Shuttling through the long river of history,
Guqin with its unique charm
It has witnessed the talents and style of countless literati and artists.
In Jiading, the violinist Tian Yu is using his hands and wisdom to give new brilliance to this ancient art. He not only inherited the exquisite skills of traditional guqin making, the zhuó qin, but also devoted himself to promoting it to a broader stage.
Walking into the Jingpu Fang located in the Jiangshangqiao Cultural Park, the thick and ancient sound of the piano lingers in the ears, as if it can soothe the impetuousness of the soul. Here, Tian Yu is tuning a Zhongni-style guqin with ingenuity.
"Cutting the qin is not only a skill, but also a practice. As an inheritor of intangible cultural heritage, Tian Yu has taken root in Jiangqiao since 2011 and founded Jingpufang. He is not only committed to the inheritance and research of traditional piano culture, but also makes unremitting efforts in innovation and promotion. Therefore, he was nicknamed "Qin Idiot" by his lover Wen Fang.
At the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the ancient music amazed the world. Many people are moved by the sound of the guqin that has passed through thousands of years and reached people's hearts. Since then, the musical form and cutting skills of the guqin have returned to the public's field of vision. With the painting skills he learned since childhood, the systematic art education background and the mastery of music, Tian Yu has made a guqin that not only has a beautiful shape, but also has an excellent timbre, and is quite famous in the circle.
Material selection and reshaping, adjustment of groove belly, tire tuning, piano lacquering, hand polishing...... The ancient method of cutting the qin needs to go through hundreds of processes, which not only tests the artistic aesthetics and performance skills of the qinist, but also puts forward extremely high requirements for his wood art, lacquer art and other skills. In Tian Yu's view, the process of cutting the qin is like "cutting the heart". He uses tools such as planers, shovels, and files to meticulously sculpt every line and arc. After several years of hard work, he gave a new life to the original old wood, and became a quaint musical instrument that can emit the sound of mountains and flowing water.
Guqin making tools
When introducing the process of making the guqin, Tian Yu emphasized the importance of material selection and belly trough technology. After drawing the outline of the body on the selected wood according to the master, he began to precisely control the groove structure, a key step that is directly related to the resonant frequency and timbre quality of the guqin. After dozens of repeated auditions and adjustments to ensure smooth lines and harmonious rhyme, a guqin with good timbre is truly completed.
Why can the thousand-year-old guqin still be played, and the timbre is clear? Tian Yu revealed the secret -- the production of gray tires. He followed the ancient method of blending lacquer and antler frost into a gray tire, and after repeated scraping and natural storage, the gray tire was thoroughly dried, and the guqin produced in this way was resistant to wear and tear, and the sound transmission effect was excellent.
In teaching, Tian Yu encouraged students to listen to the sounds of nature to exercise their sense of hearing and lay a foundation for learning famous guqin songs.
In Tian Yu's eyes, good wood must go through the "three lives and three generations", "the first" growth, the "second" as the pillars, and the "third" as the guqin. A good guqin is a "good student", with a good sound, good shape, and good feel. He hopes to follow the footsteps of his predecessors, choose good materials, choose good work, inherit conscience, and correct his heart, break the niche art circle of "although the ancient tune is self-loved, many people today do not play", so that intangible cultural heritage can be integrated into daily life, so that more people can understand and fall in love with the beauty of the guqin.
Correspondent: Dong Hong Editor: Zhu Gaoyi▼Add a star immediately, and watch the article every day▼