Wuguanqinpu

Author: Huang Xian
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2007-01-01
Features: The guqin is one of the earliest stringed instruments in Chinese history and a treasure of traditional Chinese culture. It is cherished by people worldwide for its long history, extensive literature, rich connotations, and profound influence. This ancient instrument and its music, which has a history of three thousand years, are an important part of Chinese musical history and a representative of traditional Chinese musical culture. From its form to its repertoire, from its unique notation system to its diverse playing techniques, the guqin reflects the highest level of Chinese musical art. The music of the guqin has a profound and reserved style, as well as a charming artistic appeal. It excels in creating a ethereal beauty through the use of "emptiness" and "distance," pursuing subtle, intrinsic spiritual essence and artistic conception. It possesses rich yet appears extremely simple, free, and unrestrained in its external form. Only by deeply studying guqin music can one gain a true understanding of the depth and breadth of Chinese music. The "Four Arts" (qin, chess, calligraphy, and painting) place the qin at the forefront, becoming an outstanding representative of traditional Chinese culture. In 2003, the guqin was listed by UNESCO as "Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity," attracting attention both domestically and internationally. The ancient art of the guqin has ushered in a new spring.
Chinese music spans three thousand years, from ancient times to the end of the Tang Dynasty, yet direct sound materials such as musical scores are extremely scarce. The guqin is one of the Chinese instruments that preserves the most vocal music records. Guqin music has established its own complete system of aesthetics, musical theory, notation, playing techniques, and fingerings, hence the term "qin dao" or "qin xue" (the way of the qin or the study of the qin). There are over three thousand traditional guqin scores in China, but fewer than a hundred can currently be performed. The compilation of guqin score classics is a monumental task. Famous guqin pieces such as High Mountain, Flowing Water, Wild Goose Flying South, Spring Sun, and White Snow have all been recorded in history. From the Northern and Southern Dynasties to the Qing Dynasty, there are over a hundred guqin score collections and more than three thousand guqin pieces. The existing guqin scores mainly come from the Ming and Qing dynasties, with particular emphasis on the few early Ming Dynasty collections, which are closest to the Song and Yuan periods and preserve much of the original materials of ancient guqin studies. These scores hold immense historical value, providing invaluable data for understanding and researching ancient guqin studies, learning by score, and performance. Based on these, the following guqin scores have been compiled and published: Ta Yin Duan Quan Ji, Wu Gang Qin Pu, Qin Pu Zheng Chuan, Xing Zhuang Tai Yin Bu Yi, Xing Zhuang Tai Yin Xu Pu, Qin Shu Duan Quan, and Xi Lu Tang Qin Tong. This allows our society to publish, in addition to the widely recognized Compendium of Ancient Chinese Qin Books already published, a more extensive collection of guqin scores and schools, providing a comprehensive and diverse anthology of ancient guqin scores, with each volume independently published.