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Guan Pinghu (1897-1967), was a Chinese player of the guqin, a Chinese 7-string bridgeless zither. Born in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, Guan came from an artistic family, and started to learn the guqin from his father, Guan Nianci. After the death of his father when he was thirteen, Guan continued with his father’s friend Ye Shimeng and Zhang Xiangtao. He also studied with the leading players of three different schools; Yang Zongji (1865–1933), the leading player in Beijing, the Daoist Qin Heming, and the Buddhist monk Wucheng.
Before 1949, Guan did some teaching at the Yenching University, but had most of his meager income from selling paintings and repairing old musical instruments and furniture.
In 1952, he became a teacher and assistant researcher at the Zhongyang Yinyue Xueyuan (Central Conservatory of Music) and a leading force at the Beijing Guqin Yanjiuhui (Beijing Guqin Research Institute), both in Beijing. He also recreated and performed many pieces, including Guangling San, Youlan (Elegant Orchid) and Da Hujia (Great Barbarian Pipes), that only existed as notation through a process known as dapu. These pieces have become part of the core repertory of guqin music.
[edit] References
- New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell (London, 2001).
