The literati pursued the piano, chess, books, and paintings, and put the piano in the first place, and Su Dongpo of the Song Dynasty said: "The ancient Liao has fallen into the solo piano, just like the old immortals do not die and read the rise and fall."
Confucius taught at the beginning of his advocacy of piano music that "gentlemen cannot be happy, and gentlemen and qinbide can only be happy." "Playing the piano and xiaole is also an important criterion for measuring the virtue of a gentleman.
Fifteen years of Qing Guangxu Set color lady picture screen (part 4) Wu Binwen Jiaxing Museum
The Ming Dynasty was an advanced period in the development of the Chinese guqin, from the continuous prosperity of the Zhejiang school, the rise of the Yushan school and the Shaoxing school, to the compilation of piano books such as "Yongle Qinshu Integration" and "Magical Secret Score", from the predecessors and successors of Xu Hezhong, Zhu Quan, Xu Shangying, Yan Che and other pianists, to the creation of famous songs such as "Pingsha Falling Goose" and "Yuqiao Q&A", the temple court Yanxiang, the suburban altar sacrifice, with the piano as the right sound, the lineage of music, the so-called "rule and make music, with the nature of heaven and earth, the love of all things, the gods and the people's zhi association".
Literati Confucians use the qin Mingzhi, the qinser to harmonize, like human feelings, often into the painting with the qin, with the qin to chant poetry, Lin Quan beiye, hanging the qin on the wall, is a gentleman "often the emperor", not separated from the body.
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Since the Song dynasty and the Ming Dynasty, the piano has become a flourishing event, and the piano room has increasingly become an important social and private space, and the furniture of the piano room centered on the piano table has also been configured. The piano room, that is, the room for practicing the piano, and the ancient texts also have the titles of "qintai", "qinzhai", "qinfang", "qintang", etc., which mostly refer to special piano buildings.
During the Two Han Dynasties, there was already an indoor Fuqin space, and the Nineteen Ancient Poems : There are tall buildings in the northwest: "There are tall buildings in the northwest, and the upper and floating clouds are in line." Intersecting knotted windows, Argyle triple steps. There is a string song on it, and the sound is sad! "Above the tall building, there is either a piano room, or as a temporary place to play the piano.
In the Southern Dynasty, Xu Zhanzhi repaired the old ruins of Guangling City, and also raised the wind pavilion, the moon view, the blowing platform, the piano room, the fruit and bamboo flourishing, the anthers were formed, and the scribes were recruited, and it became a place of elegant collection comparable to the Golden Valley Garden and the Orchid Pavilion. The piano room here, when it is a public piano space, is only difficult to verify.
In the poetry of the Tang and Song dynasties, the qin is an important image, including the description and interpretation of qin-related things such as the qintai and the qintang. For example, Cen Shan's "Sima Xiang Is Like a Qintai" "Like the Qintai Ancient, people go to the platform is also empty." The stage is cold and depressed, and there are still many sad winds", Luo Binwang's "Winter Passed the Late Man Appointed a Virgin's Study", "Alone on the piano stage night, for whom the flowing water plays" and so on. In Song Yi's famous "Fun Map of the Deep Hall", it can be seen that a gentleman caresses the piano in the deep hall, leaning on the railing alone, and placing a screen next to it.
Song "Deep Hall Piano Fun Map"
Song Yi's "Nine Old Figures of Huichang" and "Shangshan Sihao Huichang Nine Old Maps" depict a relatively independent piano space, built by the water, with windows on three sides, which should be a kind of building such as a water pavilion, and Zhao Xihu's "Dongtian Qinglu" said, "The room for playing the piano should not be virtual." Under the most suitable heavy building, there is a floor slab on the cover, the sound is not dispersed, and the empty space below it is transparent and the sound is consistent.
Song 《Huichang Jiulao Tu》
The Ming people inherited the Tradition of the Song Dynasty, such as Zhu Houye in the "Wind XuanXuanPin" to point out the ideal piano room, known as the Shengu. There is a terrace in front of the room, two rooms before and after the partition, and the inner room is the piano room, "all around are whitewashed, so that there is no ventilation", and the windows are used left and right outside as a place to talk with visitors. The piano room is on the pool, and the white lotus is planted in the pool, and goldfish are raised inside. Pines, bamboo, and plums are planted on the shore, and cranes and deer are tamed in between to help Qingxing.
Wen Zhenheng also proposed the location of the piano room in the "Chronicle of Long Things", preferably "under the floor, there are plates on the cover, and the sound is not dispersed." Under the emptiness, the sound is transparent." Its site selection and construction are in line with the Song people, that is, it is built by the water, and the lower part is empty.
In the illustration of the Wanli Jiyazhai engraving of the Tang Poetry Pictorial, the image shows this kind of lower overhead, wide-field piano room, accompanied by a piano table.
Tang Poetry Pictorial Notation
The construction of the piano room and the design of the piano table follow the same principle, that is, how to improve the sound effect. The sound of the guqin, loud and not loud and flowing, whispered without annihilation and not heard, is very susceptible to the influence of the surrounding environment, and is too collected.
From the "Records of Dongtian Qinglu" to the "Eight Notes of Zunsheng", and even the later generations, they deliberately emphasize the quiet and dusty environment of the piano and the choice of the piano table, and the sound is clear and harmonious, so as to cultivate the neutral atmosphere and cultivate rationality.
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The piano table, also known as the piano table in the Jiangnan region, as a special instrument for placing the piano, is indispensable for the player to interpret beautiful music, and naturally becomes a quite humanistic and elegant thing.
Dedicated piano tables have appeared in the Song Dynasty, and the earliest physical piano tables preserved so far are relics of the Ming Dynasty, which not only appeared with the "sound" that resonated with the sound of the piano, but also laid the basic regulations for the piano tables in later generations.
In order to make the piano resonate with the table and make the piano sound more melodious, the ancients often took pains to make the piano table, some with stone as the noodle, some with the speaker, and even some who placed hollow bricks on the desktop.
For example, Cao Zhao mentioned in the "Treatise on gegujiao, volume, and guqin" that "the tabletop Guo Gong brick is the best, and the agate stone, Nanyang stone, and Yongshi are especially good", from the records about the piano table, "the design of the piano table in the Ming Dynasty pays more full attention to the practical effect of the piano table while emphasizing artistry".
However, in the Qing Dynasty, especially in the middle and late Qing Dynasty, the piano table that was widely used was not specially used to play the piano, and it can be said that it is a veritable wall table. Because it is favored by the literati, it is often particularly careful in its design, paying special attention to the materials, and the production is also very fine. The owner placed it in the hall, often as a sign of elegance.
Zhao Tuo's "Listening to the Piano Diagram" depicts a kind of piano table in great detail. It is flat on all sides, with square straight legs, and the sides of the feet are connected by two firs. The table top is inlaid with a stone slab, which retains a considerable distance from the table, and is inlaid with a baffle, which is carved with an elaborate pattern of tangled flowers.
The "Dongtian Qinglu" said: "The piano table must be like a vima, and the foot of the case does not hinder people's knees." The face is 2 feet 8 inches high, and it can be kneed under the case and forward. Yi stone surface is the first. "The stone tabletop or the double-layer structure under it, when it is a specific speaker. This is the only example of this type of piano table in Song Dynasty painting.
To put it simply, the table in "Listening to the Piano Diagram" has two characteristics, one is the setting of the speaker, and the other is inlaid with stone surfaces. Both emphasize the functionality of the piano table, and it is necessary to increase the resonance of the piano and the table to achieve the purpose of amplification.
In contrast, the piano tables in the "Deep Hall Qin Fun Map", "Huichang JiulaoTu", and "Shangshan Sihao Huichang JiulaoTu" are close to the general articles, all of which are flat on all sides, square straight legs, that is, Zhao Xihu said, "Use solid wood thick as a face, and repeatedly add gray paint, but also thick." The four corners make it stronger, and it is more flat and unpretentious."
《Shangshan Sihao Huichang Jiu Lao Tu》
The piano tables of the Ming Dynasty were largely based on the Song system. On the one hand, it is the admiration of the brick and stone desktop, Wen Zhenheng's "Chronicle of Long Things" proposes to set the table with an ancient brick, "with the ancient Guo Gong bricks made in Zhengzhou, Henan, there are Fang Sheng and elephants who are dazzled, to be used as a piano platform, take the hollow sound of it", with bricks driving the piano, there is a clear sound, and it is cute. Fengcheng Jianxi also produces a kind of brick, "its sound is particularly clear".
Tu Long's "Examination Plate Yushi" also mentions a special kind of piano platform, with rosewood as the edge, "with tin as a pool, in Taichung real water storage fish, on the crystal plate as the surface, fish play with algae, as if out of the sound, rare in the world." ”
On the other hand, it is a sound box with ingenious design, which is evidenced by physical objects. For example, this huanghuali two-roll horn tooth piano table
The table is flat on all four sides, with two rolls against the corner teeth. Divided into two layers, if you are clean, it is actually designed as a resonance box, built-in copper wire spring device, to help the sound, "Ming-style Furniture Appreciation" said that it "one tap the desktop, buzzing", should be a specially made piano table.
Guan Pinghu thought that the spring was actually detrimental to the sound of the piano, and it was the work of the good deeds. Whether the Ming Dynasty has appeared in the piano table equipped with springs remains to be examined.
Chen Mengjia mentions this table in "On the Space Between The Interval", "a simple Ming Dynasty piano table is all plain, just a few slightly decorated teeth", in order to discuss the different ways in which Chinese art expresses "space between the space".
Ming Huanghuali two-volume horn tooth piano table and positive and side line diagram Chen Mengjia's old collection
However, the most common style of the piano table is similar to this huanghuali four-sided flat inward horseshoe table. All four sides are straight, the table top is edged, the single plate core, the bracket under the plate core and the left side of the tenon, and sealed with a smooth cover tip, square legs, thick and thin, the upper end of the leg and the two sides of the tooth plate are made of chic, the legs, the inner corners of the tooth plate are rounded, and the foot end is inverted horseshoe. This piece was studied by Yang Yao and written in Gustav Ike's "Chinese Pear Furniture Tu kao".
Huanghuali four-sided flat inward turning horseshoe piano table Tsinghua University Art Museum collection
Similarly, there is this yellow flower pear inlaid Nan wood overlord four-sided flat piano table. This piano table was later purchased by the Minneapolis Museum of Art in the United States, and a good Ming Dynasty guqin was purchased for this table to match its piano table mission.
The table is flat on all sides, with three bumps and shoulders for the sides and legs and feet, and four tyrants between the table wear belt and the legs and feet to strengthen the support. The horseshoe at the foot is strongly rotated.
The piano table is full of light, only smeared along the edge line, and the edge line rotates straight down along the legs and feet, ending in a powerful horse's hoof. The table top of the piano table is equipped with nan wood, the wood of nan wood is stable, the hardness is not as good as that of huanghuali, but it has a mild and moist texture, and the vibration of the guqin is absorbed with nan wood to improve the sound quality.
The most distinctive is the Wang Shixiang Tibetan Huanghualiqin case, which was reformed from the Pingtou case of the Ming Dynasty. Chuck tenon structure, case surface single plate, photontherapy knife tooth plate. The square legs and feet are swollen, the edges are ridged, and the lower end is slightly outward. The lateral feet are connected by two firs for greater stability. There is a hole at each end of the case, and the head and the tassel can hang in the hole, which is convenient for the two to sit on the piano.
The "Zizhen Collection: Li Songju Changwu Zhi" said that its restructuring came from the guidance of Guan Pinghu. As a generation of guqin masters, Guan Pinghu's thoughts on the shape of the piano table come from many years of experience in playing the piano, especially emphasizing the practicality of function, sawing off the legs by two inches and digging two holes. Its shape is consistent with the Palace Museum's Collection of Yuan's anonym title", "Lotus Pavilion Game Diagram", but the desktop is wider and the square hole is added.
The first is the appropriate size, the height is lower than the average table case, and the width is slightly wider than the same height of the flat head case, "but the piano table must be lower than the general table case, the length and width of the size of 160×60 cm is appropriate." Such a width, convenient for two people to play, especially convenient for guqin beginners to learn the piano, "teachers and students sit opposite, the two pianos are juxtaposed, the teacher's left and right finger methods, the disciple is in sight, while learning and playing, it is easy to see results, a song off the score, you can play together."
Cao Peng in the form of a conversation record in "Wang Shixiang Says Wang Shixiang", more popularly described the advantages of this piano table, "a person sitting there, a person sitting here, when learning the piano, the teacher's movements can be fully seen, so when teaching the piano, two people playing each other, especially convenient, each other's gestures can be seen very clearly, because it is very close." Therefore, this is the most ideal case for teaching and learning the piano. ”
Secondly, the table should conform to the shape and maintenance of the piano, that is, "the two large sides of the inner panel each open a rectangular hole, by allowing the head and sagging tassels." Its advantage is that the head is not outside the piano table, which can prevent the touch piano from falling to the ground", and "the opening must be framed with narrow wooden strips, and the smoothness does not hurt the head".
Wang Shixiang still emphasized this table in his later years: "Every time I see this case, I remember Mr. Guan Pinghu, the master of piano studies." A self-reform system is nothing less than a standard instrument for the special piano that has been initiated by Mr. Jing and is beneficial to the teaching of the protective violin, which can be imitated by those who come. It has given this case special meaning and value, and its importance is beyond the reach of ordinary Ming-style furniture. I said it, so I put this case at the top of the furniture category. ”
And said the special value and significance of the piano table, that is, the model of the production of the piano table, "Mr. Guan created the piano table, there is a real specimen left, I am afraid that in the future, the piano players will imitate this." ”
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The pianist, forbidden evil and righteousness, and with the heart of the people, as the representative of gagaku, the music of the saints, its essence is "lascivious, to luxury." The place of the drum and piano is suitable for the natural environment, or under the Qiao Song, Xiu Bamboo, Cave, stone chamber, the ground is in a clear place, and the piano is placed on the ground or on the leg, without the need for a piano table, such as "Linliu Fuqin Tu" and "Boya Drum Qin Tu". Or choose the high hall of the clean room, above the floor, between the guanyu, also need elegant furniture.
Wang Zhenpeng Boya Drum Qintu Collection of the Palace Museum
As the most important piano room furniture after the Song Dynasty, the piano table is the key to the drum and piano related ceremonies. However, in terms of form, it may not have matured, on the one hand, its double-layer speaker design may not be able to achieve the desired effect. On the other hand, the shape of the piano table may not have been fixed, but it has formed a relative regulation.
In Song Ming's paintings, except for the "Listening to the Qintu", there are few similar exquisitely designed piano tables. The most common is the four-sided flat case in the "Deep Hall Piano Fun Map", and sometimes it may also be used as a piano table with ordinary cases, such as the so-called "wine table" in the "Qinqi Calligraphy and Painting Map". Because of this, Guan Pinghu asked the craftsmen to reform the system with the Ming Dynasty Pingtou case.
As an important representative of Ming Dynasty furniture, the qin table explains the "inter-room" and "emptiness" of the Ming Dynasty minimalist aesthetics with its moderate beauty between the complex and simple styles, the rich and subtle sounds, the wordless words, and the philosophical considerations of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. The man of the liberal arts, the self-cultivation of the righteous heart, the qi family ruling the country and the world, the right tone of the Xian Lai qin, and the wonderful way of the piano table, are also in the middle.
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Reference: Wen Yupeng, "The Piano Room and The Piano Table in the Ming Dynasty"