Chinese culture, it also has an eternal quality.
On August 20, 1977, NASA launched the Voyager 2 spacecraft into outer space, and among the items on board was a gilded record, including "Flowing Water" played by Mr. Guan Pinghu, a famous Chinese guqin artist.
Three thousand years of deep diving qi rhyme like a stroke of the sky, in the vast sky, with the imagination of the East, playing the wind of the seven strings.
The people who designed this performance art may have two intentions, one is to ask for its friendship on behalf of mankind in the starry world, and the other is to let people stand on another angle and re-examine the heritage of human civilization.
Hearing the flowing water, some people know the Chinese culture.
Hearing the flowing water, some people know the life of art.
The noble sound of the ancients is indeed like flowing water, which has long bleached people's souls.