Guzheng has a history of more than 2,500 years. Due to the influence of natural, cultural environment and language differences in different regions, especially the influence of local folk songs, rap music, opera and other musical instruments, and the generations of folk artists Inheritance and personal understanding of guzheng and other factors. So in modern times, guzheng has gradually formed six schools of Henan, Shandong, Chaozhou, Hakka, Zhejiang and Shaanxi. Each genre is unique, with different phonological features and performance styles, and each has its own representative repertoire, which will carry forward the "light of folk music".

Today, I will introduce the representative of the traditional zheng school with many repertoires: the Shaanxi zheng school

1. The origin and development of Shaanxi zheng

Shaanxi guzheng originated from the birthplace of Chinese guzheng: Shaanxi, although the zheng music of "The Voice of Zhen Qin" is almost impossible to see, but there are still zheng accompaniment instruments in the Yulin area, along with dulcimer, pipa and sanxian. Among the accompaniment of Yulin ditty. Guzheng has a history of more than 300 years in Yulin, but due to the remote location of Yulin and its relatively backward culture, the skills of guzheng still remain in the ancient way of playing, that is, it is mainly played with the big index and two fingers of the right hand. There is very little glide vibrato in the left hand. Although there are no fancy techniques to speak of, this is the method of playing the guzheng in the earliest period.

Although the guzheng originated in Shaanxi, due to the limited development and dissemination of the guzheng culture in Shaanxi, the guzheng has gradually been lost in Shaanxi, and there is no information to find even the handed down. In the late 1950s, Shaanxi Zheng put forward the slogan "Qinzheng returns to Qin". A lot of work has been done from theoretical research to playing techniques, from accompaniment to local operas to compiling zheng pieces with Qin Yun style. This made the people of Shaanxi familiar with the guzheng again.

Second, the style characteristics of Shaanxi zheng

The zheng music of Shaanxi zheng has very distinctive style characteristics, obvious particularity in rhythm, and also has the wandering property of two inflections. In the heptatonic scale, the fourth step is higher and the seventh step is lower. The so-called offset here does not refer to half a tone. These two tones are always fluctuating. Generally speaking, they slide down and close to the next step. In the melody, Shaanxi zheng generally jumps upwards and advances downwards. Consistent with most zheng schools, Shaanxi zheng presses the strings with the left hand when playing, and the use of the big finger is more frequent. A technique that will inevitably be used for the melody; the style of Shaanxi zheng is not as rough as the local customs, on the contrary, it is very delicate, expressing sorrow and resentment in euphemism, generosity and urgency, and lyricism in radicality .

Mr. Wang Xunzhi, a famous master of the Zhejiang zheng school, once said that "Shaanxi zheng is more lyrical" when talking about the guzheng school, which also shows the gentle and delicate style of Shaanxi zheng music.

3. Promoters of Shaanxi Zheng

In 1957, Bai Baojin, a famous artist from Yulin, participated in the National Folk Music Tuning and the 3rd Shaanxi Provincial Folk Opera Performance. It is precisely because of the above two works that represent Shaanxi zheng, the National Guzheng Teaching Materials Conference held in Xi'an in 1961 showed the affirmation of Shaanxi fans' huzheng music, and played a strong role in promoting the development of Qinzheng in Shaanxi! Only then can there be "Qin Sang Song", "Jiang Nu's Tears", "Xiangshan Shooting Drum", "San Qin Happy Song" and "Embroidered Golden Plaque" and other excellent zheng songs rich in Shaanxi style.

Although the sound of the qin has almost disappeared, there are records about the guzheng in historical materials such as Xi'an drum music, Qin Opera and Mi Hu Qingqu, which also gave inspiration to the people of Shaanxi zheng, plus the famous zheng players Cao Zheng, Gao Zicheng, Wang Shengwu and others. After more than 30 years of practice, Shaanxi gradually resumed the zheng playing Qin Sheng.

So far, the introduction of the six major zheng schools is over. The development of my country's guzheng culture has never been possible without the unremitting efforts of all zheng people. As a traditional Chinese national musical instrument, the guzheng has the absolute opportunity and the strength to rush out of China. Going to the world, I hope more and more people can learn Guzheng and fall in love with the cultural treasure left by our ancestors!