Lin Shicheng, a native of Nanhui, Jiangsu Province, is a pipa player. After 1956, he served as a professor at the Central Conservatory of Music. Author of "Pipa playing method". Senior Professor of Central Conservatory of Music, President of Pipa Research Association.

character experience

At an early age, he learned ethnic musical instruments from his father. Inherited the "Yangzhengxuan Pipa Score" and inherited the pipa playing skills of the Pudong School. Graduated from the Chinese Medical College in 1941, and then practiced medicine in Shanghai. After 1956, he served as a professor at the Central Conservatory of Music. He is the author of "Pipa Playing Method", and compiled "Pipa Music Score" and "Pipa Teaching Method". The founder of folk music education in New China, an outstanding folk music educator and theorist, a famous pipa performer, arranger and composer, the sixth-generation master of the Chinese Pipa "Pudong School", a senior professor at the Central Conservatory of Music, and the Chinese Musicians Association Member of Performing Arts Committee, Member of National Music Committee, President of Pipa Research Association

Mr. Lin Shicheng passed away in Beijing at 16:20 pm on December 6, 2005, at the age of 83.

Step into the music scene

Mr. Lin Shicheng was born on March 3, 1922 in a family of traditional Chinese medicine practitioners in Xixiang, Hengmian Town, Nanhui County, Shanghai. He is also a family of musicians proficient in pipa performance. At the age of 6, he began to learn to play pipa, erhu, sanxian, dulcimer, jinghu, xiao and other musical instruments with his father. At the age of 12, he was familiar with and recited the famous traditional eight-person song of Jiangnan Sizhu. Song", "Slow Three Six" and other music. In 1941, after Mr. Lin Shicheng graduated from the Shanghai Chinese Medical College, Mr. Shen Haochu, the fifth-generation master of the "Pudong School" of Pipa, accepted him as his only disciple. . At the same time, under the encouragement of Master Shen, he successively studied with Mr. Wu Mengfei of the "Pinghu School", Mr. Fan Shaoyun of the "Chongming School", and Mr. Wang Yuting of the "Wang School".

In the 1940s, Mr. Lin Shicheng was already a famous pipa player in the south of the Yangtze River. He was the consultant or music director of the "Spring and Autumn Collection Chinese Music Club", "Shanghai Chinese Music Research Association", and the Chinese Orchestra of Shanghai First Medical College. He was on the radio every weekend. Play live. In the early days of Shanghai's liberation, he performed "Student Exercise" created by him at the inaugural meeting of the Shanghai Federation of Trade Unions, which was a sensation. In 1948, he adapted "The Competition between Mother-in-law and Daughter-in-law" and "Autumn Thoughts", and began to compose pipa music. Many young students came to seek art. Ye Xuran, Liu Dehai, Li Guohun and others were the first batch of students.

turn music

At that time, Mr. Lin Shicheng was already a famous doctor in Shanghai. He was well-versed in traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine, and was good at treating many intractable diseases, especially in the treatment of gynecological infertility. Celebrities such as Fu Lei and Liu Haisu have been looking for him to see a doctor for many years. He has a good income and a well-off family. But Mr. Lin Shicheng said, "There are thousands of good doctors, and I am the only descendant of Master Shen, and I cannot let the Pudong faction be cut off from me." In 1956, the Central Conservatory of Music hired him to teach in the north. He resolutely closed his own clinic. Since then, he has dedicated his entire life and whole body and mind to the pipa and to the cause of Chinese folk music education.

After arriving at the Central Conservatory of Music, Mr. Lin Shicheng was one of the only 4 folk music teachers and the only pipa teacher at that time. He alone took up all the pipa teaching work in the college, middle school, and attached primary school, and compiled "Common Sense of Gongchi Score". Various teaching materials such as "Pipa Playing Method" and "Pipa Music Score". In order to enrich the pipa teaching materials, he diligently studied folk music from all over the world and adapted them into pipa performance scores. He has collected and compiled nearly 100 folk songs such as "Drip Water and Swing Lotus", "Fisher's Music" and "Water Lotus". The first person who systematically compiled the teaching materials of Pipa teaching colleges.

Integrate genres

In his "Pipa Playing Method" published in 1958, Mr. Lin Shicheng first objectively introduced the other 8 unknown pipa schools from the perspective of pipa studies, except for the four major pipa schools of Wuxi, Pinghu, Chongming and Pudong, which are different from 12 schools. The style of pipa notation also named the group of performers based on Wang Yuting's notation as the "Wang School" for the first time. It is still in use today, and he was the first person to systematically summarize and study the traditional pipa school system in New China.

Mr. Lin Shicheng organized the scores, compiled new sounds, unified the notation method, and organized the Gongqi notation and the simplified notation into the stave. He wrote 150 basic etudes for 12 key signatures suitable for pipa playing based on Western music, and at the same time tried western composition techniques to write pipa scores such as "Colorful Clouds Chasing the Moon" and "Bright Walk", and created "Song of the Haihe". He was the first person in New China to promote the integration of Pipa art and Western music.

Mr. Lin Shicheng is committed to improving the level of pipa production and formulating unified production styles and standards. He believes that the production of national musical instruments should be completed by the performers and instrument makers. He has profound theoretical accomplishment and rich practical experience in this area. He wrote the book "Pipa Making" (in cooperation with Gao Zhanchun), and is the leading authority in the country to identify Pipa making skills.

In 1958, Mr. Lin Shicheng opened the Jiangnan Sizhu Ensemble class according to the decision of the Central Conservatory of Music. Since he is proficient in the performance of various musical instruments such as pipa, erhu, sanxian, dulcimer, Jinghu, and Xiao, he is very handy in teaching. He has compiled more than ten kinds of Jiangnan silk and bamboo music for each instrument, and is the first person to teach Chinese national instrumental ensemble.

train students

In addition to Ye Xuran, Liu Dehai, and Li Guohun, he also trained students such as Kuang Yuzhong, Chen Zemin, Wu Junsheng, Cheng Junming, Pan Yabo, Li Wenying, Xu Zhengying, Wu Baojuan, etc., who later became the backbone of the new Chinese pipa art career. Without Mr. Lin Shicheng, who continued to learn from the past, the Chinese pipa art career would have been a different situation.

At the end of the 1950s, Mr. Lin Shicheng had already planned a relatively systematic and complete blueprint for the development of the Chinese pipa and even the national vocal art. He should have entered the heyday of his career when he was young and strong, but with the deterioration of the country's political situation, his career has endured severe life has gone through trials and tribulations. In 1960, he was suspended from his post for so-called historical issues and left his teaching post. In 1963, his family moved back to Shanghai, and his life became increasingly difficult. In order to maintain a living, Mrs. Zhu Qihua took 3 daughters and a son, moved cabbage, sold sweet potatoes, swept the streets, brushed toilets, and sold popsicles. When it was really difficult to help, Zhu Qihua also sold blood many times. In such hardships and poverty, Mr. Lin Shicheng never gave up the pursuit of national vocal art, endured the pain of arthritis in extreme poverty, and compiled the "Yangzheng Xuan" by his master, Mr. Shen Haochu, on extremely poor paper. "Pipa Spectrum", through hardships to promote the publication of this book, and all the royalties earned was given to Mr. Shen's widow.

Arranging ancient music and reforming teaching materials

During the "Cultural Revolution", under extremely difficult conditions, Mr. Lin Shicheng organized and recorded the performance scores of traditional music such as "Yangzhengxuan Pipa Score", "Ju Shilin's Pipa Score" and "Chen Zijing's Pipa Score", and carried out an irreplaceable rescue. Work. He wrote the first drafts of "Chinese Music Form", "Pipa Teaching Method", "Pipa Etude", etc. He wrote or transplanted "Sanliu", "Dance of Youth", "Su Wu Shepherd", "Shandan Dan Blossoms Red and Bright", dance drama "Red Detachment of Women" "Selection of "The White-Haired Girl", etc. He also taught at Guangzhou Conservatory of Music, Sichuan Conservatory of Music, Shanghai Conservatory of Music and other institutions. Until 1979, he returned to teach at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing.

After returning to the school to teach, Mr. Lin Shicheng has trained Lin Jiaqing, Zhou Lijuan, Hao Yifan, Qu Wenjun, Zhang Hongyan and other students at home and abroad, all over the world. He has compiled and published various works such as "Thirty Lessons on Pipa", "Pipa Teaching Method", "Noisy Talks-Professor Lin Shicheng's Pipa Essays", published dozens of papers, and recorded "Si Chun", "Jiangnan Silk Bamboo", "Pipa" There are dozens of recordings and audio-visual teaching materials such as the No. In 1987, in the first Jiangnan Silk and Bamboo Competition at home and abroad, the silk and bamboo group of the Central Conservatory of Music under his guidance won 5 championships. In 1992, in the 2nd Jiangnan Sizhu Competition at home and abroad, the Sizhu group of the Central Conservatory of Music under his guidance won the first prize in the performance award.

Mr. Lin Shicheng, who has passed his sixtieth year, has not lost his pipa performance skills at all, and has become more proficient. Beginning in 1982, he has performed many times in Wuhan Southern Film Expert Demonstration Concert, Jinan Northern Film Expert Demonstration Concert, Hong Kong Chinese Music Festival, Shenzhou Arts Festival, Taiwan Special, European Community Tour, and Singapore Chinese Music Festival. He has performed many times in the United States, Japan and other places. At the age of 80, he also participated in the 1998 Beijing Concert Hall's "Viewing Your Love" concert, the 2001 Shanghai Peach Blossom Festival concert, and the 2001 Ningbo China Pipa Competition Closing Ceremony, which was praised at home and abroad. After falling ill in the spring of 2003, his right hand was paralyzed for a time. He carried out rehabilitation exercises with unimaginable tenacity and perseverance, and resumed his performance. Later, he performed in Taiwan, which was also a complete success. Life goes on and on and on. In his words, "If I can't play the piano, I'd die!" Mr. Lin Shicheng has won the China Music Golden Bell Award Lifetime Medal of Honor and the National Teaching Achievement Award, and has also won the "Excellent Teacher" for many times. , "Gardener Award", "Certificate of Commendation", "Honor Award", "Advanced Teaching and Educating People", "Culture Promotion Award", "Contribution Award for Fifty Years of Active Contribution", "Outstanding Contribution Award", etc., enjoyed since 1991 The first batch of "special government allowances" issued by the State Council.

Mr. Lin Shicheng is also employed as an invited researcher of the Music Research Institute of the China Association for the Study of Elderly People, director of the China Nanyin Society, Shanghai National Musical Instrument No. 1 Factory, Beijing National Musical Instrument Factory, Zhuhai Jinsheng Musical Instrument Factory, Kaifeng Zhongyuan National Musical Instrument Co., Ltd. Consultant of the Chinese Orchestra, consultant of Zhejiang Jiangnan Sizhu Society.

Enterprising spirit

In many years of teaching practice, Mr. Lin Shicheng regards tradition as a treasure, and regards the inheritance of teachers as the foundation. He spares no effort in collecting and sorting out traditional pipa music scores, especially emphasizing "original flavors", and resolutely opposes the bad atmosphere of arbitrarily changing scores. In his teaching, he has comprehensively considered the Pipa school, and has broken through the limitations of each school. Mr. Liu Dehai once said with emotion that it was Master Lin's comprehensive and good teaching that allowed him to gradually step into the door of Pipa. Mr. Lin Shicheng is a leading figure in making pipa art and national vocal music truly go to the world, and also the founder of the silk and bamboo ensemble.

Mr. Lin Shicheng has both superb performance skills, extensive artistic accomplishment and traditional cultural accomplishment, comprehensive subject theoretical knowledge, meticulous and rigorous style of study, and noble character, extraordinary affinity, appeal, and ocean-like broad mind. The spiritual realm of bearing humiliation without taking fame and fortune.

Mr. Lin Shicheng loves life like a son, and is tireless in teaching others. He is usually taciturn, but he never tires of teaching students. Even when he is old, he will personally demonstrate any small mistakes of the students and prepare musical instruments for the students' performances. For his son, Lin Jiaqing, he rarely tutors him. He always says, "You listen to it every day, and use me to teach you lessons in person?" The students also loved and respected him immensely. In difficult years, when Mr. Ye Xuran studied with him, he did not charge any fees. Mr. Ye Xuran queued up late at night in the cold winter to buy a packet of peanuts for the teacher as a reward. The strong friendship between teachers and students is really better than father and son.

Mr. Lin Shicheng devoted his whole life to creating a Chinese national vocal music system that is different from the Western music system, and proposed the aesthetic concept of the "Great Chinese Pipa School", taking it as the goal of his life's pursuit and struggle. His passing has made the Chinese pipa art lose a master, the Chinese national vocal music art has lost a generation of masters, and the Chinese national vocal music teaching cause has lost a leading figure, which is regrettable and sad! But what is gratifying is that throughout his life, he has fulfilled the oath made by Mr. Shen Haochu when he died, and carried forward the Chinese pipa art and Chinese national vocal music. At the same time, the Chinese national vocal music education has formed a relatively complete teaching system. , his students are talented and charming, and there are successors in his career!