A variety of disputes

"The Fishing Boat Sings Evening" (this "Fisher Boat Singing Evening" refers to the version of Cao Zheng's set score generally adopted by the zheng class.) is the most widely circulated and influential zheng piece since the 1930s. For a long time, it is generally believed that this piece "was adapted by Lou Shuhua based on the Shandong music "Going Home", and was later arranged by Cao Zheng. Currently, this version is commonly used. (Jiang Ping: "Guzheng Playing Method", People's Music Publishing House, 1957 edition.) However, there are disputes about the author of this piece and the source of the piece. The initial debate started in the 1950s and 1960s, and it was only carried out in a small area, and the influence was not Not much, until 1981, Jiang Baohai published an article entitled "On the Origin of the Traditional Zheng Song "The Fishing Boat Sings Evening" in the first issue of "Qilu Art Garden", which attracted widespread attention and triggered a subsequent discussion. heated debate. To sum up, there are roughly the following viewpoints:

(1) The music of Lou Shuhua, Cao Zhengding's "Fishing Boat Sings Evening" was from 1937 to 1938. Lou Shuhua developed it according to the characteristics of the thirteen-string guzheng based on the ancient song "Going Back to Come". Cao Zheng, Jiang Ping and others hold this view. (Jiang Ping: "A Brief Description of "The Fishing Boat Sings Evening"—Discussion with Mr. Jiang Baohai, "National Folk Music", No. 1, 1986.)

(2) In 1912, Jin Zhuonan composed the piece "Fishing Boat Sings Evening", which was adapted from the Shandong zheng piece "Shuangban" and its variants, "Liu Shui Shi Shi" and "Three Rings Set to the Moon". "The Fishing Boat Sings Evening" by Lou Shuhua and Cao Zhengding's score is based on the changes and development of Jin Zhuonan's "The Fishing Boat Sings Evening". (Jiang Baohai: "Zheng Learning Essays", Shandong Literature and Art Publishing House, 1995 edition.) Those who agree with this statement are represented by Jiang Baohai.

(3) Cheng Wujia wrote an article confirming that there is a version of "The Fishing Boat Sings Evening" by Wei Ziyou, a zheng master in Henan. (Cheng Wujia: "About Zheng and Zheng Song "The Fishing Boat Sings Evening", "Yi Yuan" (Music Edition), No. 1, 1986.) Cheng Gongliang believes that Lou Pu is closer to Wei's "Fishing Boat Sings Evening". (Cheng Gongliang: "The Debate on the Origin of the Famous Guzheng Song "The Fishing Boat Sings Evening" - and Analysis of the Biography of Wei Ziyou's "The Fishing Boat Sings Evening", "Little Music Magazine", No. 7, 1986.) Also in "The Collection of Famous Chinese Guzheng Songs" This song is classified as Henan Zhengqu. (Yan Liwen: A Collection of Famous Chinese Guzheng Songs, Shanghai Music Publishing House, 2000 edition.)

(4) "The Fishing Boat Sings Evening" has Wei Ziyou's version and Jin Zhuonan's version. The zheng song "The Fishing Boat Sings Evening" was not adapted by Lou Shuhua. (Chi Hua: "Zheng Song "The Fishing Boat Sings Evening" not adapted by Lou Shuhua", "National Folk Music", No. 2, 1986.)

By sorting out the above points of view, it turns out that as early as the early 20th century, there were actually two different versions of Wei Shi and Jin Shi, the Zheng song "The Fishing Boat Sings Evening", which can be confirmed by the existing score data. The difference is about Lou's "The Fishing Boat Sings Evening". So should Lou Shuhua's version be recognized? If admitted, where did Lou's version come from?

2. Lou Shuhua and "The Fishing Boat Sings Evening"

First, compare the music scores of the three schools (Jin Zhuonan: "The Fishing Boat Sings Evening", see Jiang Baohai's "Zheng Study", Shandong Literature and Art Publishing House, 1995 edition, pp. 111-116; 1986, No. 1, cover three; Jiang Baohai's "Zheng Xue San Lun", pp. 240-245.) It can be seen that Lou Pu and Wei Ziyou's scores are more similar, especially the first five paragraphs. Once compared, it can be seen that the two Lou Pu retains the first five stanzas of Wei's "Fishing Boat Singing Evening", with only slight changes to individual notes and left-hand presses, and cuts and refines the last four stanzas. It is here that the climactic passages that performers often use to show off, as we are now familiar, come from here. The crux of the question is when to look at Lou Shuhua's "change behavior", whether it is a creation (there is a saying that "The Fishing Boat Sings Evening" is the earliest contemporary composition of zheng music) or an adaptation? Or is it not even an adaptation?

Indeed, nowadays, it is common to arbitrarily change, add or subtract the original song according to personal preferences. Judging from the current score, Lou Shuhua has only made "some small changes" to Wei Ziyou's "The Fishing Boat Sings Evening". on what. However, the author believes that from the perspective of the entire history of the development of zheng music, Lou Shuhua's "small change" must not be underestimated. It can be said that without this "small step", there would be no "big step" in the creation of Zhengle. If you want to restore the true face of history, you must restore your eyes to the era in which the parties lived.

In the 1920s and 1930s, the overall development trend of Chinese zheng music was very different from today. Years of war, internal and external aggression, and social turmoil, the number of people playing zheng in various places was already very few. In the primitive ecology of extinction, learning the zheng is all taught by oral and heart, and the apprentice must study in strict accordance with the teacher's teaching, word for word, and must not go beyond the norm. In 1925, the young Lou Shuhua (1907-1952) joined the "Beijing Morality Society", and while working in the "Morality Society", he studied zheng under Wei Ziyou (1875-1936). (Cao Zheng: Biography of Mr. Lou Shuhua, Qin Zheng, No. 1, 1990.) He once described Wei Ziyou's traditional teaching method in the article "Guzheng Music and Preface" (edited by Cao Zheng): "Read it first. After the zheng song, he will practice playing the zheng again, read a song, play a song, and follow the method instructed, and gradually move forward..." It is conceivable that he also followed this rule and learned "The Fishing Boat Sings Evening" from Wei Ziyou. In this case, why does Lou Shuhua dare to "risk the world" to change the music left by his ancestors? I am afraid that we have to seek answers from that era.

Although Lou Shuhua also received the traditional "oral teaching", the social environment for learning and growing up is very different from that of his teacher. At that time, under the banner of the May Fourth Movement advocating "science" and "democracy", and under the resounding call that the way out for Chinese music was to import and learn Western music, it was impossible for those who were in it to be unaffected. At that time, as some zheng players went to make a living in big cities, a small part of the center of zheng music activities had gradually shifted from local folk to cities. The form of ensemble and accompaniment is transformed into the solo form in theater or concert. In Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and other places, traditional zheng and zheng music have changed in terms of instrument shape, performance form, performance occasion, and notation method, showing a tendency to change to "professional new music". For example, there are often "concerts" held by Chinese or foreigners in Beijing. Since the mid-1930s, Lou Shuhua has often participated in concerts and performed guzheng programs, and regularly recorded sound on radio stations. Obviously, these activities must be guaranteed by the corresponding repertoire. In order to meet the performance requirements, a few zheng artists began to organize traditional repertoires, which have shown traces of Western music influence. When He Yuzhai (1886-1943) re-edited "Zhongzhou Ancient Diao" and "Han Gao Old Score" in Shanghai, he attached the simplified notation while retaining the original Gongchi notation. At this time, Lou Shuhua was in his youth. He was diligent and eager to learn and energetic. While learning the zither, he also learned the guqin from Zhang Baochen, a guqin master at the time. After that, he transplanted "Three Stacks of Yangguan" and "Three Lanes of Plum Blossoms" into zheng pieces. Lou Shuhua used his ability to learn and apply his skills in compiling the guzheng teaching material "Twenty-One Practice of Playing Zheng Techniques", borrowing the fingerings and names of the guqin minus-character notation, referring to the Western musical notation, and adding the original Gongchi notation to the time line. (recording the rhythm of the board eye), marking the fingering symbols, it becomes the "Guzheng fingering spectrum". Using this notation method that is compatible with both China and the West, he organized the ancient Zhongzhou tunes taught by Wei Ziyou into a book, and added more than ten zheng tunes that were transplanted, adapted and created, and compiled them into the "Zheng Song Selection". (Cao Zheng: Biography of Mr. Lou Shuhua, Qin Zheng, No. 1, 1990.) In addition, he has the opportunity to travel abroad and experience Western culture first-hand. In 1935, Lou Shuhua participated in the "Chinese Music Tour Group" to travel and perform in Europe, and successively visited Switzerland, Austria, the Soviet Union and other countries, becoming the musician who introduced Chinese traditional music art to Europe earlier in modern Chinese history.

It can be seen that under the social background at that time, Lou Shuhua was an "innovator" who advocated the combination of Chinese and Western, and was good at innovation. Therefore, the above "change" is understandable. What follows is how to view this "small change".

When the author carefully read Mr. Cao Zheng's "Guzheng Books and Prefaces and Postscripts", I found that on page 16, there is a paragraph describing Lou Shuhua: "He learned the ancient tune "Returning Ci" from Mr. Han Mingkui, a zheng friend in Shandong; Mr. Wang Xunzhi's "High Mountains and Flowing Water" from Hangyuan; he transcribed Mr. Ling Qizhen's manuscript "Zhongzhou Ancient Tunes"..."

Shandong Zheng friend Mr. Han Mingkui's ancient tune "Returning to the Return", no sheet music has been found so far, and it is impossible to compare it with the "Fishing Boat Sings Evening" we have seen, but this information at least provides us with one piece of information: Lou Shuhua Not only did he learn zheng from Jin Zhuonan from Shandong, he also learned from Shandong zheng friend Han Mingkui. In addition, he was a student of Wei Ziyou, and he was also taught by Cheng Wujia and many other seniors during his study of zheng in Beijing. This is certain. From the available literature and materials, we can see that Lou Shuhua is extremely diligent, knowledgeable and eager to learn, and has the ability to integrate and create. Under the social tide of promoting Western learning and advocating innovation at that time, he transformed the essence of various schools and schools he had learned into an unconscious creative momentum, which was the need of the times, and it was also a manifestation of his ability and accumulation. "Zheng Song Collection" is a good proof. Among them are not only the transplanted and adapted music, but also the music composed by him. How many zheng players of the same period as Lou Shuhua, whether it is his teacher or his peers, how many have this ability?

Through "small changes", "The Fishing Boat Sings Evening" passed down by Wei Ziyou has achieved a "transformation" with the significance of the times here in Lou Shuhua. This "Fishing Boat Sings Evening" is no longer the folk traditional eight-board structure in the composition, which is significantly different from the traditional genre of zheng music that is composed of vocal accompaniment or ensemble parts of several musical instruments. In the overall music style, it has the characteristics of Lu and Yuzheng schools, and also has the quiet and elegant temperament of Guqin music. The refined sound pattern is changed into the music section, which makes the music appear flexible and vivid. "Tuo" is the flower finger playing method commonly used in Shandong zheng music. Through a reasonable choice of musical materials, the left-hand pressing technique is properly played on the 13-string zheng with only two octaves, which highlights the rhythmic characteristics of the instrument. The so-called: the change is not in the size, but in the appropriateness, just right! Of course, because most of the musical elements of the music come from the original music, it is still an adaptation, but this "action" can be said to have played a prelude to the creation of contemporary zheng music.

The title of the piece is "The Fishing Boat Sings Evening", which makes people easily think of the pleasant scene of fishermen in the blue waters, leisurely and peacefully returning to the boat when the sun goes down. It begins with a simple tune, a soothing rhythm, and a melodious slow melody, which depicts the scenery of lakes and mountains and the beautiful scenery of the sunset. Then, the rhythm is cheerful, the mood tends to be warm, lively and full of interest. The pitch descends layer by layer and changes repeatedly. The pentatonic scale convolution technique is used. The small clauses of the comparison are like rippling water waves. A clear "horn tone" (fa) appears, breaking the central tone of the whole piece, the melody is briefly out of tune, and in an instant, it forms a sharp contrast with the previous gentleness, adding a dynamism of color, expressing the taste of the fisherman singing late. Then enter the second part of the piece, which is also the most distinctive part of the piece. It adopts the technique of up and down scratching and octave hooking, and repeats five times with the melody of ascending and descending. The sound of sound, swaying, and splashing waves are layered on top of each other, and the intensity is continuously strengthened, setting off the warm scene of fishing boats near the shore and flying fishermen's songs. Just when the jubilant mood of the whole song reached its climax, it suddenly became violent, and then the ending slowly flowed out. Suddenly, the night on the river was shrouded in darkness, and it was quiet.

3. Conclusion

To sum up, the author believes that there are actually three different versions of "The Fishing Boat Sings Evening". The first is Wei Ziyou's version; the second is Jin Zhuonan's version; the other is the Lou Shuhua version that we use more often. (Cao Zheng re-determined Lou Shuhua's "The Fishing Boat Sings Evening". The whole piece includes an adagio section, a die-forward section and an epilogue, with a total of 68 bars.)

In the 1950s, this piece of music not only won an award in the World Youth Festival Music Competition, but was also listed as a classic reserved program for international cultural exchanges. The world-famous Czech female harp player called it "a famous piece with an oriental style" and transplanted it into a harp solo piece. Later, this piece was also transplanted into various instrumental solo pieces such as erhu, violin, piano, and flute, and developed into various performance forms such as ensemble, unison, ensemble, and concerto. So far, "The Fishing Boat Sings Evening" has been circulated for nearly a century. The music itself has a simple structure and simple and unpretentious techniques. The reason is precisely because Lou Shuhua adapts to the trend of the times, is based on traditional zheng music, and gathers the strengths of various schools. The times require innovation, and the author has the ability to innovate, so that the classic works that are widely circulated today.