Music heritage the heartbeat of Wuxi's proud history

Centuries of excellence and innovation define local culture, Wang Jinhui reports.

Wuxi in East China's Jiangsu province is a birthplace of Wu culture. The city's rich musical elements are integral to its profound cultural and historical heritage, spurring innovation and conveying a welcoming, inclusive and diverse temperament.

Boasting over 30 centuries of recorded history and more than 2,500 years of city building, Wuxi is traversed by the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and encompasses some 4,627 square kilometers, with a population of about 7.5 million.

The city's music heritage can be traced back to the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC), when Wuxi native Ji Zha (576-485 BC), a diplomat and literary critic, was sent on a mission to the states of Lu and Qi, where he expressed his appreciation for their innovative musical stylings. To date, more than 5,000 musical instruments, including bianqing, hanging drum stands, and bells, have been unearthed from the Hongshan tombs in Wuxi, a burial site of Wu and Yue nobility during that period.

Another Wuxi native, Gu Kaizhi, an artist from the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420), created Zhuo Qin Tu, a rare ancient painting depicting the process of making a zither. As the only painting in Chinese history that reflects the manufacturing process of a musical instrument, it holds great value.

Wuxi is also home to the Kunqu Opera Tianyun Society, founded during the Tianqi period of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). The last host of Tianyun was the Kunqu musician Wu Wanqing (1847-1926), who was skilled in composing, played traditional instruments including sanxian and pipa, and led the society for 50 years. Peking Opera master Mei Lanfang once studied under him, and his disciples included renowned musicologist Yang Yinliu.

Impressive talents

In addition to ancient instruments and a centuries-old opera society, Wuxi has produced an impressive list of talents, including Hua Qiuping, who wrote the first pipa music score in China during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911); Liu Tianhua, a master of modern Chinese ethnic music; Hua Yanjun, known as A Bing, renowned worldwide for his erhu (two-stringed fiddle) piece The Moon Reflected on the Erquan Spring; Zheng Jinwen, who pioneered the 32-member Chinese ethnic orchestra; and Wei Zhongle, the first Chinese ethnic musician to be featured on television in the United States.

Wuxi has also spawned many masterful figures in music, such as Yang Yinliu, Zhou Shaomei, Gu Yuxiu, Cao Anhe, Chu Shizhu, Zhu Qinfu, Zhu Shikuang, Zheng Yusun, Jiang Fengzhi, Wei Zhongle, Min Jiqian, Min Huifen, and others. Their deep and far-reaching influence has propelled local folk and national music onto the world stage.

The city has earned a reputation as the hometown of folk music and the erhu in China. Harmonicas, accordions, harps and other instruments are also rooted in Wuxi's musical development, with various performances and festivals driving the arts industry, leading to advanced manufacturing and modern services that promote the city's industrial upgrading.

International exposure

Wuxi is also home to dozens of choirs, bands and ensembles that incorporate independent musicians, educators, doctors, teachers, media professionals, and more. For example, the Wuxi Shanhe Chorus, with a history of 24 years, is an amateur choir that has won more than 30 gold awards in major international and domestic competitions, such as the World Choir Games and the China International Choral Festival. Shanhe has performed hundreds of solo concerts and various exchange events in over 20 cities nationwide, as well as visited Austria, South Korea, Australia, Russia, Japan and South Africa.

Another outstanding group is the Wuxi Rococo Orchestra, which is mainly composed of faculty and students from the School of Humanities at Jiangnan University, dedicated to promoting and popularizing classical music.

Contact the writer at wangjinhui@chinadaily.com.cn