A Concert of Chinese Guqin Music

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Sounds of Antiquity: A Concert of Chinese Seven-Stringed Plucked Zither Guqin Music to be Presented at Orvis Auditorium, Music Department, UH Manoa.

UH Mānoa’s Center for Chinese Studies, Confucius Institute, and Ethnomusicology Program will present a unique concert of the Chinese seven-stringed plucked zither guqin featuring Beijing-based Master Li Xiang Ting at Orvis Auditorium, Music Department, UH-Manoa, on Tuesday, September 28, at 7:30 p.m.

Don’t miss this opportunity to hear an esteemed genre of Chinese music rarely performed in public until recent years. With a history of more than 3,000 years, the seven-stringed plucked zither guqin (古琴) is China’s oldest stringed instrument. The guqin was a symbol of Chinese high culture through its association with the literati and cultural elite. Detached from the vernacular musical world, the guqin’s hermitic existence was largely due to the fact that playing the guqin was considered an act of contemplation and a process of self-purification that could eventually lead one to spiritual enlightenment because of its association with Confucian philosophy, Daoist mystical symbolism, and Buddhist teaching.

In 2004, UNESCO proclaimed guqin music as an Intangible Cultural Heritage. Guqin music is serene, meditative, soulful, and often consists of subtle changes in tone-color. The tonal quality of the guqin is so exquisite and culturally significant that Confucius considered the guqin music the sound of antiquity exemplifying the ideals of a harmonious world. The earliest guqin music can be dated to the 5th century and many guqin handbooks were produced throughout the centuries. Guqin music has experienced a revival since the 1980s.

Beijing-based guqin master Li Xiang Ting, professor of music at the Central Conservatory of Music since 1963, has been named as “A Representative Inheritor for a National Intangible Cultural Heritage” for his guqin art. He was a research fellow at Cambridge University in 1990 and a visiting fellow at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, until 1994. Currently, he is Vice-President of the Beijing Guqin Research Association, President of the Chinese Orchestral Music Association Guqin Committee, a member of the China Musicians’ Association, an executive member of the International Cultural Exchange Center of China, and senior advisor to guqin associations in North America, London, and Macau. In 2007, he was cited as an “Expert with Superb Contribution” by the PRC State Council.

FREE Admission. For more information, please call 956-6083.

Ticket Information
Admission is free and open to the public.

Event Sponsor
Center for Chinese Studies & Confucius Institute, Manoa Campus

More Information
Helen Lee, 808-956-6083, helenlee@hawaii.edu

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