Top Ten Classical Chinese Songs

The Ten Greatest Classical Chinese Songs are "High Mountains and Flowing Water", "Three Symbols of Plum Blossoms", "The Sunset Flute and Drum", "The Autumn Moon in the Han Palace", "White Snow in the Yangchun Spring", "The Woodcutter and Fisherman's Question and Answer", "Eighteen Beats of Hu Jia", "Guangling San", "The Wild Geese in the Flat Sand" and "Ambush on Ten Sides".

1, "High Mountains and Flowing Water"

Legend has it that the pre-Qin qin master, Bo Ya, once played the qin in the deserted mountains, and the woodcutter, Zhong Ziqi, was able to understand the meaning of "High Mountains and Flowing Water" in the song. Bo Ya was astonished and said, "Good, Zi Zhi's heart is the same as mine." After Ziqi's death, Bo Ya lost his soulmate, dropped his zither and stopped playing for the rest of his life, hence the song "High Mountains and Flowing Water".

2, "Plum Blossom Three Favors"

This song is a borrowed object, through the plum blossom's white, fragrant and cold-resistant characteristics, to praise people with noble sentiments, the song in the Panch tune repeated three times in different positions, so it is known as the "Three Favors".

3, "sunset xiao drum"

Originally a pipa solo piece, also known as the "Spring River Flower and Moonlit Night", "Xunyang Pipa", "Xunyang Night Moon".

4, "Han Palace Autumn Moon"

Chongming school pipa song. The "Autumn Moon in the Palace of Han" is intended to express the sadness and sorrow of the oppressed court ladies in ancient times, and to arouse people's sympathy for their misfortune.

5, "White Snow in Yangchun"

An excellent pipa solo piece that has been widely circulated. With its fresh and fluent melody and lively rhythm, it vividly expresses the early spring scene in which the winter is over and the earth is recovering and everything is flourishing.

6, the fisherman and woodcutter

There are more than thirty versions of this piece of music that have been passed down through the generations, some with lyrics. The music expresses the fun of fishermen and woodcutters enjoying themselves in the middle of green mountains and waters.

7. "Eighteen Beats of Hu Jia"

At the end of Han Dynasty, Cai Yan (Wen Ji), the daughter of Cai Yong, a famous literati and guqin writer, was captured by the Xiong Nu during the military turmoil, and stayed in the South Xiong Nu to be the consort of the King of Zuohyun, and gave birth to two children. When Cao Cao sent someone to bring her back, she wrote a long poem about her tragic life and her homesickness for her son. The poem is sad and emotional, and is quite touching. Eighteen Beats is the meaning of Eighteen Songs. Because the poem was composed by her because of the mournful sound of Hu Jia, it was named "Eighteen Beats of Hu Jia" or "Hu Jia Song".

8, "Guangling San"

Also known as "Guangling Stop". Legend has it that it was originally a folk music popular in the Guangling area at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. The only surviving ancient qin piece is the "Magical Secret Record", which is the earliest recorded. There is no record of its content in the early days, and most zither players now interpret it according to the folk legend of Nie Zheng stabbing the King of Han. According to the "Qin Cultivation", Nie Zheng, a native of Korea during the Warring States period, was killed when his father cast a sword for the King of Korea on the wrong day.

To avenge his father's death, he went to Taishan Mountain to study the qin for ten years, and then he returned to Korea to play the qin not far from the palace, and his mastery of the qin made the pedestrians stop, and the cows and horses stop. When the king of Han was informed of this, he summoned him to the palace to play the zither, but Nie Zheng took advantage of his surprise and stabbed the king to death with a dagger drawn from the belly of the zither. In order not to involve his mother, he disfigured himself and killed himself.

9, "The Geese Falling from the Flat Sand"

Also known as "The Geese Falling from the Flat Sand" or "Flat Sand", the author is unknown. Since its introduction, it has been loved by zither players and has been widely circulated, and there are many versions of it, making it one of the most popular zither tunes in the world. Some of the compositions depict the autumn scenery; some contain the aspirations of the swan; and some express the sentiment that the world is not as dangerous as the wild geese. The tone is quiet and beautiful, with movement in the silence, and the melody ebbs and flows and stretches on and on, which is beautiful and melodious.

10, "Ambush on Ten Sides"

One of the traditional pipa tunes, also known as "Huaiyang Pingchu".

Ming "Sizhoutang set - Tang pipa biography" recorded pipa artist Tang should have played "Chu Han": "...... two armies duel, the sound of heaven and earth, the roof tiles if the flying fall, Xu and check, there is the sound of gold, drums, gold, the sound of the sword hit the sound of the horses and men group easy sound, Russia and no sound. For a long time, there are complaints and hard to understand for the sound of Chu song. Poignant and strong for the king of Xiang's mournful song of generosity, Farewell to the sound of Ji; trapped in Dazhe, the sound of the chase riders; to the Wujiang River, the king of Xiang cut his own throat, the remaining riders trampled on the king of Xiang's voice. So that those who hear the beginning of the excitement, then sad, and finally snot and tears of no way also, its adult so."

The scene painted, sound and color and today's "Ambush on Ten Sides" is very similar.