Chapter 136: Playing the Guqin

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“Mhm,” Owner Li added on, “If you read the ancient records describing how a Guqin gets played, they all call it caressing the Guqin. Usually, you play the Guqin with your right hand plucking the string and your left hand pressing on the string. Your hands move around back and forth on the strings, and it requires lots of focus, while the way you play a Guzheng is completely different from the way you play a Guqin.”

Wen Fangfei reached out her hands and showed Li Xiaoru all ten of her fingers, “We Guzheng players pluck the strings with our right hand’s thumb, index finger, and middle finger. Our left hand would use the elasticity of the strings to control the changes in the notes to make the melody.”

Li Xiaoru only realized until now that, similar to herself, there were calluses all over Wen Fangfei’s fingers. The only difference was that they had calluses on different positions.

“A Guzheng has more strings than a Guqin, so it seems that playing a Guqin is much easier than playing a Guzheng. However, in reality, the ancient Chinese thought playing the Guqin was much harder than playing a Guzheng because you need to bring your audience into an artistic mood. Guqin is an instrument that’s very hard to completely control.

If you look at how Yu Boya played ‘Mountain stream’ for Zhong Ziqi and how Sima Xiangru played “Feng Qiu Huang” for Zhuo Wenjun. You need lots of understanding of the music and talent to reach this kind of artistic level. You won’t be able to reach this artistic level just by studying. It is why there are fewer and fewer Guqin players now. The amount of people in the Guzheng major is four times the amount of people in the Guqin major. The school doesn’t treat this unpopular major as important either,” Wen Fangfei informed Li Xiaoru.

Li Xiaoru, who learned a lot, nodded her head, “I thought Guzheng and Guqin were the same before, but I never knew how much there is to learn about both of these instruments.”

“Unfortunately, most parents are like you. They don’t understand the folksong instruments. People who don’t study music always subconsciously think the western instruments are high-tiered. When they want their children to develop an interest in music, they always choose western instruments like the piano and violin. Now, the folksong instruments are getting less and less popular,” Owner Li sounded very disappointed.

“My shop has been here for twenty years. Over the past few years, the business has been getting worse and worse. Sometimes I get five to six customers a day, and sometimes I get none. If you look at the guitar shop opposite the street, you would see they have lots of customers every day.”

Li Xiaoru said, “Guitars are different. Those boys all go and learn guitar like a swarm of bees just because they can sing and play at the same time, and it’s easier for them to flirt with girls.”

Li Xiaoru could always make everyone else laugh and make them be in a good mood.

Wen Fangfei smiled as she added, “You have a point. Whenever there’s a boy playing the guitar, there would immediately be a crowd of girls surrounding him.”

“You would have to be handsome before you can cause this kind of effect,” Li Xiaoru laughed as she looked at Wen Fangfei, “If you play the Guzheng publically, you would probably attract a huge group of boys too.”

The three girls chatted and laughed, finally chasing away the aftereffects of that certain incident involving broken strings.

Wen Fangfei tentatively asked Liu Man, “You seem to be interested in this Guqin. Do you want to try playing it?”

Li Xiaoru felt Wen Fangfei’s words were strange, “Did you forget we are piano majors? How in the world can Man Man possibly know how to play the Guqin?”

“That’s not necessarily true.”

Liu Man looked at Wen Fangfei’s eyes, which seemed to have understood everything. She knew that she wouldn’t be able to keep this secret away from Wen Fangfei. She asked Owner Li, “Can I try playing this Guqin?”

“Of course. I’ve already tuned it. Help yourself,” Owner Li said without any hesitance.

Liu Man placed a stool in front of the instrument and sat down.

“I have some Yijia in my purse. Wear them before you play,” Wen Fangfei said as she opened her purse.

Liu Man, however, shook and smiled, “I’ve never used Yijia before. I’ve always played with just my nails.”

Wen Fangfei’s sight couldn’t help but land on Liu Man’s fingers. She felt that it was very weird. A pianist could never have long fingernails since the tips of their fingers gets into contact with the keys. If their fingernails were long, it was easy for them to slip on the keyboard, which was why Liu Man had her nails cut very neatly.

How could her fingers pluck the strings this way?

Wouldn’t she feel pain?

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Ever since Madam Xu passed away, Liu Man had never touched a Guqin. Now, as she was sitting in front of the instrument, Liu Man suddenly didn’t know what she should play, so she played a short piece.

The melody was simple but sounded very good.

Li Xiaoru suddenly froze.

Man Man… Man Man knew how to play the Guqin! Her fingers were so nimble, and she looked very skillful. She looked like Fangfei playing the Guzheng.

Wen Fangfei and Owner Li, two specialists at instruments, were also surprised. Firstly, Liu Man’s notes were perfect, and her fingerings were skillful. It was apparent she had practiced a lot. Secondly, the short piece she played was unfamiliar to them.

The piece was short, and Liu Man got through it quickly.

Wen Fangfei asked, “What piece is this? Why have I never heard of it before.”

Owner Li said, “I’ve never heard of it either, and I thought I’ve listened to all the famous Chinese songs.”

“This piece is called ‘Teasing the Spring’, and it was composed by a palace musician named Shi Wu back in the Western Han dynasty,” Liu Man explained. She saw how Wen Fangfei and Owner Li still looked confused, and she guessed that this piece hadn’t been passed down to the modern era. Maybe even the name, “Shi Wu”, got lost in the long river of history.

Liu Man decided she should not play ancient pieces that didn’t exist in the modern world in the future, or else she would seem suspicious.

Luckily, “Teasing the Spring” was short and simple so Wen Fangfei and Owner Li did not dig deeper.

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Liu Man intentionally changed to another topic, “Now my mind feels so empty. I don’t even know what I should play next.”

“You should try playing “Butterfly Lovers” next. I have the music sheets with me,” Wen Fangfei took out the music from in her purse and placed it on the shelf in front of the Guqin. She turned her head to say to Li Xiaoru, “Xiaoru, you’ll be the judge, and you get to deem if I am the better player or if Man Man’s better.”

Li Xiaoru instantly got excited, “Sure, sure. I will be very strict!”

Liu Man was way too familiar with the music sheets of “Butterfly Lovers” after so many rehearsals. She could’ve played the piece even without the sheets.

Liu Man sat upright in front of the Guqin. She did not look at Wen Fangfei’s music sheets but went over “Butterfly Lovers”’ story and combined it with the Guqin. She had only played ancient pieces and had never played modern music on the Guqin.

She was doing what Wen Fangfei was talking about: creating an artistic mood.

Then, as if she finally got through her thinking, she pressed down on the strings with her left hand and started plucking with her right hand. Soon, “Butterfly Lovers” beautiful melody flowed into the air within this shop.

They were playing the same piece, but the Guqin’s style was completely different from the Guzheng style. Guzhengs played lively and bright music while the Guqins gave off a serene and deep vibe. Liu Man’s carefree and peaceful expression made her seem like an ancient Chinese, and it was as if her music brought them all back to the ancient world.

Li Xiaoru couldn’t take her astonished eyes off of Liu Man, who was playing the instrument. Liu Man, who was playing the Guqin, was completely different from herself when she played the piano! She could be ethereal at playing the Guqin, and she could be elegant at playing the latter instrument. Besides, her Guqin skills were much better than her piano skills.

At first, Wen Fangfei only thought Liu Man played the Guqin as a hobby. Most students who studied instruments knew how to play a second instrument, just like how Tang Tu played the violin and also knew how to play the piano. Wen Fangfei herself knew a little about how to play the Guqin.

However, Wen Fangfei didn’t expect Liu Man’s skills to be this good. She was confused as to why Liu Man chose to go to the piano major instead of the Guqin major when she applied to this school.

Translated by: Sydney

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