Every Wednesday and Friday afternoon, during the extended class, the guqin room of Zhengzhou Baihua Art Primary School heard the sounds of children learning guqin. Although it was only a simple seven scattered sounds, it made the children feel deeply. I fell in love with the oldest stringed instrument in China, and became the inheritor and disseminator of this ancient instrument.

Henan University of Economics and Law Guqin Club Class Show

For Beijing Porcelain Musical Instrument Co., Ltd., which initiated the activity of "Guqin Entering Campus", Zhengzhou Baihua Art Primary School is only a point in its inheritance, popularization and development of Guqin culture. According to Hou Mingting, the person in charge of Beijing Porcelain Musical Instrument Co., Ltd., up to now, Beijing Porcelain Musical Instrument Co., Ltd. has been approved by universities and communities such as Henan University of Economics and Law, Zhengzhou Institute of Aerospace Management, Henan Vocational College of Art, and Jihua Road Community, Zhongyuan District, Zhengzhou. Guqin clubs, guqin teacher training, and guqin public welfare classes for the elderly have popularized and promoted guqin culture, and have been actively participated by students and the elderly.

Guqin, one of the representative symbols of Chinese traditional culture

On November 7, 2003, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee announced that the Chinese guqin was selected as a world intangible cultural heritage; in 2006, it was included in the list of China's intangible cultural heritage; so far, there are more than 3,360 qin pieces of various types in existence. (including the same tunes from different factions), more than 130 piano scores and more than 300 piano songs. In 1997, the "Voyager" spacecraft launched by the United States put a gold-plated record filled with various languages and music on the earth to spread the sound of the earth to the unknown life in the depths of space, including the famous Chinese guqin player. "Flowing Water", one of the ten famous Guqin songs played by Mr. Guan Pinghu.

Reduced word notation display

Guqin is one of the traditional Chinese cultural symbols with a history of nearly 4,000 years. It is the oldest stringed instrument in China and the world, and it is also the only musical instrument that has been in use since its birth. Guqin began with the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, matured in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Qin and Han Dynasties, burst out in the Wei, Jin, Sui and Tang Dynasties, achieved in the Song, Ming and Qing Dynasties, and began to decline at the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China.

In the 2008 Olympic Games, when the sound of guqin was heard by people all over the country and all over the world through TV and the Internet for the first time, a "guqin fever" formed in the whole country, and the guqin began to usher in a new round of development on the land of China. However, due to the cumbersome production of guqin, the high price, and the relative backwardness of domestic guqin education, this "heat" has not formed "depth", and many people still can't distinguish between "guqin" and "guzheng". Needless to say, let Guqin enter thousands of households.

Guqin playing at the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympic Games (screenshot)

However, the revival of China and the general trend of Chinese culture becoming the world leader again are irreversible, and the guqin, which naturally contains Chinese traditional cultural genes, will not be forgotten by people. Compared with the past few years, the Guqin has been recognized, loved and learned by more and more people.

It is also under this background that Beijing Porcelain Musical Instrument Co., Ltd., established on the basis of more than 20 years of Guqin-making workshops, was determined to combine modern technology to improve the Guqin production process and reduce costs. Let the guqin be accepted by more people, so as to better popularize and promote the guqin culture, and make the guqin a popular musical instrument, rather than a high-end musical instrument that only serves a few people. Because only popularization can better inherit and carry forward this world-class intangible cultural heritage, and the company's goal is to devote itself to building itself into a leader in the popularization and inheritance of guqin culture in China.

To promote elegant art and enrich campus culture, Guqin is the best carrier

At the beginning of 2022, the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the General Office of the State Council issued the "Opinions on Implementing the Project for the Inheritance and Development of Chinese Excellent Traditional Culture". The law of education and teaching, in accordance with the principles of integration, division of classes, and orderly advancement, integrates the excellent traditional Chinese culture into all aspects of ideological and moral education, cultural knowledge education, art and physical education, and social practice education. At the same time, it also pointed out that it is necessary to enrich and expand the campus culture, and promote the introduction of opera, calligraphy, and elegant art into the campus.

As a musical instrument with the highest status in Chinese culture, the guqin ranks first among the four arts of traditional Chinese culture "qin, chess, calligraphy and painting", and is regarded as a representative of elegant art. In ancient times, it was a compulsory course for literati and scholars, and its culture contained endless knowledge and principles and Chinese philosophical thoughts. While learning to play the guqin, students also had an in-depth knowledge and understanding of elegant art.

In order to do a good job in the public welfare activity of "guqin entering the campus", Beijing Ceramic Music Instrument Co., Ltd. has also done a lot of preparatory work and designed a complete implementation plan.

In terms of specific implementation, Beijing Porcelain Music Instrument Co., Ltd. firstly provides free teaching pianos according to the size of the school; secondly, it provides free guqin teaching teachers; thirdly, if the cooperative schools have needs, the company also trains guqin music teachers for schools for free. ;Fourth, set up Ciyin Children's Guqin Performance Orchestra in partner schools, the company is responsible for rehearsals and external performances, participation in competitions and other activities to communicate, so that children have more opportunities to show and grow.

Guqin teacher's tuning preparation before class

At the same time, in order to provide more opportunities for children who learn Guqin to practice the piano, the company cooperates with other non-disciplinary tutoring institutions outside the school, arranges piano rooms, provides free piano practice, and arranges teacher guidance. For children who are inconvenient to go to the piano room to practice the piano, the company also provides piano rental services.

And this model is not only suitable for primary and secondary schools, colleges and communities are also based on this promotion, but some details are adjusted according to the actual situation.

Learn national culture and strengthen self-development

"Students learn guqin, there are many meanings and benefits!" After several periods of guqin lessons, the parents of the guqin class of Zhengzhou Baihua Art Primary School sighed.

Whether it is a primary and secondary school student, a college student or an adult, what are the benefits of learning the guqin for the elderly? In this regard, the person in charge of the event organizer Beijing Ceramic Music Instrument Co., Ltd. believes that there are the following five benefits:

1. Improve language knowledge. After thousands of years of development, Guqin has been deeply integrated into the poetry, history, politics and humanistic allusions of Chinese traditional culture. Learning Guqin can improve the knowledge of Chinese.

2. Improve comprehensive learning ability and methods. Guqin has its own characteristics and difficulties in learning. In the process of learning, it is necessary to constantly summarize methods. Over time, it can improve children's problem-solving ability and learning methods.

Third, exercise brain power, enhance memory. Playing the piano requires the coordination of the left and right hands, seeing the strings, listening to the pitch, and noting notation in the brain. At this time, the left and right brains work at the same time, mobilizing thinking and coordinating actions, which is the best exercise for brain power and memory.

Fourth, go to restlessness, awaken temperament and inspiration. When playing the piano, you must meditate. In the elegant sound of the piano, you should get rid of the impetuousness in your heart and return to the natural and pure mentality. At the same time, playing the qin should be calm, calm, elegant and reserved in sitting posture and gestures, which can not only cultivate the inner state of mind, but also correct the body, cultivate both internal and external, and comprehensively improve the temperament.

5. Master a survival skill. With the return and revival of traditional Chinese culture, the guqin will become a favorite musical instrument for more people, and more violin masters will be required to teach the skills, and the employment prospects are broad. For college students, there is one more job opportunity.

Cultural heritage, we are on the way

Inheriting and promoting Chinese culture, strengthening cultural self-confidence, and telling Chinese stories well are important starting points on the road to China's rejuvenation. In fact, Chinese traditional culture education has been deeply carried out in primary and secondary schools, and has taken root in the hearts of students. Take this public welfare activity of “Guqin Entering Campus” at Baihua Art Primary School in Zhengzhou, as soon as the activity was promoted by the school, it was very popular among students, with nearly 100 applicants, so classes had to be started in two batches.

Baihua Art Primary School's First Live Class Show

"Seeing the live broadcast, the teacher listened very carefully to the children in class", "After class, homework and punching tasks will be assigned, and the teacher is in charge of us and we will also cooperate"... In order to promote "home-school cooperation and common inheritance", Beijing Ceramic Music Co., Ltd. While supervising the practice after class, the company also proposed the concept of "transparent classroom", and broadcast live classes on Douyin, video account and other platforms. On the other hand, the live broadcast is aimed at the general public, making the public welfare class completely open and transparent, and also promoting the interesting class of Guqin culture.

Guqin is not only popular among primary and middle school students, but also attracts fans among college students. Once the Guqin club of Henan University of Economics and Law was promoted, the number of applicants quickly reached more than 150, and it is still increasing. There are qin practice. On the one hand, 35 people are used as a group to teach in shifts. In addition, the company also provides 35 guqin pieces at one time for students to learn on the spot.

It is understood that after preliminary exploration and summarization, Beijing Porcelain Musical Instrument Co., Ltd. has formed a complete process of "guqin entering the campus", "guqin entering the community" and "guqin entering colleges and universities". The model will not change, and the intensity and scope will become larger and wider, and some like-minded social institutions have begun to participate in this process, jointly cultivating the inheritors and development of traditional Chinese culture in the new era. walk side by side. Believe in the future, we are on the road together!