What belongs to the nation belongs to the world.
How does it feel to play Chinese music in a foreign country? Playing "Liuyang River", "Horse Racing" and "Drowning" under the Eiffel Tower, in harmony with dance, erhu ensemble and cello, fully embodies the charm of Chinese and Western cultures.
Since registering a social platform account in 2018, Peng Jingxuan’s Douyin account @pengpengpengpeng has more than 10 million followers.
did not become a blockbuster, nor did it become popular overnight. In fact, this Huaihua girl born in 1995 has been connected with the guzheng for 20 years. She has turned her interest into a profession, moved from a small street stage to a big world stage, transformed from an "i" person behind the scenes to an "e" person in front of the stage, and transformed from an "i" person behind the scenes to an "e" person in front of the stage. "Happy oneself" to "Happy everyone"... She really has some stories.
Just as she returned to Hunan on New Year’s Day, Peng Jingxuan accepted an exclusive interview with a reporter from Red Net Moment News. It was fun to talk to fellow international people.
Twenty Years of Love
Looking back on Peng Jingxuan’s music career, it can be said that it has been a “smooth journey”, but she always had a “restless” heart and wanted to venture around. By coincidence, I had a "highlight" moment.
html At the age of 07, the dream began. Because her family loves art, Peng Jingxuan has been exposed to guzheng since she was a child. She has passed the guzheng level 10 in the second grade of junior high school.In 2010, 15-year-old Peng Jingxuan was admitted to the Middle School Affiliated to Wuhan Conservatory of Music with the top score in her major. She practiced guzheng hard for 9 hours every day, and her music career took a professional direction.
In 2017, she successfully graduated from the Chinese Instrumental Music Department of Wuhan Conservatory of Music. In September of the same year, he went to France to study musicology.
Peng Jingxuan felt "itchy" after not playing guzheng for the first year. At this time, she discovered that the artistic atmosphere of street performances in France was very strong, but it was a pity that guzheng and other Chinese musical instruments were rarely seen.
An idea came up - "How about I go to France to perform guzheng on the streets." In this way, with the idea of "let more people know Chinese musical instruments", this Hunan girl went to study abroad with guzheng on her back.
On September 1, 2018, Peng Jingxuan released the first video of playing guzheng on Douyin. At that time, the production was not exquisite enough, but this original 15 seconds received 300,000 likes.
What makes Peng Jingxuan regretful is that guzheng is not well known abroad. On the one hand, the name of Guzheng is difficult to pronounce. Every time she teaches foreigners, she repeatedly corrects the pronunciation of "Guzheng", or simply calls it "Zheng".
On the other hand, some foreigners don't know that guzheng comes from China. For this, she would wear traditional Chinese clothes, put up a sign saying "China" next to her guzheng, and put a panda in the air.
A seven or eight-year-old child often comes to watch performances. He takes the initiative to introduce to his friends: "This is the guzheng. I know it. Do you know it?" The children sometimes dance to the music, and sometimes sit in a row with their cheeks in front. Praise Peng Jingxuan as a "Chinese fairy".
What surprised reporters was that Peng Jingxuan’s personality was quite contrasting. In life, she is a quiet and reserved "i" person, not ostentatious; but when she plays the guzheng, she seamlessly switches to an "e" person, confident and agile.
Now, she still doesn't think she is anything special. She still likes to spend time in the piano room, practicing guzheng, learning harp and composing music.
The "traffic password" that goes global
Open Peng Jingxuan's video account and summarize it in eight characters: blending Chinese and Western, keeping up with the trend.
In terms of Chinese elements, she will play with erhu, pipa and other national instruments, and even accompany Chinese dance. In terms of Western elements,
plays "Lemon Tree" with the cello, "Canon", Croatian Rhapsody, and "Beat It", and is occasionally invited to perform at foreigners' homes. How does
follow hotspots? "A Laugh in the Sea", the theme song of the East Palace "First Meeting", "The beauty of the world is intertwined with you" and "Lady Luxury" are not to mention.
During the street performance, there were also many unexpected little surprises.
Four foreign friends from a professional tango dance troupe spontaneously danced to the music; a handsome Western guy playing the cello was a frequent video visitor; a passing African boy made a live video call to his mother... Whenever the piano Once the sound is heard, it is as if time and space merge, and both the performers and the audience are immersed in it.
Peng Jingxuan also put a lot of thought into selecting songs. The song list for general performances is fixed at about 6 songs, and the results are good after on-site practice, such as "Horse Racing", "Big Fish" and "Red Ling".
She added a French intro and outro to the music of "Big Fish", and added elements of dramatic Kunqu opera to "Red Ling" to make the audience more immersed in the story.
At the same time, Peng Jingxuan is always thinking about exploring new things, such as rap, two-dimensional, and adapting Western pop songs, so that the audience can feel the versatility of the guzheng after watching the entire performance.
When adapting Western songs, she deliberately added some left-hand rhythms, such as portamento and fretwork. "The guzheng itself is a rhyme instrument, which perfectly matches the Chinese style."
Peng Jingxuan will also sing along with some domestic hot songs, making domestic Fans feel more connected. For example, in "Drowning", she used plastic bottles as a carrier to combine the sound of plastic with the sound of water, spreading the concept of environmental protection.
Every piece of music is a story.
"95% of the songs are adapted by myself." Peng Jingxuan has her own understanding of the songs and will improvise on the spot during performances. She said with a smile, "Sometimes I have to watch my own videos to pick up the scores, and it is difficult to reproduce them again. They are exactly the same."
Every time before going out to perform, Peng Jingxuan would check the weather in advance. "Sometimes I worry about it. Fortunately, it rarely rains in France during the day, but it usually rains at night."
Putting aside the aura of "ten million"
When I was a child, The road from Huaihua to Beijing is long. Every time I participated in a competition, I took a green leather train, and my mother carried the guzheng on her back. My childhood schooling experience was difficult but pure.
grew up, and the road from Hunan to France was farther. In order to further study musicology, I took a cross-country flight and had a team around me, but now my overseas "baggage" is getting heavier and heavier.
Just last month, Peng Jingxuan’s Douyin fans exceeded 10 million. Regarding her popularity,
said bluntly: "This is not an explosion." Over the past five years, it has accumulated steadily and steadily. Behind hundreds of works is the creation and polishing again and again. Moreover, she was still in the postgraduate stage and focused more on her studies.
At the beginning, Peng Jingxuan posted on Douyin like a WeChat Moment post. The first Douyin post was a travel record. The Douyin account she currently uses is still her original WeChat nickname. Today, she has established self-media accounts on multiple platforms at home and abroad.
She feels that the fans of station B are relatively younger, while Douyin is more diversified. Parents who may have children will comment, "My children should watch your videos every day to practice well." There are also some who are older. One person commented, "I really want to learn guzheng after watching the video." No matter young or old, they are all people who love national music or traditional culture.
"The collision of Chinese and Western cultures is necessary." Peng Jingxuan noticed that foreigners are very interested in Eastern charm.
Music has no national boundaries and can even break fixed perceptions and stereotypes. "Even if they have never been to China, they do not understand China. However, when the guzheng is played, they seem to feel the customs and customs of China."
Today, Peng Jingxuan's stage getting bigger.
She not only appeared in a series of programs such as Zhejiang Satellite TV's "Douyin Wonderful Night", CCTV Online Spring Festival Gala, cctv-4 Chinese International Channel's "Legendary China Festival·New Year's Arrival", but was also awarded "... The honorary title of "Youth Network Civilization Envoy".
has spread from the streets of France to performing performances all over the world, and major domestic platforms are also constantly inviting invitations. She didn't feel "drifting", she just felt that her sense of mission was getting stronger and stronger.
"I hope that as my energy becomes stronger and stronger, this small thing will be more meaningful."
"I hope there will be more windows to spread the excellent traditional Chinese culture, and everyone can join in."
"I hope to show it to the world through music. Different Chinese cultures, such as intangible cultural heritage, or other traditional elements that people don’t understand yet."
On the occasion of the New Year, Peng Jingxuan made several wishes about music, dreams, and the future.
"Because the motherland is strong, I have the confidence. Wearing Hanfu, I just start playing the piano."Cultural self-confidence has become Peng Jingxuan's motivation for performing again and again, "Young people can use their own way to realize their dreams, inherit culture, and do whatever they want. "
In the future, Peng Jingxuan wants to take the guzheng to further places.
Source: Hongwang
