Happy Monday everyone,
Thank you for subscribing to Wu Fei’s Music Daily! This is the 254th episode — The painted wall.
This solo guzheng improvisation was recorded yesterday, inspired by an old photo (below) from a trip I made exactly 10 years ago. The photo was taken on January 31, 2011 in a village called Jimingyi (鸡鸣驿), which I found when exploring country roads in Hebei province in northern China. Jimingyi was a big post station in Qing Dynasty China, and the Empress Cixi spent a night there when she was running away from the Allied powers sacking Beijing in 1900.
However, I was just hoping to find folk songs on that trip.
The painted wall in the photo is part of an old opera stage that has been in Jimingyi village center for centuries. The locals told me that they didn’t know any folk songs, but they liked to listen to Hebei opera (河北梆子）or Jin opera (晋剧) , which is an opera from Shanxi province 山西. The villagers say that their ancestors migrated from Shanxi about 800 years ago. The villagers’ language does have a heavy Shanxi accent unlike people in the rest of Hebei province.
Wu Fei 吴非
wufeimusic.com
In the painting, there are two dragons playing with a gem stone (二龙戏珠 ). The origin of the pattern is from an ancient folklore. It symbolizes good luck and joy.
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