Guqin Art - The Essence and Soul of Chinese Traditional Culture

965 views · Organized by 不知桃夏 on 2022-03-22

Guqin has a long history in the development of musical instruments in my country, and can be regarded as one of the musical instruments that can represent ancient China. This article mainly explains the original development history of Guqin in Taizhou, the birthplace of Guqin, to the application fields and materials of Guqin, as well as the general artistic style, and introduces the status of Guqin art in traditional Chinese art.

Guqin Art - The Essence and Soul of Chinese Traditional Culture

Taizhou is the birthplace of Guqin culture, and Taizhou is one of the national historical and cultural cities. Known as "Han and Tang ancient counties, Huaihai famous district". For a long time, Taizhou's economy and culture have developed, and humanistic talents have gathered here. During the Tang Dynasty, the guqin culture began to have a small scale in Taizhou City.

Today, there is a guqin from the Qing Dynasty in the Taizhou Museum, which was donated by the descendants of the inheritors of Guqin culture. After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Taizhou also successively made several famous Guqin masters. However, due to that special period, the Guqin culture gradually disappeared in Taizhou City for a while. But in recent years, it has become increasingly popular.

1. The ancient art heritage has become a world intangible cultural heritage project

The ancient "qin" generally refers to the guqin, and is widely known as the "seven-stringed qin". In different periods, people have been given different names, such as "Green Chair", "Silk Tong" and so on. In fact, the guqin is a plucked instrument that lies flat on a flat surface. The main way of playing is solo, most of the time playing and singing, or singing together with Xiao.

Guqin Art - The Essence and Soul of Chinese Traditional Culture

Guqin is also very meaningful in the internal structure of the qin. The length of the qin body is about three feet six and a half inches. The whole month plus the occasional boudoir month. The overall meaning is that the years are endless, the three parties of heaven, earth and human beings are complete, which deeply reflects the cognition of beauty in traditional Chinese culture.

The development history of Guqin has been more than 3,000 years. Legend has it that it first began in the prehistoric period of Shennong. From the archaeological data, it can be verified that the guqin has developed and matured from its appearance to the Han Dynasty. During this period, the performance culture and overall style of the guqin changed with the transformation and influence of different qin artists and literati in different periods. , and continued to improve until it developed into today's scale and model.

The playing mode of guqin is an unprecedented instrumental playing mode in the history of Chinese performance. In the 1970s, the United States launched an artificial satellite, and scientists made a propaganda material about the human culture of the earth and placed it in the artificial satellite. One of the most representative is a music record. The typical representative music of China is The ancient famous song "Flowing Water" played by the guqin.

In 2003, the Guqin culture was included in the World Intangible Cultural Heritage List by UNESCO.

2. The compulsory skills of ancient literati and elegant scholars, and an important way to cultivate one's self-cultivation

Since ancient times, "qin, chess, calligraphy and painting" has been the embodiment of the artistic quality of Chinese literati. The qin ranks first in the four arts, which is enough to see the status of the qin in the field of ancient Chinese art. There is an ancient saying: "Scholars must play the qin, and the qin must follow the ancients." It can be said that in the process of playing the guqin, the mind is purified and desire is reduced. Guqin, as one of the oldest arts in the world, no matter how many years of changes, it still has its own artistic attainments behind it, rather than an entertainment method for people to watch.

For the guqin and other traditional musical instruments in ancient China, such as qinxiao, wind music, pipa, etc., there are rich historical materials in the content of written records, and at the same time, it is extremely important for people's daily life at that time and the general teaching of related rhythm music. Impact. The guqin system is a system of its own, and it also has special significance in terms of inheritance methods and violin-making techniques.

It also has an important influence on the establishment of the ancient system of phonetic poetry and rhythm. There are three basic timbres in the melody of the guqin, which are looser scattered tones, relatively heavy pressing and relatively broad overtones. There are hundreds of other playing methods, and the playing methods are also more complicated.

3. Guqin culture is deeply influenced by Confucianism and Taoism

Confucianism in ancient China is biased towards the mean, and pays attention to the neutrality of style, which also has a very important influence on the Guqin culture. Therefore, the musical meaning of guqin tends to be more peaceful and rhythmic. Taoist thought attaches great importance to the realm of realm, and advocates the realm of inaction in Taoism, and its influence on Guqin culture is also biased towards this realm.

The typical tone of the guqin is soothing and soft, which is in line with the living atmosphere that the ancients loved. In the process of drumming the qin, the ancients integrated their understanding of qin music and perception of beauty into the qin music they played. This is the overall embodiment of the way of neutralization between Confucianism and Taoism.

4 Extensive cultural records in Guqin culture

The inheritance of Guqin is very innovative, which is impossible for other musical instruments. Guqin has been recorded in different dynasties and different schools. The notation method of Guqin is extremely unique. It has preserved the sound records for more than a thousand years, and it can still be played for people. This is a miracle in the history of musical instruments.

It fully reflects the experience and wisdom of the piano players in dealing with oral traditions and "searching for sounds according to the score", genre traditions and the personality of the piano players, and the overall music and technical details. The inheritance of Guqin since ancient times is that the guqin is passed down from generation to generation between reading and playing.

The title of the guqin music, the cavities of the sound structure, the unevenness in rhythm, and the tendency of the sound quality to be clear and distant, embody the basic characteristics of the Chinese music system, and constitute the core of the music aesthetics of the Han nationality. It can best represent Chinese culture; it reflects people's various feelings in the natural, social and historical changes in many aspects. Common songs include "Three Lanes of Plum Blossoms", "Flowing Water", "Xiaoxiang Shuiyun", "Three Layers of Yangguan" and "Memories of Old People" Wait.

Guqin art is the oldest traditional art in China and one of the musical instruments that can best represent China. Its spiritual connotation and artistic charm are like the sea, unfathomable; The most concentrated, fundamental and direct manifestation of music art; Guqin art is the essence and soul of traditional Chinese culture.

Our generation should be obliged to inherit and spread the world cultural heritage of Guqin, let it rise in Taizhou, carry it forward, and make the art treasure of Guqin of the motherland more brilliant.

Reference materials and contributors
古琴的韵味:士必操琴,琴必依古

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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