Chapter 15 Boya/The First Person of Eternal Friends

Boya, a native of Ying (now Jingzhou, Hubei) in the state of Chu in the Spring and Autumn Period.He was a very famous luthier in the pre-Qin period of our country. When Boya was young, he learned guqin from Mr. Cheng Lian, and soon mastered various playing skills.But his playing is very pale, unable to express the deep feelings of the music, let alone resonate with the appreciators. After studying like this for three years, he has not improved at all.One day, Mr. Cheng Lian said to Boya: "My teacher, Fang Zichun, lives in the East China Sea. He can teach you how to cultivate human interest. I will take you there and let him explain it to you, which will greatly improve your art. Level." Boya was very happy, so he prepared dry food, and the master and apprentice set off in a boat.After arriving at Penglai Mountain in the East China Sea, Mr. Cheng Lian said to Boya: "You stay here to practice the piano, and I will go to find the master." After saying that, he shook the boat and left.

The departure lasted ten days. Boya waited anxiously on the island. While playing the piano every day, he looked around and saw no one but the vast sea. He could only hear the roar of the sea waves. It is lush and lush, and the sound of birds flying and chirping comes from time to time. These wonderful sounds and wonderful scenery make him fully appreciate the natural scenery. .Boya had a strong desire to create, and he composed his feelings into piano music, titled "Narciss Exercise". A few days later, Mr. Cheng Lian returned by rowing the boat, listened to his sincere performance, and praised his performance for having artistic life and learned the tricks.Only then did Boya realize that the teacher's painstaking efforts turned out to let the beauty of nature cultivate his sentiments and teach him lessons.Since then, Boya has continuously accumulated experience in life and art, and finally became a master at playing the piano.It is said that when Boya plays the qin, even the horses grazing will look up and listen.

Later, Boya went to the state of Jin to be an official.Once, he was ordered by the Marquis of Jin to go to the state of Chu for a job.Boya took Qin Tong down the Han River to the mouth of the Yangtze River. Standing on the bow of the boat, he saw a crescent moon hanging on the top of the cliff.He went back to the cabin and opened the bag to get the piano, and played it in front of the bright moon and the vast river.Before the end of the song, there was a sudden "clang", and a string broke.According to the saying at the time, the strings of the qin will only break when you meet a bosom friend.Boya walked out of the cabin, and sure enough, he saw a woodcutter in coir raincoat and bamboo hat, with an ax in his hand, and a bundle of firewood on the ground, standing by the river listening to the piano.Boya invited him into the cabin, changed the strings, and played to him.With the sound of the piano, Boya's thoughts flew up to the high mountains, and the sound of the piano became excited. The woodcutter exclaimed, "It's great! What a majestic Mount Tai!" Boya's thoughts flew to Hao Hao again. In the vast river, the sound of the piano is also smooth.The woodcutter praised again: "That's great, what a mighty river!" Boya was very excited, and said excitedly: "You are really my bosom friend!" The woodcutter is Zhong Ziqi.Later, when Zhong Ziqi died of illness, Boya was very sad, thinking that his bosom friend was gone, no one could understand his piano sound, and no one was worthy of playing for him.He went to Zhong Ziqi's grave and wept a lot, broke the qin, and never played the qin again for the rest of his life.This legend was later regarded as a good talk about bosom friends, and the famous piano music was also said to be composed by Boya.