Wu Zhaoji (1908-1997), courtesy name Xiangquan, male, was born in a musical family in Hanshou County on the west coast of Dongting Lake with beautiful scenery, and grew up in the Taihu Lake resort in the south of the Yangtze River. Guqin player, member of Chinese Musicians Association.

character experience

Wu Zhaoji was originally from Wuxi. From the genealogy of the Wu clan of Hanshou, the ancestor of the family, Duke Shunyang, and his younger brother, Duke Chuyang, will move to Wuli of Hunan Hanshou from Taiping Street in Wuxi tomorrow. In the late Ming Dynasty, the situation in the south of the Yangtze River was chaotic, and Hanshou was located in the interior, and the environment might be relatively stable. Perhaps Hanshou was also one of Shunyang’s previous business destinations, and it was located on the shore of Dongting Lake, which is similar to the geographical environment of Wuxi on the shore of Taihu Lake. Therefore, Duke Shunyang finally lived here. The genealogy of the Hanshou Wu clan was drafted in the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty, officially completed in the eleventh year of Guangxu, and rebuilt in the sixth year of the Republic of China. It has been ten generations from Duke Shunyang to Mr. Wu Lansun, but Mr. Lansun's memory of his ancestral home in the south of the Yangtze River will certainly not be erased.

In the spring of 1912, Wu Zhaoji and his family settled in Suzhou, a famous cultural city with a history of more than 2,500 years in China. Wu Lansun, the father of Wu Zhaoji, was well versed in the art of qin and originated from the Lingnan School. Due to his long-term belief in Suzhou, his style has gradually approached the Su School.

In 1920, Wu Zhaoji learned the piano from his father Wu Lansun, and then from Wu Bianyang. Wu Bipyang was originally from Sichuan, but he left Sichuan and traveled between Suzhou, Shanghai and Hangzhou after being weak. Therefore, Wu Zhaoji's style integrates the strengths of Sichuan and Shu, the style of the piano is unrestrained and elegant, simple and ancient.

Wu Zhaoji has formed his own unique style after contemplating and studying the art of piano for a long time. His performance tends to be traditional and gentle. Although he plays with steel strings, he retains the gentle, thick and mellow charm of the strings. As he himself said: "When describing turbulent and high-spirited tunes, calm techniques are often used; when describing beautiful scenery and tender and thoughtful tunes, smooth and delicate techniques are used. No distinction is made, there is a lot of trembling everywhere, and even gimmicks are used to attract publicity. In terms of sound selection, more light, slow, and tranquil methods are used, and speed is not pursued, and exaggeration of strength is avoided.

Master Wu is a loyal elder with a profound understanding of Chinese traditional culture. Like many intellectuals in the past, he does not seem to pay too much attention to technique when playing the piano, but pays more attention to Dao and Qi, to artistic conception, taste and charm. The flames of wind, poetry and qigong in a pure green furnace are also the crystallization of his artistic accomplishment after accumulating to a near saturation point and sublimated by the objective environment.

artistic influence

As we all know, Cai Yong, a master of qin learning in the Han Dynasty, once "descended to live in the river and sea, and travelled to the Wuhui" in Wudi for more than ten years. Gu Yong, the prime minister of Wu State, was one of his disciples. The famous "Jiaowei Qin" is a folk story that happened in Wuzhong at that time. If it was traced back to the Spring and Autumn Period, Yanzi from the South of the Seventy-two Sages of Confucius had been in Wudi for a long time to "reform the vulgarity", using the qin instead of the language to teach the people with music. Today in Changshu, Suzhou, there are still relics such as the tomb of Yanzi. From the perspective of dialect phonology, the range of Wu language family in history is not limited to the vicinity of Suzhou today, but roughly in the area of Taihu Lake, spanning the four provinces and cities of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui and Shanghai today. Wu Sheng is closely related to Wu language. The Taihu Lake Water Town has nurtured the language and singing of the local people, with the characteristics of softness and gracefulness. Naturally, it has also profoundly affected the style of the Wu style guqin. Zhao Yeli, a master of qin learning in the early Tang Dynasty, compared and summarized the styles of the two schools of Wu and Shu, saying, "Wu's sound is clear and gentle, like the Yangtze River, which stretches slowly and slowly, and has the style of a national scholar." He left a famous saying throughout the ages.

Since the Tang Dynasty, there have been many talents of the Wu School, and there have been many masters of qin learning. In the Song and Yuan Dynasties, there were Gusu Zhu Changwen, two Zhejiang Guo Chuwang, Mao Minzhong, Wang Yuanliang, etc. In the Ming Dynasty, there were four Ming Xu Hezhong, Songjiang Liu Hong, Gusu Zhang Yongzhen, Lou Dong Chen Aitong, etc. , Xu Qingshan, Changshu Yan Tianchi, etc. From the point of view of genres, the Wu School will differentiate, evolve, and sometimes return in various eras. For example, the Zhejiang School (not limited to Zhejiang) appeared in the Southern Song Dynasty, and the Jiang Cao (Songjiang School) and the Zhejiang Cao appeared in the Ming Dynasty, which can be regarded as the variant branches of the Wu School in the Pan-Taihu Basin during that period. Especially the Xumen of Zhejiang Cao, whose piano style is comfortable and clear, reflects the Wu style of qin, and has a certain origin with the Yushan school that rose later. Xu Xiaoshan, the grandson of Xu Tianmin of the Zhejiang school, once taught in Changshu, and has far-reaching influence.

Origin of Wu School

In the late Ming Dynasty, Yan Tianchi raised his arms and shouted, resisting the unhealthy trend in the qin world, creating the Yushan School, and pushing the Wu School qin study to a new stage. Jiang Wenxun, a qin master in Wuzhong in the Qing Dynasty, commented: "The Wu School was later divided into two parts, called Yushan and Guangling." These two branches are full of talents and have a wide range of qin scores. Jiang's further commented: In the Qing Dynasty, the ethos of the Wu school in the qin world has not diminished, and many schools of Wu school have been passed down. From the end of the Qing Dynasty to the 1930s, the Shu School (that is, the Yushan School) became more popular. This grand occasion can be seen from the inquiries of Qin people in Jinyu Qin magazine. At that time, not only the people of Wudiqin were familiar with the school, but some famous masters from Hunan and Shu also "send to imitate Yushan". The purpose of Jinyu Qin Society is to call for the reopening of Yushan Qinfeng. As mentioned above, the Wu faction is the forerunner of the Yushan faction, and the familiar faction is naturally the follow-up voice of the Wu faction; or as Jiang said, Yushan is a branch of the Wu faction in the Ming and Qing dynasties. Today, people who are good at the qin in the village market only know the mountains of Yu and do not hear the sound of Wu, which is excusable. The problem is that some famous people only talk about Yushan, but do not mention Wu faction. If this misleading spread of history cuts off, what is the benefit of the Guqin heritage?

The Guangling faction that rose in the mid-Qing Dynasty was another branch of the Wu faction according to Jiang's words. In the qin world, it is usually said that Guangling originated from Yushan, and was derived from Zhucheng, which regenerated Mei'an. Either way, it can be considered that the Guangling School was a branch of the Wu School in the Qing Dynasty, and it was a faction of its own. In modern times, the Wu School has evolved into the Yushan Wu School and the Wumen Qin School. As we all know, Guqin masters Wu Jinglue and Wu Zhaoji are the representatives of these two schools. As early as the early days of Jinyu, the two predecessors, Wu Lansun and Wu Bianyang, have gradually developed the style of the Wu family while inheriting the Wu School and Shu School. In the hands of Master Wu Zhaoji, it has been further carried forward and praised as "Wumen Qin Yun" by piano people at home and abroad.

Looking at the Wu School from the pedigree of qin theory, there is Cai Yong's "Qin Cao" in the Eastern Han Dynasty, which has been lost for a long time. The ones that can be checked today are Zhu Changwen's "Qin History" in the Song Dynasty, and Wang Zhi's "Xilutang Qintong" in the Ming Dynasty. Yan's "Songxianguan Piano Score", Xu's "Dahuange Piano Score" and "Xishan Qinguang", Yin's "Huiyan Secret Purpose", and the earlier "Wugang Piano Score", "The True Story of Qin Pu" and even the two scores of "Xingzhuang Taiyin", and the later "Zangchunwu Qin Pu" can be said to be the forerunners of the Yushan School genealogy. In the Qing Dynasty, there are Wang Shanwu's "Lexian Qin Pu", Xu Changyu's "Chengjiantang Qin Pu", Wang Jianxin's "Deyintang Qin Pu", Xu Dasheng's "Wuzhizhai Qin Pu" and Su Qinshan's "Qin Pu". Chuncaotang Piano Score" and so on. Rather than saying that these scores belong to the Wu school, it is more appropriate to say that the editors of these scores and their qin studies mostly advocate the Wu school.

Wu Pai Qinfeng

The most important feature of Wu Paiqin is the literati qin, which is different from the Yuefu qin that was popular in the court in the early days and the performance qin that was popular in restaurants and teahouses in the later period. As stated in the eight chapters of Guqin in "Chun Caotang Qin Pu", the literati qin has a unique flavor of Confucianism and Mountain Forest. Just as Zhao Yeli summed up the characteristics of the Wu style qin style, it is clear and peaceful, with extraordinary bearing. Comparable to the broad flow of the Yangtze River, it is different from the rapids in the upper plateau canyons. After thousands of years, the style of the Wu style of the piano has remained the same as before.

The Yushan School revitalized the qin way, and did not make any changes to the Wu style, but it was more specific and highlighted the core of the qin style. In the words of Xue Xu in "Songxianguan Piano Score": "It's Puer, its kind of peaceful and mysterious interpretation, there is in and out, there is nothing, it is clear to the gods, and it exists in people. Dao Che) drinks people to be harmonious, and when people meet them, they don’t feel restless, calm, extravagant, and forget their minds.” Also read the quotation from Feng Fujing in Song Xian Guan Qin Pu, which clarifies that Yan’s purpose of revitalizing Qin Dao is “ To be peaceful and indifferent is like the ancient self-cultivation and rationality, but the opposite of naive people." From the preface and quotations, it can be seen that the core of the Yushan style of piano style is the word "harmony". Descendants commented that the Yushan School was "modern and peaceful, and Qingwei far away", which is exactly the characteristics of the Wu School of Qin. Qingshan Qin Pu (later published as "Da Huan Ge Qin Pu") put forward twenty-four situations, which have made important achievements in the aesthetics of Guqin. However, all changes are inseparable from their roots, and they have not departed from the foundation of the Wu and Yushan schools. How can you see it? Try to see the first condition of Xishan Qinguang is "harmony", that is to say, peace and generosity are always the fundamental and the core. "Harmony", "Quiet", "Qing", "Far", "Ancient", "Dan", "Tian" and "Easy" are completely the same as "Wu's voice is clear and graceful, the style of a countryman", and "Wu" It is consistent with the principle of being upright and peaceful, while being clear and delicate, and there is no difference. However, the twenty-four situations have supplemented and elaborated in some aspects. Therefore, there are eight conditions of “beautiful”, “bright”, “cai”, “macro”, “slippery”, “healthy”, “heavy”, and “speedy”, which is to promote the variety of exercise and performance. In order to avoid the miscalculation and biased use of fingers, the eight conditions of "elegant", "clean", "running", "garden", "hard", "fine", "light", and "late" are added. Contrast, adjust and balance. Regarding the status and connection of Yan and Xu in qinology, it seems that the benevolent sees benevolence, and the wise sees wisdom. The author thinks that, rather than saying that Xishan Qinguang makes the style of Yushan School more comprehensive, complete and systematic, it is better to say that it makes the style of Yushan School richer and more diverse. The ancients said, "Tianchi is made before, and Qingshan describes it later." This comment is very pertinent. After all, Yan and Xu Yimai jointly advocated the way of the piano, so there is no need to be meticulous. A gentleman is different. The style of a qin school is not static, and it is normal that some changes will occur among the representative qin players of different periods. Invariance and change are relative terms, and the commonality of the genre and the personality of the musicians are unified in the general direction.

Related works

According to statistical analysis, there are nine qin pieces in "Songxianguan Qinpu" that may be derived from "Xilutang Qintong". This shows that the relationship between the two spectrums is unusual. The "Xilutang Qintong" compiled by Sheren Wang Zhi was published in the twenty-eighth year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty (1549), containing one hundred and seventy songs (including thirty-two tunes), which is an extensive collection of previous generations. Home, comprehensive large-scale piano scores of various tunes. The editor of "Qin Tong" lived in the Wu language system area for a long time and has been nurtured for a long time. It is natural that his style of piano was influenced by the Wu school. The inclination towards literati qin pieces of the Confucian school and Shanlin school is very obvious in Qin Tong, which is consistent with the characteristics of the Wu school literati qin. In the excavation of some tablatures in the author's statistical analysis, it can be seen that there are nearly 100 qin pieces rich in Confucian ideology and culture in "Qin Tong", and there are more than 20 pieces of qin pieces rich in Lao Zhuang Taoist ideology and culture.

This is rarely seen in other piano scores, such as "Caizhen Tour", "Far Travel", "Xiao Yao You", "Kongtong Asking", "Yao Tian Sheng He" and other qin songs rich in Taoist culture , only found in "Xilutang Qintong". Such as "Song of Xiu Si", "Bad of Kangqu", "Chonghe Song", "Taniguchi Yin", "Daguan Song", "Liu Shang", "Glue Paint Song", "Recalling Yan Hui", "Apricot Sandalwood", "Qing Night Song", "Jiang Yue Bai", "Night View of the Spring River", "One Leaf Knows Autumn", "Plum Shaoyue", "The Resentment of Cangwu", "Hui Tong Yin", "Autumn Thoughts in Dongting", "Spring Xiao Yin", "Cangwu Resentment" "Enai", "Han Festival Exercise", "Song Yu's Sad Autumn", "Retro", "Lishan Song", "Han Palace Autumn" are the first times to appear in the qin score seen in the Ming Dynasty, and many of them It was later quoted in "Songxianguan Piano Score", and there are also many qin pieces that describe the natural scenery and humanistic features of Wuyu water town, such as "Xiu Si Yin", "Liu Shang", "Jiang Yue Bai", "Night View of the Spring River" , "Dongting Autumn Thoughts", "Enai" and other songs, which specifically reflect the style of the Wu style.

Introduction to piano

The use of some left-fingering techniques in Qin Tong is particularly emphasized, such as tactful rhythms such as Yuanzhu, Feiyin, Changyao, Slowyao, Reciprocation and Concealment. For example, in "Zhuang Zhou's Dream of Butterfly" and "Kongtong Questions", there are as many as seven or eight Fei Yin, which is very rare in other piano scores. Paying attention to the use of these fingerings is very compatible with the euphemism and softness of the Wu dialect of "Wu Sheng Qing Wan", and it is likely that it was adopted to express Wu Sheng. These fingerings can also be seen in later piano scores such as "The Secret Purpose of Huiyan" and "Da Huan Ge". This is another proof why the author listed "Xilutang Qintong" as the early genealogy of the Wu School.

With the passage of time, the genre of guqin will evolve and mutate, and the style of the guqin will continue to change, and at the same time there will be some kind of return. This evolution or return is embodied in the qin pieces, scores and personalities of the qin players. For example, the Guangling School retains the peaceful and elegant style of the Wu School (Yushan School), and at the same time, it uses lively fingers and beautiful sounds. At the same time, it also retains the Yushan school qin piece "Good Night" and so on. This is a more typical piano school evolution. In the process of taking over the Yushan School, the modern Wumen Qin School advocated the return of the Wu School Qin style. From Wu Lansun, Wu Bianyang to Wu Zhaoji, the Wu family has gathered together and reopened the contemporary literati qin style, forming a unique Wu family qin rhyme.

Wumen Qin Yun

Try to analyze the characteristics of Wumen Qin Yun from the following aspects

First of all, Wumen returned to the Wu school of literati qin, and practiced, taught, learned, listened to, and discussed the qin at the Taoist level. It is completely different from a wave of playing the piano that started in the middle and late 20th century. In particular, the inheritance of Wumen's qin learning is carried out in a traditional way. Basically not influenced by Western music system. Therefore, the inheritance line of Wumen is still relatively clear to the third and fourth generations today, and the descendants of Wumen should be qin masters who follow the characteristics of this school.

I often hear Qin friends say that the rhyme of Wumen's qin wins by quietness, the rhythm is vivid and smooth, and it is a simple sound that comes from the depths of the heart (rather than the surface) and can reach far away. This evaluation is in line with the true nature of Wu Sect and is very pertinent. My teacher, Mr. Wu Zhaoji, has a dignified and quiet appearance, simple and quiet gestures, small movements, neat and neat, and no slack. He is calm and calm, good at regulating Qi and exerting strength. This is the second.

Wu Shiqin

Wu Men's right finger movement range is small, the string is firm, and the sound is quiet and rich. When wiping, hooking, hitting, and supporting, all fingers are on the string and playing; when picking, picking, picking, and opening, all fingers are close to the string; when doing double-flicking, picking off Ruyi, wheel and other fingerings, the fingers are light and quick, and the sound is clear and clear. ; When plucking, rolling and brushing, they are all close to the string and emit lightly and obliquely, without heavy turbid sound. Such as "Xiaoxiang" and "Scratching the Head", there are many such techniques. When it comes to squatting, Wumen's technique is particularly light, without the sound of the violin, which is quite distinctive. After playing a fingering, that is, a finger rests on a certain string, including big and small pinch, plucking, rolling, etc., according to this rule, so that the finger does not leave the string. The lower finger of the right hand enters the strings deeply, and the sound is mellow. The fingers are naturally stretched and stretched without bending, forming an angle with the piano surface. According to what the ancients said, Master Wu must adjust the air when playing the qin. He is good at fingering and exerting his strength in an instant. From the outside, it seems that the movements are small and weak. In fact, the force is stored in the body, and the breath permeates the arms and wrists to reach the fingers, touches the strings in an instant, and the effective energy is concentrated and emitted, and the sound under the finger has a long-lasting inner quality. This is the so-called mind-dharma guidance technique, which is different from waving the strings in large movements with gestures, the energy is not concentrated, the proportion of effective energy is small, and the sound is externally divergent. This is the third.

The main feature of Wumen's left-hand finger movement is that the wrist and arm carry the hand and penetrate the qi to the fingers. There are unique processing and effects on some left fingering methods, this is the fourth. Such as Chuo, Note. Master Wu's chuoji are all small chuo, and it takes about 2 to 3 minutes to play the strings quickly to take the sound. There are very few Dachuos with a score of 4~5 points or more, and he is especially opposed to Dachuos who are used to dragging and long. student when such a situation occurs, he must criticize and correct it. His phonetic syllables are one of the most characteristic features of Wumen Qin Yun. Usually it is 5~6 points or as many as one emblem on the standard position, and it is fast and far away, and when it is close to the standard position, the string is sounded. Master Wu's phonetic sound is clear and full of cells, ethereal and detached. There are notes everywhere in his qin music, especially in "Remembering the Old Man", "Scratching the Head and Asking the Sky" and other songs, the use of notes has received extraordinary effects. This technique of betting is also used when smearing or tickling, and it is also necessary to avoid the kind of long betting. For beginners to learn Wu Sect, Chuo and Note are an important lesson. If you can master this basic skill, you can be regarded as a beginner.

Master Wu's Fingering

Another feature of Master Wu's left fingering is that the chanting and snoring are not exposed, and the rhythm is continuous. In his Caoman's qin pieces, there are very few Dayin and Dayu. Even if there is Dayin Dayu in the original score, it is not obvious to compose it, but the rhythm continues under the finger. In his "Fisherman's Song", This kind of chanting is often seen in the songs of "Xiaoxiang" and "Yangchun". It can be said that it is difficult to learn these techniques from Mr., because it is not just a matter of technique, but a natural ability to exert one's skills in a realm, which is definitely not something that can be learned overnight. Similar fingering handling and bumping. Master Wu often does small bumps to bring the real with the virtual. There are many such small collisions in the songs of "Ou Heron" and "Pingsha". The main purpose is to make the wrist instantly exert force without feeling it, the sound is smart and round, and the sound is quick and subtle. In addition, the Wumen's over-string technique, the connection between the upper and lower sentences, and the before and after sounds are also closely related to Qiyun. I won't go into details here.

More than 20 years ago, Mr. Wu Zhaoji visited Hong Kong and Taiwan to play qin, and brought qin rhyme with a mainland master, which was unanimously welcomed and praised by overseas qin friends. At the same time, Wumen Qin Yun was discriminated against and ridiculed by a small number of performing artists in China. A few years later, some young piano friends in Beijing were keen on Wumen's piano rhyme, and even went to Suzhou to visit and learn the piano. They say that Wumen's qin is durable and never gets tired of listening to it. In recent years, a guqin concert by the descendants of Wumen has been held in Shanghai, and many qin friends and students have signed up to learn the qin and inherited the Wumen qin school. This has to be said to be a welcome return to Wu Pai Qin studies. On the occasion of the centenary of Mr. Wu's birth, it is inevitable to make mistakes when trying to describe the Wu-style guqin and throwing bricks to attract jade. Please criticize and correct.

Guangyu wrote in Caizhen Valley

Spring 2006