The guqin, a renowned Chinese musical instrument, is known for its characteristics of being "subtle, delicate, serene, and far-reaching, with a melodious and deep tone," and has been cherished by literati and scholars throughout history.
Today, the ethereal notes of this instrument drift from the backyard of a shop in the streets of Nancy, a small city in northeastern France. The players are Wu Daomin, a guqin teacher from China, and her two foreign students.
Wu was born in Nanjing. Having learned the guzheng from childhood, she encountered the guqin by chance in 2006 and has been connected to it ever since. She had already established a guqin studio and worked in guqin performance in China. In 2019, she moved to France with her husband and their family, and now works in art education in Nancy, France.
Being Wu's first French student, Audrey Mandet has been learning the guqin from her for several years. Audrey lives in Metz, about an hour's drive from Nancy. Every week, she makes a special trip by train to Nancy for her lessons with Wu. "There aren't many Guqin teachers in France… I was lucky to find one in Nancy."
Audrey learned piano at a French conservatory from a young age and is a seasoned music enthusiast. She first encountered the guqin in an introductory class at the Confucius Institute in Metz and fell in love with this Chinese classical folk instrument ever since. " It's somewhat like playing the piano because it requires using both hands."
Through learning the guqin, Audrey has also gradually begun to learn about Chinese culture, becoming increasingly interested. When asked about her favorite guqin piece, Audrey's top choice is "Drunken Ecstasy" (Jiu Kuang, literally means 'drunkard'), traditionally attributed to Ruan Ji, one of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove from the Wei-Jin period.
Audrey mentioned that while learning the piece, she also learned about the interesting story behind it. "This story is about a father who doesn't want his daughter to get married. He drinks heavily every day so that the future son-in-law's family won't propose to his daughter." Audrey said with a laugh that such stories gave her a deeper understanding of Chinese culture.
Wu's other student is Moon Suk, a Korean living in France. Having learned the guqin for less than a year, she modestly says she is not yet technically proficient, "But I'm also learning a lot of knowledge about Guqin, including its history and culture, all of which is very interesting."
Moon Suk can communicate with people in Chinese. She told us that Korean culture and Chinese culture have similarities; for example, the origin of the Korean script, Hangul, is related to Chinese characters. Moon Suk expressed her hope that by learning about Chinese culture and Chinese characters, she can better understand Korean culture.
The guqin was listed by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2003, over twenty years ago. In recent years, with the revival of "Guochao" (national trend), the "guqin fever" seems to have been discussed at times. But in fact, when Chinese folk music is mentioned overseas, people often think first of the erhu, guzheng, pipa, and others.
Wu said, "Compared to other traditional Chinese instruments, the guqin is still quite niche. Many Chinese people may not even know what it is." Yet, precisely because it is niche, the process by which each foreign student who chooses to learn the guqin encounters and falls in love with it is as precious as finding a good listener. According to Wu, these students are very genuine; if they come to learn, it must be out of heartfelt liking.
Wu summarizes the artistic style of the guqin in words: "Balance, serenity, subtlety, and distance." Everyone encounters the guqin through different circumstances and chances, and the guqin can offer everyone what they seek from it.
Currently, the number of students learning the guqin from Wu is still relatively small. Speaking about the future, Wu believes that the dissemination and development of guqin art abroad has already accumulated the efforts of several generations, but the road ahead is still long and needs to be traversed step by step.
Related News:
Comment