Tongguang School Guqin: a genre that has resonated with history

166 views · Organized by 沈梦溪 on 2022-03-11

Guqin, which often appears in martial arts arena, is actually not so mysterious. There is such a guqin genre that originated in Fuzhou City, Fujian Province, has descendants and disciples all over the world, and has been inherited for more than 200 years. However, it has nothing to do with knights, but has many anecdotes with literati and scholars.


Lin Zexu, Chen Baochen, and even the modern Jin Yong have had an intersection with him. This qin school was called "Tongguang School Guqin" in the Qing Dynasty.

Tongguang School Guqin: a genre that has resonated with history

Tongguang School Guqin, also known as "Tongguang Qin School", "Tongguang Min School Guqin" or "Fuzhou Min School Guqin", the tenet of this school is: "We are determined to understand the Tao, use Tao to unify the qin, and use the qin to achieve the Tao and be gentle with the world. A master.” This qin school has a legacy of Song Dynasty, is good at haircutting, and advocates the Taoist qin to inspire people. In the nearly two hundred years of exploration, it has integrated the ideology and culture of the three schools of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, and uses the Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism’s “movement and stillness view”. "As the core of the mind method, we use practice and insight to explore the mystery of "Qin Dao".

This qin school originated from Xu Genghao and Xie Zhangting, who founded Meiya Ci Society in Fuzhou in the 18th year of Daoguang in the Qing Dynasty, and was later carried forward by his successors He Zhendai and Fuzhou "Eight Talented Women"; the last emperor, Fuzhou Aofeng Academy, finally A mountain leader, Chen Baochen's guqin biography, his niece Chen Maoheng, Chen Maoheng's guqin biography, his sons Zhao Zhiyun, Zhao Zhihua, and his disciple Zhou Helin; Guo Baixin in the Guo Family Courtyard in Huangxiang, Three Lanes and Seven Alleys, Fuzhou, in the third year of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty (1864). "Guqin was passed on to his nephew Guo Shichang, Guo Shichang passed on his son Guo Zengliang, and Guo Zengliang passed on his disciple Wu Piaoyin.

Because the relationship between the above qin veins is mainly in Fuzhou, it is also called "Fuzhou qin school". And because the main characters He Zhendai and Chen Baochen are the giants and representatives of the "Tongguang Poetry School", and both of them have inherited their guqin, so the Tongguang School Guqin is also called "Tongguang Qin School" and "Tongguang Fujian School Guqin". Or "Fuzhou Min-style Guqin".

For more than two hundred years, the Tongguang School of Guqin once composed the famous qin piece "Fengyunhui" composed for Lin Zexu's Humen sales, which can be said to resonate with history and emit a breathtaking sound of gold and stone.

The last emperor, "Cangqu Landlord" and "Old Ting Shui" Chen Baochen, was the great-grandson of the "Three Dynasties Veteran" Minister of Punishment Chen Ruolin and the teacher of the Xuantong Emperor Puyi.

After the Sino-French War, Chen Baochen returned to his hometown in Luozhou. One day, he took a sedan chair to Juchun Garden, burned incense and played the qin, and wrote to Jiyue a famous sentence for the villagers - "In the middle of the night, Sitong plays the Jiyue, and a bottle of bamboo leaves is drunk with the breeze." Old Man Chen Baochen".

Li Hao, the inheritor of the Fuzhou Tongguang Min School Guqin, said that the Tongguang Min School Guqin is a Taoist qin system, mainly based on the inheritance of Qin Dao, much like the Xiaoyao School in Jin Yong's novels. The "Xiao Wuxianggong" in the "Pai" is very similar. "Xiaowuxianggong" supports the martial arts moves with a strong inheritance of the inner strength of the mind. The piano score is like a "martial arts secret book".

In 2013, Li Hao talked to Mr. Jin Yong about the history and inheritance of the Tongguang Min-style guqin in Fuzhou. Mr. Jin Yong was very interested, and he happily wrote the four words "Qingu Academy" for the Tongguang Min-style guqin.

At the end of 2018, Tongguang Min-style Guqin and Min-style Guqin (Fuzhou) were included in the Fuzhou-level intangible cultural heritage project, and in 2019, they were listed as "Fujian Province Colleges and Universities Chinese Excellent Traditional Culture Inheritance Base" by the Fujian Provincial Department of Education. At present, this school of qin has many inheritance bases at home and abroad, and the education of guqin aesthetics has even penetrated into rural classrooms.

Reference materials and contributors
同光派古琴:曾同历史共振,多与名士交集

Involving musical instruments

Guqin (pinyin: Gǔ Qín) is a traditional Chinese musical instrument with a history of at least 3,500 years. Guqin is also known as Yaoqin, Yuqin and Seven-stringed Qin. The guqin has 13 emblems that mark the rhythm, and is also a ritual and musical instrument. It belongs to the silk in the octave. Guqin has a wide range, deep timbre and long aftertone.

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