Chinese literati music is traditional music that was created or participated in the creation, improvement and inheritance by the educated intellectuals of the past dynasties in our country. It is a musical artistic expression of the literati's lofty beliefs, a value observation and judgment of the literati on heaven and earth, life, and society, and an artistic reflection of their state of mind and soul. It mainly includes two aspects of qin music and tune music.

Qin music refers to Guqin music. It includes qin songs and qin songs. There are different opinions about its origin, but there are written records that have a history of more than 3,000 years. Ancient Chinese literati music is represented by the art of Guqin. Therefore, Guqin culture enjoys a high status in the traditional Chinese literati music scene.

It has always been seen as a symbol of intellectuals. There have been many stories about the guqin since ancient times. Qin music is known as "literati music", which does not mean that only literati can play the qin, nor does it mean that all people in the qin world are famous for their literature. However, as a traditional musical instrument, the elegant and unsurpassed literati spiritual character accumulated by it seems to be the best embodiment of a literati musical character. Therefore, Guqin music is a precious heritage of the ancient Chinese culture, and it is also the essence of ancient Chinese literati music.

Literati music with beautiful personality

From Guqin songs such as "Three Lanes of Plum Blossoms", "Bright Spring and White Snow", "Jie Shi Diao · You Orchid" and other works, we can see that they all use metaphors and symbols, commonly known as metaphors, to symbolize the beauty or morality of a personality. Political sustenance. From this, we can see that literati music is a pursuit of personality beauty.

There are many reasons for this kind of aesthetic pursuit, mainly due to the influence of Confucianism and Taoism. In music, Confucianism advocates that music must give moral norms to the officials of the ears and eyes, so as to prevent the senses from being blinded by material desires and make people pursue emotional desires. Satisfaction, and the phenomenon of losing its spiritual pursuit beyond material desire. It can be seen that Confucianism endows all kinds of music with a humanized and beautiful character.

In the works of Guqin, for Taoists, the emphasis is on great sound and sound. Expressed in music, it is the emphasis between the virtual and the real, the emphasis between the existence and the non-existence, the emphasis between the far and the near, the emphasis between the strong and the light, the emphasis between the movement and the stillness... , Taoism regards music as "great music and harmony between heaven and earth", emphasizing the realm of freehand brushwork. The musical features are ancient, elegant and elegant.

The titles of literati music also mostly show this aesthetic feature. Judging from the title and content of the music, on the one hand, it is a very poetic title and content; Quiet, cold, quiet, light, distant and other characteristics. "Mountains and Flowing Water", "Pingsha Falling Geese", "Xiaoxiang Water and Clouds"...all fully express the poetic and picturesque, solitary and elegant literati temperament and style, which are the true portrayal of the attitude and personality of ancient Chinese literati.

Traditional Chinese literati music carries such moral ideals, embodies the literati's concept of self-cultivation, and pursues social tranquility and interpersonal harmony.

Therefore, in the music creation of Guqin, we can see Guqin works with the personality charm of the literati. From the remnants of a large number of qin songs, we can also feel the moderate elegance of these "gentle and refined", and emphasize the tranquility of music in "the sound of music is light but not hurtful, and not obscene" ("Book of Zhou Zitong Music"). He Pinghe and the singing and playing methods of "being excited but not arrogant, angry but not proud, affectionate but not self-disturbing, understanding but not self-conscious" (Xu Shangying: "Xishan Qinguang") are all literati. They have painstakingly created artistic accumulation and artistic creation in order to realize their own moral ideals and personality charm.

Literati music with beautiful artistic conception

Chinese traditional music does not seem to be like Western music, which always writes the music neatly and tidily. Chinese traditional music is a kind of music that is quite oral and heart-taught. This is mainly inseparable from the artistic conception of our literati music.

There are many titles that seem to be imitated in ancient Chinese songs, but their musical intentions do not focus on objective things. Just as Western oil paintings focus on the truth of details, while Chinese ink painting emphasizes freehand brushwork and spiritual resemblance, poetry focuses on "meaning beyond words", art focuses on "images outside images", and music focuses on "sounds beyond strings".

Guqin music requires inexhaustible connotations to be conveyed through audible and audible sounds, and inner essence to be embodied through external and superficial forms.

It does not force a deliberate external simulation of the acoustic characteristics of the chanted thing, but sublimates it into an artistic image with fiery devotion.

"Xiaoxiang Shuiyun" embodies this aesthetic pursuit. The music is not intended to be a water sound model, nor does it have a swaying rhythm throughout it like a boat song. The author makes full use of the technique of "singing and mixing notes" in the performance of the guqin, and expresses the contemplation of the vast cloud and water in the spiritual world with the elegance of overtones; the aftertaste of the resonant body after playing the strings curls, creating a natural and ethereal state of no one. The artistic conception, as well as the mournful mood of touching the strings and sighing revealed by the transition from instability to stability in the light and heavy pressing of the strings, and the contrast of strength and weakness in the sound process. This is a humanized, artistic, diluted and imagined natural landscape, not a replica of real life.

Another example is the qin piece "High Mountains and Flowing Water", in the simple and quiet musical rhythm, expressing an artistic realm of mine far and elegant, simulating and reflecting the emotional state of the ancients, "elevating like mountains" and "oceans like flowing water". From the point of view of music. It is an artistic conception of the unity of man and nature. Shen Kuo said. "The art of the qin is not in the sound, but its meaning and rhythm are devoid of the sound" ("Mengxi Bi Tan").

Guqin art regards the universe, society, and life as an organic system. In this system, it reflects the aesthetics of emphasizing spirit and charm by expressing the spirit, expressing the soul by expressing the spirit, focusing on the beauty of personality and artistic conception by expressing the heart, and emphasizing the beauty of understanding by learning. Wu has reached the aesthetic realm of "understanding the god of things with one's own heart, in order to achieve the Tao of heaven and earth".

Guqin music is a specific product of Chinese feudal society. The literature and aesthetics in it have shifted from utilitarian to secluded due to both surface and deep reasons in the historical transformation, becoming the "Seven Sages of Bamboo Forest" type of literati. As a stunner, it can be felt that there are artistic characteristics of self-organization and style in Guqin music.

What literati pursued in Guqin was based on intellectuals' sensitive insight into social phenomena, their critical attitude towards reality, and their profound artistic comprehension of the humanistic phenomena of heaven and earth. "...There is nothing to do outside, there is only Qin in the boat.

Seven strings are good friends, and two ears are bosom friends. Peace of mind means no sound, no past or present. (Bai Juyi: "Night Boat Aid the Qin") These five lines of poems express the poet's profound and transcendental understanding of Qin music, and "a calm mind means a dull sound, and there is no past or present. ” sentence, but also chanted the pursuit of Qin people and the pursuit of poets. We seem to feel the traditional qualities of the kind and upright intellectuals in ancient China: willing to be lonely, indifferent to fame and fortune; we also seem to appreciate the kind and upright knowledge of ancient China Molecules' special interpretation of artistic beauty: empathy, respect for nature.

China's literati music, perhaps since its birth, has been shining with its elegant and otherworldly brilliance. For thousands of years, countless Chinese intellectuals have heard the turbulence of their own souls and seen the vicissitudes of the world and the indifference of the world in this melody. Although they do not have the skills and courage to transform the ugly face in this great world, they use the guqin to describe the great rivers and mountains, and they are devoted to the great rivers and mountains. In this holy literati music world, they have found their own living space, perfected their personalities, and explored the journey under their feet.