What kind of life did Hua Yanjun have? How did the two springs reflecting the moon come about, and what other musical compositions did he have, and what musical instruments have been preserved?

Hua Yanjun (1893-1950), known as "Blind Bing", was a native of Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, who learned various musical instruments from his father, Leizun Taoist priest Hua Qinghe, since childhood. After the death of Hua Qinghe, he often socialized with folk drummers and participated in their playing activities. Afterward, he sold all his properties and became a street performer, relying on his playing to make a living. In the erhu, pipa composition, performance has considerable attainments; pipa skills are particularly high; early liberation was found in the streets of Wuxi, the recording left three erhu songs: "two springs reflecting the moon", "listen to the pine", "cold spring wind song"; pipa song three "big waves tousand sand", "Zhaojun out of the plug", "dragon boat". Hua Yanjun died in 1950. Ah Bing was the artist's birth name, but his name was Hua Yanjun (August 17, 1893-December 4, 1950), a native of Dongting, Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, and the son of Hua Qinghe, a Taoist priest at the local Leizundian Temple. -He was the son of a local Taoist priest, Hua Qinghe (华清和). Hua Qinghe was known as "Hua Xuemei", and specialized in playing the erhu, sanxian, pipa, and other musical instruments; among them, the pipa was the most proficient. Hua Yanjun lost his mother at the age of four and studied music with his father in a Taoist temple; at the age of 20, his father fell ill and died; at the age of 21, he contracted an eye disease and became blind at the age of 34; due to the social turmoil and lack of means of subsistence, the Taoist estate was sold out, and he could no longer work as a Taoist priest, so he could no longer work as a Taoist priest, and was forced to wander the streets and sell his art, and suffered from the hardships and sufferings on the earth. Hua Yanjun was gifted and studied very hard since he was a child. In winter, in order to play the pipa well, he used ice cubes to rub his hands to exercise his fingers; on summer nights, he soaked his feet in water when practicing the erhu to prevent mosquito bites; it can be said that he practiced in the winter and in the summer. Because of this hard work, at the age of 13, he had already mastered the playing techniques of erhu, sanxian, pipa, flute and other instruments, and at the age of 16, he had already been unanimously recognized by the Taoist community in Wuxi. After that, Hua Yanjun, despite the criticisms of his father and Taoist elders, indulged in exchanges and sparring with wandering folk artists, and thus studied a wide range of folk music from different regions. Hua Yanjun's folk instrumental music is rooted in deep life experience and rich ethnic heritage, and he is able to compose, adapt and perform works that are relevant to the times, based on his own feelings about life and transcend the folk art heritage. During the Anti-Japanese War, he had made up and sang ditties such as "The End of Traitors" in the streets; his famous erhu song "Listening to the Pines" sent the expectation of national liberation based on the historical fact that Yue Fei, a famous general of the Southern Song Dynasty, fought against the Jin Dynasty. After the victory in the war of resistance, he also arranged and sang in the streets such as "Walking in front of the wolf, walking behind the tiger", which exposed and criticized the reactionary rule of the Kuomintang. His artistic creations and performances in the style of a living newspaper demonstrated his noble national spirit and strong sense of democracy. Hua Yanjun embodied considerable artistic attainments in his erhu and pipa works of art, but he left behind only the erhu compositions "Two Fountains Reflecting the Moon", "Listening to the Pines" and "Cold Spring Wind Song" and the pipa compositions "The Great Wave Amoying the Sand", "Zhaojun Goes Out of the Seas" and "Dragon Boat", which were included in the "Bing's Songs Collection" published by the Music Publishing House in 1956, and have become a valuable legacy for the study of modern folk music in China. His "Cold Spring Breeze" is similar in tone to "Reflecting the Moon in Two Fountains", and its performance in the bright register is more lively, smooth and expansive, showing a vibrant world; his pipa piece "The Great Wave Amoy Sand" is based on the "General's Order" in the Shifan Gongs and Drums, with a resonant and powerful tone that expresses passionate and exuberant emotions, intoxicating people with the mood of "unity of the heavenly world"; "Zhaojun's Plug" and "Dragon Boat" are included in the "Collection of Music" published by the Music Publishing House in 1956, becoming a valuable heritage of Chinese folk music research in the modern era. Zhaojun's Exodus from the Frontiers of the Seaside" is a pipa piece taught by Hua Qinghe, Hua Yanjun's father, and shows a majestic and dignified image, rich in power and brightness. The pipa piece "Dragon Boat" originates from the Jiangnan folk suite, showing the cheerful and enthusiastic scene of the Dragon Boat Race at the Dragon Boat Festival, reflecting the author's interest in folk life. ...... In all these works, Hua Yanjun's rich spiritual world is displayed; among them, "Reflecting the Moon in the Two Fountains" is the most widely influential. Reflecting the Moon in Two Springs" is Hua Yanjun's most outstanding erhu masterpiece. Originally a Taoist suona piece with a strong religious musical style, in the late 1930s Hua Yanjun, while wandering the streets selling his skills, repeatedly played, processed, and composed the piece, introducing mountain songs from the southern part of Jiangsu, ditties, Jiangnan silk and bamboo, Southern Suzhou blowing and beating, Tanliao, and even the tones of the Guangdong music "Reflecting the Moon at Three Pools". It took a long time for the piece to develop from its first indeterminate fragments to a complete structure, which Hua Yanjun called "Yi Xin Qu" or "Self-contained Accent". In the summer of 1950, Mr. Yang Yinliu, a famous music historian in China, and others made a wire recording of the piece during a "rescue" expedition of folk music, and debated with Mr. Hua Yanjun on its name, "The Moon Reflecting in the Two Springs". The melody of the work is smooth, flowing, ups and downs, with a deep and profound meaning. The author utilizes the wide range of five handles on the erhu to play the piece, together with the strong bow handling, revealing a sobbing, sorrowful and angry mood and a longing for a bright and ideal world, showing the feelings and stubborn character of a wandering artist who has experienced the ups and downs and tribulations of life in old China, with a strong artistic contagious force.

Edit section-behind the nostalgia

Since the 1960s, under the slogan of "revolutionization, nationalization, and massification" in the cultural and artistic circles at that time, many artists processed and organized the traditional musical cultural heritage of the motherland. Two Fountains Reflecting the Moon" was successively adapted by He Zhanhao, one of the authors of the violin concerto "Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai", for solo violin, by Chu Wanghua for solo piano, by Wu Zuqiang for string ensemble, etc., which were loved by the majority of the audience. Since the 1970s, the string ensemble "Reflecting the Moon in Two Springs" has been performed by some world-class conductors of famous Chinese and foreign symphony orchestras, and its influence has spread beyond the country's borders. As an outstanding representative of China's modern national instrumental music creation, "Two Fountains Reflecting the Moon" demonstrates the oriental charm of the ancient nation with its logical and rigorous structure as well as its deep lamentation on life. Mr. Seiji Ozawa, a good friend of the Chinese people and a Japanese conductor who has personally conducted the performance of this work on many occasions, was so excited that he shed tears when he first listened to China's renowned erhu player Min Huifen play this piece of music, and said, "This piece is so touching that one should kneel down to listen to a piece of music like this one." Hua Yanjun, as a Chinese folk artist, has coalesced the vicissitudes of his own life and extraordinary experiences into heirloom works that have gradually gained a worldwide reputation, based on the historical accumulation of Chinese folk music and culture; he is, it should be said, a rare national and folk musician in the history of Chinese music who has gone global. When his father died at the age of 22, he became the head Taoist priest of the Lei Zun Temple. Later, due to careless friendships, he became addicted to prostitutes and drugs, and at the age of 35, he lost his eyesight. In order to make a living, he carried a pipa and a huqin, and took to the streets, making up his own songs and rapping about the news, and became a street performer. at the age of 40, he cohabited with a widow, Dong Zhaidi (Cai Di). Every afternoon in front of the Chongan Temple Sanwanchang teahouse paddock singing. He dared to address the ills of the times, attacked the darkness of society, and attracted the audience with a popular form of rap. After the 128th Incident, he sang the news of the 19th Route Army's heroic fight against the enemy in Shanghai and played the March of the Volunteers with an erhu. In the campaign of boycotting Japanese goods, he used passionate language to inspire people's patriotic fervor. Many of his news sang the hearts of the masses and were y loved by the general public. Every night, he also walked the streets and lanes, playing the erhu with his hands, walking and playing, with touching tones. The song "Two Fountains Reflecting the Moon", which became famous on the international music scene, was composed during this period. After the Japanese invaded Wuxi, Ah Bing and Dong Catalyst took refuge together in their hometowns on both sides of the border. Soon after he went to Shanghai, he worked as a luthier in the Kunqu class Xianni Society, playing the three strings, and acting the role of the blind man in the movie Seven Heavens as a performer in the crowd. At this time he composed "Listening to the Pine", a bold and emotional erhu solo piece, pouring out the patriotic fervor of not wanting to be a slave of the fallen country. In the 28th year of the Republic of China, he returned to Xicheng and practiced his old profession again. He went to the teahouse every morning to collect all kinds of news, came back to conceptualize and create, and sang in front of the teahouse in Chongan Temple in the afternoon; at night, he pulled the erhu on the street and played the "Cold Spring Breeze Song" that he had created. He was so skillful that he could play the lute by placing it on top of his head, and he could also imitate the sounds of men, women, and children talking, sighing, laughing, as well as the sounds of chickens crowing and dogs barking with his erhu. After the victory of the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, he had been forbidden to rap news in the fixed place of Chongan Temple. In 36 years of the Republic of China, he suffered from lung disease, bedridden and vomited blood, and since then he no longer sells on the street, and repairs the huqin at home as a business, and struggles to make ends meet. April 23, 1949 Wuxi liberation, Bing and his "two springs reflecting the moon" and other music to get a new life. 1950 summer, the Central Conservatory of Music teachers and students in order to explore, research and preservation of folk music, commissioned by Professor Yang Yinyiuliu and other special trips to Wuxi for him to record "two springs reflecting the moon", "listen to the pine", "cold spring wind song" 3 erhu music and "big wave Amoy sand", "Dragon Boat", "Zhaojun out of the plugged in" 3 pipa music. Ah Bing died on December 4, 1950 at the age of 57 after a long illness.

Edited anecdotes

People say that Ah Bing is three endless: a poor man's will is not poor (not afraid of power); a poor man's mouth is not poor (do not eat white food); a poor man's name is not poor (integrity). In the city of Wuxi, a landlord raped a 13-year-old girl in his house. When Ah Bing learned of this, he immediately sang the lyrics of the story, exposing the landlord's sinful behavior, which aroused public indignation and frightened the landlord into fleeing for several months without daring to return home. Once, the Kuomintang warlord Tang Enbo asked Bing to sing a birthday song for his 13th aunt, Bing flatly refused and was severely beaten, but Bing did not give in and made up the lyrics and played the erhu to scold them. During the war, the Japanese occupied Wuxi, a man named Zhang Shijun as a traitor, Bing knew, made up words to scold him, and was beaten. Later, this traitor was killed by the Japanese, Bing clapped his hands and made up a song "the end of the traitor" sung along the street, Wuxi people all applauded.

Edited Hua Yanjun Tomb

Hua Yanjun Tomb (hua yan jun mu), a Bing tomb. Located in Wuxi City, Xihui Park in the eastern foot of Mount Huishan Yingshan Lake. Hua Yanjun, that is, "blind Bing", folk musician, died in December 1950, buried in the western suburbs of Wuxi, at the foot of Mount Can, "one and the mountain room," the tomb of the Taoist priests. 1979 May, the tomb was destroyed by the Wuxi Museum of in situ pick up the bones in 1983, moved to the funeral! Huishan east foot, two springs south of the current site. Cemetery area of 742 square meters, the main body consists of tomb wall and wing wall, like a music stand; old tombstone is now hidden in the city museum, color tombstone by the china music research institute, wuxi city federation of literature, yang yin liu book, the tomb of the blind abing bronze statue, sculpted by qian shaowu. In 1986 by the people's government of wuxi city announced as municipal cultural relics protection units. Two Springs Reflecting the Moon" is an erhu piece composed by the famous blind folk artist Hua Yanjun (Ah Bing) and recorded and scored by himself in 1950. Since its release, the piece has been performed not only as an erhu soloist, but also as a folk musician in China. He was born in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province. He was born in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province. Since his childhood, the piece has been adapted into various forms of instrumental music, and is known both at home and abroad for its beautiful and lyrical melody and y touching musical connotations. Huishan Spring in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, is known as "the second spring in the world". The author named the piece "The Second Spring Reflecting the Moon", which is related to Bing's misfortune in the old society. From the music, we can feel that the author, while using the scenery to express his feelings and lamenting his life, also revealed his indignation in accusing the old society. In the "Ah Bing Song Collection" has been introduced in this way: "he was blind after ...... with musical images to depict his imagination in the old days had witnessed the beautiful scenery", "but then felt the surrounding darkness, which made the In his beautiful melody, he sometimes revealed a sentimental and desolate mood." The structure of "Reflecting the Moon in Two Fountains" is a traditional variation. The music begins with a short introduction, with a downward-scaled melody that is like a soft sigh of mixed feelings, bringing people into a deep mood. The theme music reminds people of a blind artist with a bamboo stick wandering and roaming on the bumpy road of life, infinitely sad and endlessly desolate. Two Fountains Reflecting the Moon" is in the above tone of the many variations of the gradually unfolding composition of the whole song, it through the variation of the musical image of the deepening of the layers, so that people feel affected by Bing with uncontrollable feelings, over and over again, to tell people about his sufferings and encounters. The second half of the piece, the music to get further development, the accumulated feelings burst out, the music to the climax, strong and angry, showing the unique temperament and vigor of Bing. This is the voice of the author's angry complaint against the old society, which profoundly reflects Ah Bing's stubborn and resolute character and expresses his uncompromising resistance and struggle against the dark forces. Reflecting the Moon in Two Fountains is layered yet integrated, melodious yet simple and strong, touching yet agitating. It is the heirloom masterpiece of a poor blind artist in China, loved by audiences at home and abroad.