Zhang Hongyan still clearly remembers her first encounter with the pipa. "My father taught me at that time. I was 7 years old that year, and the pipa used was the same size as this one." She fondled the pipa in her arms and recalled with a smile.

The 7-year-old child couldn't hold the pipa, so the father thought of a way to tie the pipa with one end of the rope and hang the other end of the rope from the ceiling. In this way, it would be much easier for Zhang Hongyan to pick up the hanging pipa. The fate with the pipa also began.

Today, as an outstanding contemporary Chinese pipa performer and educator, and a doctoral tutor at the Central Conservatory of Music, Zhang Hongyan talks about the pipa very well. She introduced that the pipa is an ancient musical instrument in China, originally called "Pipa", and in the book "Shi Ming·Shi Instruments" written by Liu Xi during the Eastern Han Dynasty, he wrote: "The origin of the Pipa came from Huzhong, and it was immediately drummed. Also. Pushing hands is called batch, but leading is called handle.” That is to say, the pipa is a musical instrument played on horseback. It is called “batch” when it is played forward, and “ba” when it is played backward. It can be seen that the pipa was originally popular among nomadic peoples, and the name "pipa" also originated from its playing method, and was later determined to be the word "pipa", which is similar to "qinse".

Pipa is an instrument that always lives in the moment

"Some say that the pipa was passed down from the Western Regions, and some scholars say that it was passed down by some plucked instruments in China and then passed back, so it integrated many cultures along the Silk Road. Later, the pipa It has been spread to Japan, Vietnam, Korea and other neighboring countries. Today, the pipa in our hands should be said to be a typical musical instrument that keeps pace with the times. It incorporates the wisdom of craftsmen and performers in every era. The times are moving forward The same is true for the pipa. So I think the pipa is a musical instrument that always lives in the present, because it can play both very classical music and the sounds of this era.”

Zhang Hongyan introduced that the pipa has very rich playing techniques, and its expressive power is also rich, and it can play various types of music. At the same time, with the development of the pipa musical instrument itself, the library of pipa music is also expanding, including a large number of classic works.

The Tang Dynasty was a period of rapid development of the pipa, and the figure of the pipa can be seen in many murals. There are more than 700 murals with pipa in Dunhuang, and more than 50 kinds of pipa are shown in the murals. In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, the pipa once again ushered in a prosperous period of development. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, the pipa performance had formed a variety of different genres, and there were also representative descendants of each genre. Zhang Hongyan said: "In the 1950s, folk pipa masters entered art academies one after another, and it was precisely because of these predecessors and the music professional education started in China at that time that there were generations of pipa players. Pipa also has the inheritance and development it is today.”

Pipa is a musical instrument full of "literary popularity"

"The big string is as noisy as a torrential rain, the small string is like a whisper. Noisy and scrambling, big beads and small beads fall on the jade plate." In the years when Zhang Hongyan and the pipa were companions, she read Bai Juyi's "Bai Juyi" again and again. Pipa Walk". Whenever she reads this poem, she seems to be able to see the pipa girl described in the poem, "still holding the pipa half-covered", and the woman's expression and posture are all in sight. Zhang Hongyan said that her favorite line in the whole poem is "the shaft is plucked three or two times, and there is love before it becomes a tune". "This poem is more than 1,000 years old. It has traveled through time and space and is still alive today. I think the poet's description of the pipa playing skills is still pursued by pipa people today. Every instrument should be 'feeling before a tune'."

Zhang Hongyan believes that the pipa is a musical instrument full of "literary popularity". In the long development process of the pipa, there is always the participation of literati of all dynasties. "The pipa is not simply a folk musical instrument, you can feel it from the pipa music such as "House of Flying Daggers", "The Overlord's Disarming", "Spring River Flower Moonlight Night", "Song on the Plug", "Moon's High" and so on. The cultural content and significance of the pipa, so the pipa has always been full of cultural flavor to me, and at the same time it maintains the character of a Chinese literati."

Holding up the pipa, you can keep the cultural soil

Most of the themes of Pipa music come from historical allusions, folk stories, etc., and the scenes and plots at that time are restored through the form of music. In various traditional Chinese festivals, music is also an indispensable cultural form.

Zhang Hongyan explained the relationship between music and festivals as follows: If festivals are a way of looking back on history, then the music produced by festivals can vividly reproduce those people and stories in the past, reminding people not to forget the past. As she spoke, she played a Jiangnan folk pipa song "Dragon Boat". The melody of the music is varied, sometimes urgent, sometimes lively and unrestrained. In the music, you can hear gongs and drums on the river bank, cheers and applause from the crowd watching the game, and it seems to hear hundreds of boats contending and waves on the water, which is exciting. The lively scene of dragon boat racing spreads in the minds of the listeners.

"A lot of music is produced with festivals to express the atmosphere of that festival. For example, the folk music "Dragon Boat", its inspiration comes from life scenes, from the traditional customs of dragon boat racing on the Dragon Boat Festival, expressing the dragon boat in the south of the Yangtze River. The intense scenes of the competition were later processed by generations of performers and passed down to this day. Like many folk music, "Dragon Boat" uses a lot of simulation methods to imitate the sound of the dragon boat entering the water, the noise on the shore, and the sound of people beating gongs and drums. Sounds, etc. The melody of the music is full of changes, and various imitations are interspersed in it, expressing the many dragon boats and the fierce competition. Although this piece seems invisible, it is tangible, and it contains many techniques that seem to be impossible to find at all. Rules, but it’s also very rigorous.”

Zhang Hongyan believes that music is a refinement of life and the result of the sublimation of life into art. Music can give more imagination space, so that people can get more feelings and emotions by jumping out of concrete things. "For example, "Spring River, Flowers and Moon Night", you don't know which river, which day, night, and night the song depicts. Which day the moon is, but it just gives you a wider imagination space. You follow the music, gradually adding a lot of your own thoughts and experiences into it and amplifying them.” Zhang Hongyan gave an example.

And when people get this kind of experience, culture comes into their hearts subtly. Zhang Hongyan believes that with the pipa, a musical instrument that accompanies traditional Chinese culture, one can not only learn the skills of playing, but also achieve the maintenance of "cultural water and soil". "Today we always say that our excellent traditional culture is being lost. In fact, sometimes holding a musical instrument like the pipa can maintain the cultural soil. Because it itself is a product of excellent traditional culture, and its music It is also related to history, festivals, and some even related to the excellent character of the ancients. I am lucky to be able to embrace the pipa, and I have never felt a sense of crisis in the loss of traditional Chinese culture. So I think a person even listens to the pipa. Playing it or just touching it, he'll get a touch of the culture and get some touches."

Cultural confidence comes from cognition of one's own culture

Today, Zhang Hongyan often travels to different countries and regions to perform and spread pipa culture on world-class stages.

She walks all over the world with her beloved pipa and feels extremely proud and proud. She said that the pipa is like a Chinese musical symbol, as long as you hold it, foreigners can recognize it at a glance from the ancient East, and its melody comes from China. She will take the initiative to introduce this instrument to the foreign orchestras she cooperates with, show its playing techniques, and seek commonality and consistency while maintaining its uniqueness.

"I think cultural communication is not about how shocking it is, it is not about throwing a bomb and seeing how big the response is. Cultural communication should be natural, peaceful and normalized. At the same time, commonality is also important, such as the same Intonation, the same pursuit of music, and some basic norms, if everyone can't find commonalities, it will be difficult for communication to form. They may not understand the Chinese I speak, but they can feel my musical language and feel Our differences, our own unique things, and all this happens on a platform where we can have equal dialogue, so I think it is a success of external communication."

And the pipa that Zhang Hongyan is proud of has also amazed the world time and time again. Her performance of the pipa piece "House of Flying Daggers" is often mistaken by foreign audiences as a modern piece rather than a centuries-old traditional piece. "So I think that when we are catching up with the West and thinking that everything in the West is at the forefront, should we also look at our own culture? Maybe we will find that many of our own things are also very advanced and modern. Yes. Our music is the same, painting and calligraphy are the same.”

Zhang Hongyan deeply felt that cultural self-confidence comes from the cognition of one's own culture. Take a serious look at what you have. After understanding, you will not panic, you will have confidence, and self-confidence will come naturally. Then study hard, pass on the culture, and finally show it to the world in the most suitable way. Zhang Hongyan said: "When you want to present, you must first understand it yourself, and then give it to the other party, so that the other party can receive the most solid and accurate content from you. My requirement for myself is to play the pipa well. There is no problem when performing and cooperating outside, and I will try my best to show the best things. I believe that everyone can feel the charm of Chinese folk music. The standard and method are summed up by myself in the process of dissemination. The two most important factors, both of which are present, will have a good effect in the end. I think this is also the meaning of our music.”

During the whole interview, Zhang Hongyan never let go of her pipa. Every time she talked about it, she would pluck it up, or use it to further explain or simply match her emotions, so the sound of "pearl falling on a jade plate" always lingered around her. Zhang Hongyan said that the pipa is one with her. She calls herself a "Pipa Walker". Her wish is to carry the pipa and sow the seeds of music wherever she goes, so that the world can finally hear from China. melody.