In the 1950s, a film about the guerrillas in southern Shandong, "Railway Guerrilla", was released in China. This legendary film has been popular for three decades since its release, and it has been etched in the memory of generations of Chinese people. And the movie episode "Playing My Beloved Pipa" composed by composer Lv Qiming has also become an enduring classic.

Most people don't know what kind of instrument is the lute that appears with the song in the movie. Those who have seen the movie may think that it is just a local name for the pipa. In fact, the local pipa is a musical instrument for local operas in northern Jiangsu and southern Shandong. It is not earthy at all, and has a beautiful name called Liuqin. 

Liuqin evolution history

Liuqin is a folk musical instrument popular in southern Shandong, western Anhui, and northern Jiangsu, also known as the Huaihai region. It was originally used as an accompaniment for local operas such as Liuqin opera and Sizhou opera. Its sound is loud and grand, the tone is high-pitched and strong, and it has a strong local flavor. After a long period of development and evolution, it has now become a solo instrument and is usually responsible for the high-pitched part of folk music.

The earliest liuqin has a very simple structure, with only two silk strings and seven frets made of sorghum stalks. Moreover, due to the large body of the piano, when playing, it is necessary to put a bamboo tube on the index finger, pinch it with the thumb, and swing the plucked strings with the wrist to make a sound. The playing form is also very different. Later, hollowed out horn cylinders were used instead of bamboo tubes. By the end of 1958, a new generation of liuqin was born, and it became a three-stringed liuqin with one more string. Due to an extra string, the frets are also increased from 7 to 24. Compared with the original, the sanxian liuqin has expanded its range, facilitated the tuning, and the timbre has also changed from muffled to bright. In the 1970s, the second generation of four-string high-pitched liuqin appeared. In addition to the increase in the number of strings and frets, the main change of the second generation of liuqin was to replace sorghum stalk with bamboo and steel wire. silk strings. These subtle changes have greatly improved the performance of Liuqin in all aspects and enriched its expressiveness. Thus, Liuqin ended the 200-year history of accompaniment instruments and embarked on the development path of solo instruments.

Today, liuqin plays various roles in the field of Chinese music performance. In the national band, the liuqin is a high-pitched instrument in the plucked instrument group. It has a unique sound effect and often plays an important theme in the high-pitched area. Because its timbre is not easy to be concealed and integrated by other instruments, it is sometimes used for the performance of highly skilled cadenza passages. In addition, the liuqin also has the sound effect of the Western musical instrument mandolin, which is unique in cooperation with Western bands.

Little-known Liuqin Opera

Although similar in appearance to the pipa, the birth of Liuqin and Liuqin Opera complement each other. It has a history of only more than 200 years, which cannot be compared with the 2000-year-old pipa. This may be one of the reasons why it is called the local pipa.

The first time I heard about Liuqin Opera was decades ago in Suining, Xuzhou, my hometown.

In ancient times, Suining was called Xiapi. During the Three Kingdoms period, Liu Bei plotted the world here, and Lu Bu died in the Baimen Tower in Xiapi. Today, Suining, like Liuqin Opera, is a little-known name. In the 1990s, there was a place called XX Cultural Center in every small county, similar to the current cultural center. There, I saw the name of the Liuqin Opera Art Center for the first time, and this musical instrument very similar to the pipa for the first time.

Liuqin Opera, also known as "Liuqin Opera", originated in the border area between Shandong and Jiangsu in the late Qing Dynasty, and was officially named Liuqin Opera in 1953. The origin of Liuqin Opera is based on the southern Shandong folk minor tune "Lahunqiang" and developed under the influence of local Liuzi Opera. The tune is smooth and lively, the rhythm is lively, and there are a variety of flower tunes, which are called "pulling soul tunes". On May 20, 2006, Liuqin Opera was approved by the State Council to be included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list.

Twenty years after leaving my hometown, along with the rapid development of the Internet, the author has rarely heard the name of Liuqin Opera in the era of information explosion. Until one time I met a person from Linyi, Shandong. When chatting, this friend used the same statement to introduce the unique Liuqin opera in his hometown and the musical instrument that looks like a pipa but not a pipa. At that time, I immediately felt that I met an old friend in a foreign land. After communicating, I found that although Suining County and Linyi belong to two provinces, they are only separated by a mountain. When I think of the phrase "It is quiet on Weishan Lake" in "Playing My Beloved Pipa", Weishan Lake is located at the junction of the four provinces of Sulu, Henan and Anhui, and my heart is suddenly enlightened.

In the inheritance and protection of traditional culture, geographical division is far more effective than administrative division. Because Chinese people have a kind of "selfish" love for the land where they grow up and all the good things on this land. This kind of "selfishness" is also the key to the survival of local traditional culture. No matter how the times develop, there will always be people in the local area who insist on passing on this art, which is exactly the case with Liuqin Opera.

In November 2019, the "List of National Intangible Cultural Heritage Representative Project Protection Units" was announced, and Linyi Liuqin Opera Inheritance and Protection Center, Xuzhou Performing Arts Group Co., Ltd., and Zaozhuang Liuqin Opera Protection and Inheritance Center were awarded the "Liuqin Opera" project protection unit qualifications. This local drama that was born at the junction of the four provinces was finally distributed to the brothers of the provinces to jointly maintain. Although Liuqin Opera is still a little-known local opera, the "earth pipa" Liuqin is no longer a vassal of Liuqin Opera, and it is also a good thing to successfully become the soprano in the national band.