Guzheng Miscellany

Author: Guo Ping
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-02-01
Features: Listening to the wind of pine trees in the peaks of high mountains, contemplating the meaning of life and time by the flowing water. When the autumn wind begins to rise, wild geese fly across the clear and crisp sky; in the quiet and slightly cold nights, sitting alone in the bamboo grove, all is silent yet full of life. At the first hint of dawn, woodcutters have already shouldered firewood and are walking down the mountain dewy paths; fishing boats still carry slightly tipsy fishermen drifting with the flow. In the blooming spring flowers, an endless hope appears in the eyes of the musician; when snow falls on the empty mountain, the idea of meeting friends by the Shanxi River fades in the heart. Ancient, far from the present, is a concept of time, but more so a psychological scale of time. Those who love the ancient, those who love the qin, refuse to follow the crowd, unwilling to believe that time can change the beauty of eternity. They stubbornly hold on, filled with sorrow but also with joy. Everyone thinks they are wise because they are practical; those who love the ancient also think they are not foolish because they have stubborn dreams. Who ultimately transcends the pain and troubles of life, each has their own standards and reasons. Those who are attached to the ancient, of course, are infatuated with the essence left behind by the waves of time, believing that their beauty is affirmed and that they have already proven immortality, wanting to rely on this immortality for transcendence, but this does not align with the current perspective. Modern people do not love them, so the ancient are cast aside by the present, and yet those who love the ancient are thereby transcending the conventions of the times.
As a relic of history and culture, the guqin is vast and profound, incomparably beautiful. Created by the beautiful intentions of the past, it has accompanied the Chinese people who love beauty for millennia, becoming immortal. The guqin has accumulated so much, yet it seems always silent, never having shouted loudly, never having seen any guqin player rise to prominence through it. The guqin is somewhat like a solitary pine on the rocky mountains, somewhat like a lone cloud emerging from the peaks, somewhat like a river that flows day and night without rest, and also like the sincere and simple face of an ordinary person. Its sorrows, joys, and hopes are expressed in a humble manner, existing with a composed attitude, like the boundless and nature.
As a relic of history and culture, the guqin is vast and profound, incomparably beautiful. Created by the beautiful intentions of the past, it has accompanied the Chinese people who love beauty for millennia, becoming immortal. The guqin has accumulated so much, yet it seems always silent, never having shouted loudly, never having seen any guqin player rise to prominence through it. The guqin is somewhat like a solitary pine on the rocky mountains, somewhat like a lone cloud emerging from the peaks, somewhat like a river that flows day and night without rest, and also like the sincere and simple face of an ordinary person. Its sorrows, joys, and hopes are expressed in a humble manner, existing with a composed attitude, like the boundless and nature.