Chapter 42 Duan Shanben and Kang Kunlun/Pianist from Zhenyuan

Kang Kunlun was a famous pipa player in the Tang Dynasty.He was originally from the Kingdom of Kang (now Samarkand, Central Asia).During the reign of Zhenyuan (785-805), the court musician was known as the "first hand" of pipa, but in a competition, he lost to the monk Duan Shanben of Zhuangyan Temple. During the reign of Zhenyuan, when Chang'an encountered a severe drought, the emperor ordered the eastern and western cities to pray for rain.People from the two cities set up two colorful buildings on Tianmen Street and invited musicians to perform on stage to compete for victory.The people on the east side of the street invited Kang Kunlun, the first player, thinking that no one on the west side of the street could beat him, so they invited Kang Kunlun to perform on the colorful building.Kang Kunlun was high-spirited, and performed a new tune "Liu Yao" on the stage. His skillful skills and beautiful piano sound fascinated the audience. joke.At this time, a young girl holding a pipa appeared on the Cailou in the west of the street. She said to everyone: "I also play "Six Yao" for you, but I want to move it to the maple fragrance. Play." Experts know that if you change the key, the difficulty of playing will increase a lot.As soon as the girl flicked, the sound was like thunder, and the skill was superb. People in the two cities held their breath and were fascinated by it.At the end of the song, there was thunderous applause. Kang Kunlun was taken aback, and was also stunned by the girl's skills.When he came back to his senses, he immediately walked quickly to the colored building on the west side of the street, and wanted to worship the girl as his teacher.

The girl playing the piano slowly took off her clothes and the wig on her head. It turned out to be Duan Shanben, a monk from Zhuangyan Temple! The matter immediately spread throughout the capital.The next day, Tang Dezong sent people to call Duan Shanben and Kang Kunlun to the palace and asked them to play, and then he asked Duan Shanben to accept Kang Kunlun as his apprentice.Duan Shanben said to Kang Kunlun: "What you have learned is too complicated, and it has evil voices." Kang Kunlun bowed and said: "Master Duan is really a god! When I was young, I learned the pipa, and I occasionally met a nearby witch and learned from her." However, later, I learned from many masters, so it is mixed and not pure." Duan Shanben said: "You can learn from me, but you must not play musical instruments for ten years, forget everything you have learned before, and then start from scratch. Start learning, would you like to?" Kang Kunlun said: "Yes." After that, he really didn't get close to musical instruments for ten years, and then humbly learned from Duan Shanben, and eventually became a generation of famous masters.