Pipa Art (Pudong school)

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: Pipa Art (Pudong school)

Applicant: Nanhui District, Shanghai

Item No.: 618

Project No.: Ⅱ - 119

Time of publication: 2008 (second batch)

Category: Traditional Music

Region: Shanghai

Type: new item

Applicant: Nanhui District, Shanghai

Protection unit: Shanghai Pudong New Area Culture and art guidance center (Shanghai Pudong New Area Mass Culture and Art Museum, Shanghai Pudong New Area film distribution and projection management station)

Pipa Art (Pudong school)

Applicant: Nanhui District, Shanghai

Pipa is an ancient stringed instrument in China. The word "Pipa" first appeared in Shuowen Jiezi written by Xu Shen in the Eastern Han Dynasty. "Pi" and "Ba" are two playing techniques of this traditional musical instrument, which are equivalent to today's "Tan" and "Tiao". The instrument is called "Pi Ba" by its technical name, and later changed to "Pipa". From the Qin and Han Dynasties to the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Pipa was the general name of a variety of stringed instruments. In the long process of historical evolution, Pipa has experienced the transformation from horizontal holding to vertical holding. The Tang Dynasty was the peak period of the development of hengbaopatan Pipa art. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Pipa artists made great contributions to the creation of Pipa music, especially the large-scale Divertimento, and formed many famous Pipa performing schools. In the 1930s, Mr. Liu Tianhua boldly reformed the pipa, and created the six phase and thirteen grade pipa. After the founding of new China, the development of Pipa reached a new peak. Nowadays, Pipa is not only used for solos and national orchestras, but also the main musical instrument of Jiangnan Sizhu, Guangdong music, Chaozhou string poetry, Fujian Nanyin, etc.

Pudong Pipa is a kind of pipa playing art school created by several generations of Pipa masters in Nanhui District of Shanghai, who absorbed the essence of predecessors' performance. Its ancestor was Ju Shilin of Huinan Town, Nanhui County in Qianlong period of Qing Dynasty. During the reign of Qianlong and Jiaqing in Qing Dynasty, the status of Pudong school was formally established. Its successors were mainly distributed in Nanhui County, Pudong, Shanghai, and their activities extended to Shanghai and the whole Jiangnan area, even as far as the capital.

Chen Zijing, the third generation of Pipa of Pudong school, was called into the capital by the Qing government to perform for Prince Chun. He was awarded the title of "the first Pipa in the world". Shen haochu, the fourth generation successor, devoted himself to studying the essence of the performance of his predecessors. In 1929, he published yangzhengxuan Pipa score in the form of gongchi score, which made an important contribution to the further development of Pudong pipa. The score was translated by his student Lin Shicheng into a staff score, which was reprinted in 1983. In 1956, Lin Shicheng, the fifth generation successor, was employed as the pipa professor of the Central Conservatory of music. He trained a large number of influential students and made the influence of Pudong Pipa spread all over the world. The pipa of Pudong school is still popular among the people.

The pipa performance fingering of Pudong school is very unique. Its outstanding characteristics are rolling four strings, parallel strings, big points, sweeping, dragging, clip playing, clip sweeping, various singing methods, gongs and drums playing, etc. There are many representative repertoires of Pudong school, including "sunset flute and drum", "Wulin Yiyun", "yueergao" and other essays, "sunny spring snow", "Pu'an mantra" and other Daqu, "ambush on all sides", "wild geese falling in the sand", "general order" and other martial arts routines, and more than 30 newly created repertoires such as "flower party", "Youth Dance" and "student exercises". Among them, Wuqu is majestic, and Wenqu is quiet and delicate. When playing Wuqu, you often need to use the big Pipa with full bow and great strength. In this process, some performance methods with Shanghai style characteristics are preserved.

Pipa is the essence of Chinese national music art, and Pudong Pipa is an important school of Pipa art, its influence is all over the world. At present, in Nanhui, Shanghai, the birthplace of Pudong pipa, there are few successors of Pudong pipa. In order to revitalize the pipa playing skills of Pudong school, it is obviously not enough to rely on the strength of the people alone. It needs the concerted efforts of all parties in the society.

Chinese PinYin : Pi Pa Yi Shu Pu Dong Pai