Guqin and me

 What is guqin?

The guqin, a seven-stringed zither, is China’s oldest stringed instrument with a documented history of about 3,000 years. It became part of a tradition cultivated by Chinese scholars and literati and has been associated with philosophers, sages, and emperors since the time of Confucius. Perhaps because of this illustrious history, following the rise to power of the Chinese Communist Party in 1949, the guqin came to be viewed as one of the “Four Evils” and was the only traditional Chinese musical instrument to be banned during the Cultural Revolution. As a result the practice of playing the guqin and the instrument itself became endangered. More recently, the guqin has enjoyed a return to favor with the government and was featured in the 2008 Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony and has also been used in some popular movies such as Zhang Yimou’s Hero.

Please see more detail about guqin at http://www.chineseculture.net/guqin/qinjieshao.html

I  began my study of the guqin under one of the great living masters, Professor Li Xiangting, at the Central Conservatory of Music in China in 1985. I have won several awards in the field of Chinese music, including first place in the Chinese College Student Art Contest in 1989. I have given a number of performances and concerts throughout the world, especially in China, the United States, and Japan. I have given numerous speeches, workshops, demonstrations and seminars on the guqin for the general public internationally. I frequently give lectures for prestigious universities such as Stanford, UC Berkeley, UCLA, UCSB and USSC. My music was included in an American textbook and CD on geography and music in 2003 to represent Chinese music. I am the founder and director of the North American Guqin Association (NAGA), and a council member of the China Guqin Committee. I am one of the youngest members and examiners of the Qualifications Committee for the national guqin grading examination in China.

Pleae visit my youtube to know more about my guqin music http://www.youtube.com/user/wangfeimusic

I believe music serves as a vehicle for getting to know a culture. The guqin is a good way of getting to know Chinese culture since it embodies so many aspects of Chinese thought in such areas as philosophy, music, art, and literature. My goal is to get modern people, especially western audiences, to appreciate this ancient Chinese art form, but the question is how to bridge the gap between an ancient tradition and a culture based on high technology while maintaining the guqin tradition and keeping Chinese culture authentic. This is a challenge I constantly seek and is one of the reasons I am very interested in participating in this Performing Diaspora program and in bringing the discussion to the symposium.

 In this project I want to use a new approach and modern technology to present guqin music in an innovative way. I will bring different art forms such as calligraphy, narrative, video projection and dance into a live concert. Music and other forms of art speak the same language and can interpret the same subject. I will make the audience “listen, watch and feel”: a comprehensive and diverse way to enjoy guqin music.

I have a background in traditional Chinese music and have given a number of solo concerts and performances internationally. I also have a background in multimedia and have created a number of digital projects ranging from web sites, CD productions, streaming videos and live online concerts. How to combine my different talents and make the contrast between the ancient and the modern work is an area that I am studying and exploring. I believe that modern technology can enhance ancient art forms and bring them to modern society. So this project will use electronic music and multimedia interactive technology to contemporize ancient concepts and content. The goal is to make the audience feel that sometimes something very ancient can also be very new and very modern.