Wang Dianyu, a blind artist, a folk instrumentalist, the founder of Leiqin art, and a member of the Tianjin Branch of the Chinese Vocalists Association. Wang Dianyu lived in poverty all his life. At the age of twelve, he worshipped Yu Guangwen as a teacher to learn the zither, the sanxian and the performance and singing of the qin. At the same time, under the guidance of Shi Dengyan, I learned to play the zither and pull the four strings. At the age of fourteen, he became a local opera troupe pianist, accompanies "Er Jiaxian" and "Shandong Qin Shu". At the age of eighteen, he made a living by acting alone. Since the 1920s, on the basis of the pendant, in order to enhance the performance effect, he devoted himself to the transformation of the pendant, and created a new silk-stringed instrument - "leiqin", which is praised by people. For the "Silk String Holy Hand".

Adversity breeds genius

On September 8, 1899 in the lunar calendar, Wang Dianyu was born in a poor family in Xuqiao Village, Houyanji Town, Yuncheng County. He lost his mother when he was young, and his father died soon after. At the age of 6, he suffered from smallpox, and because of lack of money for treatment, he became blind in both eyes.

His elder brother struggled to make a living and was unable to take care of his blind younger brother. He wandered the streets of nearby villages all day, begging for food. Because he is blind in both eyes, he ranks second at home, so everyone calls him "two blind man".

At the age of nine, he learned divination and fortune-telling from his apprentice Ma Yuxiu. When he was 10 years old, the second blind man aroused the mercy of a kind man. The man found a bamboo tube containing silver dollars in a Chinese medicine store, and found a small bamboo pole. He opened the bamboo tube and covered one end with mulberry paper. Two silk strings, plus two winding handles, put a dozen ponytails on the horse's tail, tied it to a rattan to make a bow, and made a simple huqin, which was given to him as a beggar. tool. Although this self-made huqin is out of tone, it is also buzzing. No matter who is in front of the house, squeaking and groaning, although it is not pleasing to the ear, it can quickly attract the attention of the host.

In the past, there were many people who kept dogs in the countryside to guard their homes. Beggars were very alert to the dogs, especially the blind, who were the most sensitive. The second blind man was very familiar with the sound of dog barking. In order to "return a tooth for a tooth", the second blind man carefully studied the sound of the dog's bite and expressed it with the low-level huqin in his hand. Slowly, he used it to pull out various barking sounds. Later, he was able to imitate the barking of several dogs at the same time, and sometimes his "barking" would frighten the dog that bit him to "run away."

Then, he used the homemade huqin to learn the sounds of roosters and cats, as well as the sounds of various insects and birds.

Soon, another kind-hearted person saw that he was using the self-made huqin to affect the performance, so he took an inferior real huqin from Jining and gave it to him. He was even more handy when he pulled it up, and he began to switch from animals to humans. The various voices of men, women, adults, and children were omnipotent. Such as: bridal whispers, quarrels between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, mother-in-law and son-in-law, Zhu Bajie carrying daughter-in-law, etc., it sounds vivid.

Later, his imitation expanded into the realm of drama. He was able to imitate so many sounds with one musical instrument to the extent that it could be real. Some people called him a "prodigy" and a "genius". He became a famous folk artist in Yuncheng County, and people began to look at him with admiration.

Breaking into the far-flung fame

In 1928, the National Revolutionary Army recovered Yuncheng, and the revolutionary Zhang Ruihuang was ordered to go to Jining on business. However, there were several enemy barriers between Yuncheng and Jining. How to successfully pass these barriers became a difficult problem for Zhang. He suddenly remembered the "Er Blind Man" from his hometown, why didn't he disguise himself as a singing folk artist and go with the "Er Blind Man". So, the two blind men came to Jining with Zhang Ruihuang.

Jining is close to the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. It is a large wharf and very prosperous. If you want to hang around in a big place, it's not good to shout "two blind men" all the time. You must have an official stage name so that you can put up posters for publicity. After some thought, Zhang Ruihuang named him Wang Dianyu.

After Wang Dianyu's first performance in Jining, his reputation rose. One pass ten, ten pass one hundred, Wang Dianyu became famous. Soon, he became a star in Jining's entertainment industry.

In the second year, Wang Dianyu was invited to perform in Jinan. He was also welcomed by people in Jinan, and various newspapers wrote articles one after another. He was known as "the master of silk strings", "a rare genius and a rare stunt". At one time, many people in Jinan used to see Wang Dianyu's performance as a show of capital.

Wang Dianyu's superb skills spread to the ears of the person in charge of Tianjin Radio Station, who repeatedly invited Wang Dianyu to record the program. Wang Dianyu went north to Tianjin. After one broadcast, Wang Dianyu's wonderful hand piano sound was immediately transmitted to the ears of listeners all over the country through radio waves, and Wang Dianyu's voice soon shook the whole country.

During his stay in Tianjin, Wang Dianyu saw that people in big cities especially liked Peking Opera, so in addition to performing on stage, Wang Dianyu began to study Peking Opera carefully. It didn't take long for the singing charm of the four famous dancers, Mei Lanfang, Cheng Yanqiu, Shang Xiaoyun, and Xun Huisheng. What is even more commendable is that even the full set of musical instruments in the Wenwuchang are imitated so hard to tell the difference between the real and the fake.

Wang Dianyu was invited to perform in an endless stream from all over the country. His superb acting skills and noble medical ethics have won more audiences. His footsteps spanned from the three eastern provinces to Guangzhou and Hong Kong in the north, Nanjing and Shanghai in the east, Chongqing and Guilin in the west, and performed all over China. Along the way, I learned Fengyang Huagu, Yangzhou Minor, Suzhou Tanci, Cantonese Music, Yue Opera, Han Opera and other arias, as well as Chinese and foreign musical operas such as Beethoven Symphony and Western Bugle.

With the improvement of his skills and the spread of his reputation, Wang Dianyu's living conditions have gradually undergone earth-shaking changes. He is married, has an apprentice, is equipped with an agent, and has a car to go in and out.

Innovation creates stunt

Wang Dianyu can imitate a variety of sounds, but he deeply understands the truth that "more and more" is not as good as "less and fine". From the 1920s, he began to focus on "pulling drama".

Initially, he used the huqin to play some folk songs and local opera. However, in practice, it was found that due to the defects of the huqin's own structure, he could not express himself to the fullest. In order to better express the content of music, imitate various sounds more realistically, and give full play to his imagination, he tried to reform the huqin.

He repeatedly groped and adjusted in the dark. It didn't work again and again. Sometimes, for a small detail, the improvement of hundreds of times was not ideal, but he was not discouraged or discouraged. After continuous improvement and practice, in the end, he lengthened the shaft of the huqin, enlarged the barrel, and covered the barrel with python skin of appropriate thickness. In this way, a new type of stringed instrument with a louder volume, wider range and more beautiful timbre than the huqin was born in the hands of this blind man with no culture. It can not only play solo, ensemble and ensemble, but also simulate human voice and opera singing. At the same time, it can fully express the chirping of various animals and the sound of sheng, guan, suona, Jinghu, erhu, gong, drum and other orchestral and percussion instruments. sound effects. At the same time, he has gradually perfected a whole new set of playing methods corresponding to this. In 1953, Wang Dianyujing negotiated with Zhao Yuzhai, Han Fengtian, Song Dongan and other disciples, and officially named this musical instrument "Leiqin". It means that it belongs to the "Qin family", with a loud voice, just like Lei Zhen.

Wang Dianyu is not only unique in the performance of the Leiqin, but also inherits the tradition and innovates in the playing of the zheng, and is regarded as the representative of the Shandong zheng school.

After he became famous, he insisted on studying hard. Everywhere he went, he would let people lead them to the bookstore. As long as he found a new music book, he would buy it without hesitation. When he came back home, he let people read it to himself slowly. The blind man, who had never seen a word, was so eloquent when he talked about music theory knowledge, and even some experts and scholars were full of admiration. After the founding of New China, Tianjin Conservatory of Music and other colleges and universities have hired him to teach and hold lectures many times.

In 1951, Wang Dianyu joined Tianjin "Hongfeng Quyi Society", and in 1953 won the Outstanding Performance Award of the First National Folk Music and Dance Show. In the same year, he was transferred to Tianjin Quyi Work Troupe.

On November 28, 1964, Wang Dianyu died of illness in Tianjin.