Guqin: Crafting a 3,000-year-old musical treasure

The Star

Guqin, a UNESCO treasure since 2003, embodies China's cultural heritage. Master artisan Zhang Hao infuses each piece with artistry and soulful resonance, echoing through generations.  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

Transcript

00:00The sound of the Guqin itself is very low-pitched.

00:11For the ancients, it was a way to express their feelings.

00:15I learned music when I was a child.

00:17Then in 2008, I officially started to study or enter this field.

00:22The sound of the Guqin

00:29When choosing materials, these are all old wood.

00:33It is the beam or pillar of the house.

00:36It is more stable when it is cut down.

00:41The sound of the Guqin

00:44We have to dig in this.

00:48How much to dig? It depends on the wood.

00:51Now we have dug a part of it and baked it with fire.

00:56The water content of the center of a piece of wood is different from the water content of the outside.

01:00So we have to do it while doing it.

01:03Then bake it again to get the moisture out.

01:07This process takes at least a month.

01:08The sound of the Guqin

01:11This is the sound of the Guqin.

01:12We have to listen with our ears.

01:14Listen to which place is thick and which place is thin.

01:16Then put it on top and adjust it.

01:18Generally speaking, my Guqin can be played in the first three or four years.

01:24It will be a little longer in recent years.

01:30Every Guqin is different.

01:31It has its own personality.

01:33So when you play the Guqin with your personality,

01:37Or when you play the Guqin with your strength,

01:40It will follow you.

01:42Now there are a lot of studies.

01:43Like in college, elementary school and middle school.

01:46Because we attend the cultural festival every year.

01:48You can see that the parents can say that this is Guqin, not Guzheng.

01:53What's going on?

01:54The more it is used to educate people,

01:56In the process of playing the Guqin,

01:57Actually, just let go and express yourself.

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