A Bing, formerly known as Hua Yanjun, is a folk musician. Born in the 19th year of Guangxu's reign in the Qing Dynasty (1893), he was born in Wuxi, Jiangsu. Later he became blind. His father, Hua Qinghe, was the head Taoist priest of Lei Zun Hall, Sanqing Hall Taoist Temple in Wuxi City, and was good at Taoist music. Hua Yanjun lost his mother when he was young and was raised by his aunt of the same clan. At the age of 8, he followed his father as a young Taoist priest in Lei Zun Hall. He studied in a private school for three years, and then learned drums, flutes, erhu, pipa and other musical instruments from his father. At the age of 12, he can already play a variety of musical instruments, and often participates in activities such as worshiping, chanting sutras, and playing music. He studied hard, kept improving, and extensively absorbed folk music tunes to break the constraints of Taoist music. At the age of 18, he was hailed as an expert performer by Wuxi Taoist music circles.
When his father passed away when he was 22 years old, he succeeded him as the head Taoist priest of Lei Zun Temple. Later, due to careless friendships, he fell into the bad habits of prostitution and drug abuse. At the age of 34, he lost his sight in both eyes. In order to make a living, he took to the streets with his pipa and huqin on his back, composed and sang his own songs, rapped about the news, and became a street performer. At the age of 40, he lived with the widow Dong Caidi. Singing every afternoon in the paddock in front of the Sanwanchang Tea House in Chong'an Temple. He dares to hit the mark on current issues, criticize social darkness, and attract audiences with a rap format that people love to hear. After the January 28th Incident, he also composed and sang the news of "The 19th Route Army Heroically Fights against the Enemy Enemies in Shanghai" and played the "March of the Volunteers" on the erhu. During the boycott of Japanese goods, he used passionate words to inspire people's patriotic enthusiasm. Many of his news stories sang the voices of the masses and were deeply loved by ordinary citizens. Every night, he walked through the streets and alleys, playing the erhu while walking, and his tone was touching. "Two Springs Reflect the Moon", which is famous in the international music scene, was created during this period. After the Japanese army invaded Wuxi, A Bing and Dong Caidi took refuge in their hometowns. Soon he went to Shanghai and worked as a pianist in the Xianni Club of the Kun Opera Troupe, playing the three-stringed instrument. He also played an extra role as a blind man in the movie "Seven Heavens". At this time, he composed "Listening to the Pine", a heroic and emotional erhu solo, expressing his patriotic enthusiasm of not wanting to be a slave to the country's subjugation. In the 28th year of the Republic of China, he returned to Xicheng and resumed his old business. He went to the teahouse every morning to collect various news, came back to conceive and create, and sang in front of the Chong'an Temple teahouse in the afternoon; at night he played the erhu on the street and played his composition "Cold Spring Wind". He is very good at playing the lute. He can play the pipa on top of his head, and he can also use the erhu to imitate the sounds of men, women, old and young talking, sighing, laughing, as well as the crowing of cocks and the barking of dogs. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, he was banned from rapping news in a fixed place in Chong'an Temple. In the 36th year of the Republic of China, he suffered from lung disease and was bedridden and vomited blood. From then on, he stopped performing on the streets and made a living by repairing huqin at home.
On July 23, 1949, Wuxi was liberated, and A Bing and his music such as "Two Springs Reflect the Moon" were reborn. In the summer of 1950, in order to discover, research and preserve folk music, teachers and students from the Central Conservatory of Music commissioned Professor Yang Yinliu and others to make a special trip to Wuxi to record three erhu pieces for him, including "Moon Reflected on Two Springs", "Listening to the Pines" and "Cold Spring Wind". Three pipa songs are "Big Waves Washing the Sand", "Dragon Boat" and "Zhaojun Leaving the Fortress".
Abing died of illness on December 4, 1950, at the age of 57.
A Bing’s life is like a drama, full of ups and downs. It is said that the only surviving image of his life is a standard photo on the "Good Citizen Certificate" during the Japanese and puppet rule of Wuxi. In the photo, the face of the skinny middle-aged man wearing blind glasses and a broken felt hat reveals the hardship and vicissitudes of life. Perhaps the hardships imposed on A Bing by fate were the reasons for his touching music. This illegitimate son of Hua Yanjun was deprived of the right of family love when he was born. When his biological mother had no choice but to end her own life to resist the discrimination of the world, some hidden parts of the child's character were already visible. A young man who has been fostered outside for several years returns to his biological father Hua Qinghe. Wherever he sees, there may be more incomprehensible doubts. I know from the information that he came to his father, a Taoist priest, by calling him "Master". Huaqinghe calls herself Xuemei and is proficient in various musical instruments. Abing studied hard and practiced hard, and soon he mastered the playing skills of various musical instruments such as erhu, sanxian, pipa and dizi. At this moment, A Bing still thinks that he is just an orphan who is being cared for by kind people. However, when he reached the age of 21, A Bing suddenly understood his life experience before Hua Qinghe died of illness.
The days to come are also sad to say the least. Hua Yanjun, the new Taoist priest of the Lei Zun Hall in the Dongxu Palace of the Taoist Temple in Wuxi City, seems to be letting himself go, eating, drinking, whoring, gambling and even smoking opium. The absurd life brought absurd results: he became blind due to syphilis and lost control of the Taoist temple.
After living on the streets, his tribe arranged for Dong Caidi, a rural widow from Jiangyin, to take care of him. The world is so contradictory. In pain and despair, A Bing did not break the jar. In the following days, a creative folk artist known as "Blind A Bing" who rapped about current affairs and performed on the streets was reborn. An article recalling a witness at the time said that after the Japanese invaded Wuxi, A Bing and Dong Caidi went out to seek refuge and worked as three-stringed luthiers at the Xianni Society of the Kunqu Opera Troupe in Shanghai. 》Performed a mass role.
A Bing composed his most moving music during this period when he was making a living as an entertainer. There are many stories surrounding the spread of the erhu song "Er Quan Ying Yue". I read one of them by chance. It said that Li Songshou, a professor at Nanjing Normal University, and A Bing were neighbors when he was a child. He liked the erhu when he was a boy, and he often got good results in his playing skills. A Bing’s advice. Later he was admitted to the Folk Music Department of Nanjing University of the Arts. It was getting cold every day. He flexed his fingers outside the teacher's piano room and randomly played a piece of music that A Bing taught him. After the song ended, a man came over and asked him what song he played. The teacher told him that the gentleman who asked him was Professor Yang Yinliu from the Central Conservatory of Music. Li Songshou said that this music was taught by a folk artist in his hometown and had no name. Yang Yinliu said that the music was good, and said that they were collecting folk music and wanted to record such good folk music with a wire recorder just imported from abroad. Li Songshou made an appointment with Professor Yang and returned to his hometown until September. Professors Yang Yinliu and Cao Anhe came to Wuxi. The task they brought this time was to record Wuxi Taoist music. After recording these Taoist music, Li Songshou insisted on asking them to record Abing's music. When A Bing finished playing a piece of music, Professor Yang Yinliu asked softly what the name of the piece was, and A Bing said he had no name. Professor Yang said that it would be impossible if there was no name, and he had to think of one. A Bing then said that it should be called "Er Quan Yinyue". Professor Yang also said that the name "Yingyue" is too similar to Cantonese music. If it were not called Yingyue, would there be Yingshan Lake in Wuxi?
Regarding this matter, Mr. Li Songshou said in his memoir: On September 20, 1950, my wife and I accompanied Yang Yinliu, Cao An and two other gentlemen to find A Bing to record. The recording ended at 7:30 pm. During the recording, A Bing was in poor health and lacked hand strength, so he found a temporary piano, so the preserved recording of "Er Quan Ying Yue" was not the best. Abing's last performance was on September 25, 1950, which was the fifth day after the recording. It seemed to be a theatrical performance at the founding meeting of the Wuxi Dental Association. A Bing supported his sick body and went out. Because he walked slowly, the performance was almost over when he arrived at the venue. I helped A Bing onto the stage and sat in front of the microphone. This is the first time in A Bing's life that he has performed in front of a microphone, and it is also the only time. A Bing played the pipa at first, but then someone in the audience asked him to play the erhu. My wife and I told him to pay attention to his health and stop playing. A Bing said: "I am willing to die playing the piano for the folks in Wuxi." Then he played "Er Quan Ying Yue" which he had played countless times. I remember the place was full of people, even the windows were full of people. At the end of the performance, there was constant applause and applause from the audience. When A Bing heard this, he took off his hat and nodded. A Bing passed away on the third day after that performance.
More than 80 years ago, the sky above the streets of Wuxi was often filled with the sound of the piano played by Abing while performing and begging. His improvisation not only created the self-narrative tragic song "Er Fountain Reflects the Moon", but more importantly, it got rid of the appreciation mentality and rose to a sense of ultimate destiny that is with me. His concern for the world, his thinking about himself, and his sufferings made some people easily compare him to Beethoven. It’s not about how difficult life is for people, or what the ancients said about “God sends great orders to people,” but it’s about your own actions. A great work is a history of the soul, which reflects the reason why people stand. What I often feel in Abing’s music is that in that moment, I can distinguish a lot of right from wrong. There is a paragraph in my memory that introduces the Japanese conductor Seiji Ozawa. He said that when he heard the piece "Er Spring Reflects the Moon" for the first time, he shed tears and told others: "Music like this should be knelt down to listen to it." "
Abing retained six pieces of music he composed because of the recording in 1950: the erhu pieces "Er Quan Ying Yue", "Listening to the Pines" and "Cold Spring Wind" that are now well-known to the world. ", pipa songs "Big Waves on the Sand", "Dragon Boat" and "Zhaojun Leaving the Fortress". This is a blessing. As a folk artist, his difficult life may be just one of countless lives of blood and tears in history.
Fortunately, he had an opportunity to not only use his own hands and musical notes to express himself, but also to use music as a tool to infect other hearts.