The Musical Language Of Lisao Guqin Song

Lisao, a great poetry written by an ancient Chinese poet named Qu Yuan, after being transcribed as a song by Chen Kangshi and Guan Pinghu, finds a specific way to present itself as a visually and acoustically pleasing. This article, by comparing works concerning Lisao of Qu Yuan, Chen Kangshi and Guan Pinghu (the latter two musicians turned Lisao into a playable Guqin song), explores the musical language and the language’s presentation form of Lisao Guqin song. Throughout this work, via the detailed analysis and the illustration of "jianzi pu" notation(a tablature detailing tuning, finger positions, and stroke technique and using a single character that could represent one note, or sometimes as many as nine to indicate how to play a piece of Guqin song) and "da pu"(the transcribing of old Guqin tablature into a playable form), the author feels the most incisive expression of musical language and incomparable charm of Lisao Guqin song and the very thinking and spirit of Qu Yuan at the time when the Lisao poetry was written. Needless to say, Lisao Guqin song has been an important way of sorting out and inheriting the very essence of Qu Yuan spirit as well as promoting and innovating the connotation of Lisao poetry. Furthermore, Lisao Guqin song, this study of which has tendered us a chance to understand the strong patriotism, lofty ideal and official sensation of literati and officialdom (in feudal China), together with Lisao poetry serves to move and inspire men of letters in China from generation to generation. Meanwhile, as an extension and renovation of the masterpiece Lisao poetry, Lisao Guqin song is worth all the contemporary musicians studying and inheriting carefully.