Chapter 21 Section 3 "Big Pearls and Small Pearls Falling on a Jade Plate"

Another notable area where the music of the Sui and Tang Dynasties blended and changed on the basis of multi-ethnic traditional music is the performing arts of instrumental music.I don't know how many famous scholars and poets were overwhelmed by its touching music, and thus wrote countless and endless music poems for the world. On an autumn night in the eleventh year of Emperor Xianzong Yuanhe of Tang Dynasty (816 A.D.), the autumn wind was rustling at the Pukou of Xunyang River in Jiangxi Province, maple leaves were falling, and a faint moonlight was reflected on the vast river.The poet Bai Juyi, who was demoted to Sima in Jiangzhou (now Jiujiang City), was saying goodbye to his guests in a boat on the river.All of a sudden, from a boat nearby, there was an exciting sound of pipa playing with the wind. The host and guest immediately forgot to say goodbye, and went away in search of the sound.It turned out that the performer was a prostitute in Beijing who was married to a merchant by her elders.During this meeting, the poet actually heard an unforgettable musical instrument performance. The poet had mixed feelings and wrote the world-famous narrative poem "Pipa Xing".

"Pipa Xing" describes the skills of pipa players in detail.The lyrical fingering of "lightly gathering, slowly twisting, wiping and picking again, first for "Neon Clothes" and then "Six Yao""; Harvesting and plucking carefully, strumming the four strings with a sound like cracking silk...all faithfully, vividly and delicately recorded the "close", "twist", "wipe", "pick" and "wheel" used in pipa playing at that time. , "sweep", "whisk" and other complex skills.The performer's deep-felt music performance has a strong artistic shock and fascinating artistic charm. By the end of the song, "all the seats on the boat are full of tears".If the performance level of an ordinary female prostitute who has been reduced to the end of the world is so good, then the artistic level of excellent musicians in the court, palace, and Buddhist halls can be imagined.At the same time, it also reflects from one aspect that the performing arts of instrumental music in the Sui and Tang Dynasties have reached a very high level.

The high development of pipa performing arts in the Sui and Tang Dynasties is inseparable from the active contributions of musicians from the Western Regions.From the Northern Qi Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, Cao's pipa family, originally from the Cao country in the northeast of Samarkand, has had outstanding pipa players for generations.From the Northern Qi Dynasty to the Sui Dynasty, Cao Miaoda, who was good at playing the pipa, was first favored by Gao Yang, Emperor Wenxuan of the Northern Qi Dynasty, and Gao Wei, the later lord of the Northern Qi Dynasty, and was named king in Kaifeng Mansion.After entering the Sui Dynasty, he served as a music official again, and was ordered by Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty to "teach" pipa skills in Taile, and trained a large number of court musicians.Cao Bao, his son Cao Shancai, and his grandson Cao Gang, who lived in Chang'an in the Tang Dynasty, were also famous pipa players.Cao Shancai has a high reputation. When the poet Li Shen (772-846 A.D.) listened to his performance, he seemed to see "flowers turning and the wind whistling in the sky, and Pei Hui filled the palace with spring snow"; The male and the female are beating the bright moon"; the music is praised as "Jiuxiaotianlexiayun" ("Sorrowful Talents").Cao Gang, the son of a good talent, is good at changing and playing new sounds, and he is also praised by the world. The poet Liu Yuxi (772-842 A.D.) praised him after listening to his performance: "The big strings are noisy and the small strings are clear, and the snow sprays the wind. The meaning is born. When Cao Gang plays "Bo Mei", life will not go out of the capital" ("Cao Gang").After listening to his performance, Bai Juyi was imaginative: "Plucking the strings has different meanings, and Hu Yi's speech is exquisite. Who can intercept Cao Gang's hand and insert it into the sleeve of Chonglian" ("Listening to Cao Gang's Pipa and Showing Chonglian ").When Cao Gang played, his right hand played vigorously and powerfully, "plucking like wind and rain", while another famous pipa master Pei Xingnu played with his left hand delicately, "good at twisting and twisting", so people said at that time: " Gang has a right hand; Xingnu has a left hand" (Tang Duan Anjie's "Pipa Record").

In addition to the Cao family and Pei Xingnu, the famous Sui and Tang pipa masters include Kang Kunlun, Duan Shanben, Lei Haiqing, Pei Shenfu and so on.Regarding the performance skills of Kang Kunlun and Duan Shanben, there is an interesting historical event in "Pipa Records": Tang Zhenyuanjian (785-805 AD), Kang Kunlun, who was originally from Kang, was known as the "No. 1 Pipa" in the world. .During a severe drought in Chang'an, the residents of the eastern and western districts gathered in Tianmen Street to hold a rain-praying meeting.Because of the presence of Kang Kunlun in the East District, he believed that the competition was sure to win, so he invited Kunlun to climb up the Cailou to play "Newly Turned Feather Tune Green Waist", which was intended to catch the audience first and let the audience appreciate his unbeatable musical level.After the Kunlun performance was finished, the square was silent. After a moment of silence, a young "girl" appeared on the Cailou in the West District. Move the song to the 'Feng Xiang Diao' to play", after speaking, he waved his hands and touched the strings, the sound was thunderous, touching people's hearts, that wonderful performance skill is far above Kunlun.After hearing this, Kang Kunlun was surprised and admired, and immediately said that he would worship the "girl" as his teacher. At this time, the "girl" changed clothes and went out to meet each other. It turned out that it was not a female stream but a monk from Zhuangyan Temple.The monk's surname is Duan, and his name is Rare Book. Later, he really became Kang Kunlun's pipa teacher.