Filial piety in China is a big cultural concept, which can be called filial piety culture.

Why do you say that? First, Xiao is the oldest cultural form in the history of China.

We say that human beings have a history of 5 thousand years of civilization, which is naturally good; However, there are traces in the history before written records, and Xiao in China is a prominent example.

As we all know, the bone flute of Jiahu culture in Wuyang, Henan Province, which was born 8,000 years ago, can be said to be the originator of China Xiao, and it created the culture of the Central Plains.

Secondly, from the perspective of cultural taste, China Xiao has a very high cultural taste, comparable to guqin, and is loved by literati in past dynasties.

Su Shi, a famous poet in the Song Dynasty, vividly described the flute in Fu on the Red Wall: "If you complain about it, if you cry, if you complain about it, the sound will be endless, dancing in the valley and crying over your orphaned wife.

"Read it so far, still like a flute on a river night.

Thirdly, from the connotation, China Xiao is extremely rich in content, and its shape evolution and hole position layout are closely related to historical metrology and musicology.

The predecessor of Xiao -A (with two mouths and one flat door) used to be a measuring tool. Before the invention of acoustics and musical instrument, the musical instrument of Xiao Tongzong was regarded as a standard tuner in history, which was of great importance.

Fourthly, from the perspective of coverage, China Xiao not only ran through the whole history, but also spread from emperors, literati and officialdom to ordinary people, and was widely loved by all walks of life. The wonderful state of playing alone in the forest under the moon echoes infinitely.

Therefore, only by putting China Xiao in a big cultural category can we make a correct evaluation of its cultural value.

The legendary Xiao

The story of playing the flute to attract phoenix is quite famous in ancient legends.

The story says that Qin Mugong's daughter Nong Yu likes to play the flute. At that time, a man named Shaw History had high flute playing skills, so Qin Mugong married his daughter and built a high platform for them.

A few years later, one day, Nong Yu took the Phoenix, and Shaw History Lapras suddenly ascended to heaven. They practiced with flutes and became immortals.

This story is contained in The Legend of Immortals.

Legend has it that when Chu and Han contended, Liu Bang skillfully used Sean's stratagem and sent people to play Chu songs on a moonlit night, which broke the morale of Chu army and defeated it in one fell swoop.

It can be seen that Xiao is powerful.

Xiao in reality

In recent years, more and more young men and women, especially young women, have taken a liking to Xiao. Ask why A: Small sounds good.

One day, the author demonstrated a performance to a young lady. Accompanied by the beautiful flute, the young woman's eyes turned red because of solidification, and then tears rolled down.

Another time, when I was absorbed in playing, I suddenly saw a young woman's head hanging over her chest and falling asleep like hypnosis. At the end of the flute, she was awakened and couldn't open her eyes for a while.

It's incredible.

As for foreigners' attention to Xiao, it is even more unusual. When many foreigners talk about their impressions of Xiao, they all say that Xiao makes people think calmly and is a special music completely different from jazz.

When the author was invited to visit Japan, Japanese cultural circles praised Xiao Zhisheng's "nature".

When one of the author's female students was studying in Korea, several universities in Korea allowed the female flute player to apply for the China flute graduate student established in Korea, which created a precedent for flute graduate students.

This is really a blessing worthy of a big book.

Xiaoyuyi

Chapter 11 of the Book of Changes: "Earthquakes are thunder, dragons ... bamboos (better below) and reeds.

This passage is explained in the present vernacular to the effect that the earthquake is moving, so it thunders.

Yang is in turmoil, so it is a dragon ... The earthquake is in the east, and the east is green, so it is Bambusa bambusa (the lower part is better). The stem is solid in the lower part of the reed, and the upper part is empty like a reed, like the image of the sun shaking in the lower part and overcast in the upper part. "("Book of Changes "Nanhe Xu Note)

Therefore, we can say that the names of dragon flutes originated from Zhouyi.

Xiao and Qigong

What is the relationship between Xiao and Qigong? Everyone has different feelings.

Since the death of my poor book "China Flute and Xiao" three years ago, the author has been receiving letters from people from all walks of life at home and abroad, and the encouragement of readers is gratifying.

There are also some enthusiastic readers who spread the book and wrote some insightful articles.

The article Dong Xiao and Qigong published by Fujian Luo Tingxuan in China Qigong is a wonderful article worth reading.

The author explores the mystery of Xiaoyin from the function of "strengthening the body resistance and eliminating evil".

Now, according to the original point of view of this article, it is summarized as follows: the posture of playing flute is like the posture of practicing martial arts.

The body is straight, the head is straight, the jaw and chest are slightly retracted, and the flute is held on the chest with both hands, which conforms to the mechanism of "music is affectionate" and can enhance the gas field of the human body. If you add the idea of relaxation to silence, it is a real training posture.

Breathing in oral sex is generally a combination of long breathing and short breathing, fast breathing and slow breathing, but abdominal breathing is the most common.

When playing a long note, there is often a state of breathing with the abdomen turned upside down, which makes people feel depressed and full.

This is a method of practicing pranayama, that is, "self-regulation without pranayama" It is much more natural to adjust the interest rate intentionally.

The mouth shape of oral sex is roughly the same as that of "six-character formula" and "blow", and the "blow" of "six-character formula" corresponds to human kidney.

Blow a flute at one time (17- 19), and qi and blood will enter the kidney. A few minutes later, I felt a comfortable warm current in the life gate and kidney area of the lumbar spine, which spread continuously to the spine.

The rise and fall of fingers when playing the flute is similar to the finger-pulling method of Qigong, which can start the whole body to circulate qi.

The flute is simple and natural, rich and open-minded, lofty and clear, mellow and soft, rough and unrestrained, and can relax the tranquility and distance of the flute, giving people a quiet and daydreaming atmosphere, so that people can get rid of distractions and enter the realm of selflessness.

In addition, the author believes that exploring the internal relationship between flute sound and achievement method should also include the following contents, such as up and down, perception ability and so on.

The flute should be played from top to bottom. The lower abdomen (about 3 inches below the umbilicus) is located in the triangle between * * * and the lower abdomen support. After the middle abdomen (about 4 inches above the umbilicus) is naturally tense, it reaches the upper abdomen (near Tianmu) and runs from top to bottom without any obstruction. It should be loose, round and interesting.

Playing the flute has the ability of perception, as the saying goes, it can only be understood, but not expressed.

This is similar to the "epiphany" in Buddhist scriptures, and both emphasize understanding.

Xiao method and Gong method may be exactly the same, but the most obvious difference between them is that Gong method is a silent technique, while Xiao sound is an art of making sound. ..

It is true that it is a wonderful move to combine qigong with flute playing, so that music comes from the heart and the spirit moves with the sound when flute playing. The two complement each other.

Play the flute horizontally and vertically.

There is a folk saying: the flute plays, and the clarinet plays.

This sentence vividly summarizes the development history of flute for thousands of years.

Looking back at the history of Xiao Di, we can see that from bamboo in Zhou Dynasty to flute in Han Dynasty, to Taishi flute, from Dong Xiao and shakuhachi in Tang and Song Dynasties to bamboo flute in Ming and Qing Dynasties, modern flutes were developed on the basis of vertical blowing. From the cross talk in the Han Dynasty to the cross talk in the Tang and Song Dynasties, and then to the modern Qu Di and Bangdi, they all developed on the basis of cross talk.

We saw the image of Xiao Heguan in ancient books. With a few exceptions, they should be regarded as vertical instruments. When you see a flute or a bamboo instrument, it is not necessarily a horizontal instrument.

Why is this? Because today's flutes and flutes are vertical and horizontal, strictly speaking, they were recognized and established after the Tang and Song Dynasties, and thus passed down.

But before the Tang Dynasty, some harps, such as flutes, were called flutes and experienced historical evolution.

So before the Tang and Song Dynasties, especially before the Han Dynasty, the word "flute" or "bamboo" appeared in historical records, which probably refers to a vertical wind instrument.

The vertical and horizontal differences between Xiao and De have also been vaguely named recently.

For example, the bone musical instrument unearthed in Jia Hu, Wuyang, Henan Province, was named bone flute although it was played vertically.

I think this may be a continuation of the name before the Han Dynasty.

Therefore, the difference between Xiao and Di is a watershed in the Tang Dynasty.

We think that the difference between flute and flute is only one aspect, and the other aspect is the difference between timbre and sound zone.

Usually the long and deep pipe is called Xiao, and the short and loud pipe is called Di.

The ancients' explanation of flute sound is: pure and natural.

This is a pictophonetic character. It is speculated that the ancient flute was short and excited, so it sounded "clean and natural".

Modern clarinet is a short and high-pitched musical instrument, also called flute.

In this sense, it seems that an instrument with short pipe, high pitch and big timbre should be called a flute, and an instrument with long pipe, high pitch and soft timbre should be called a flute.

The same is true in ancient and modern times.