To promote cultural awareness and intercultural learning experiences among teachers and students, on the evening of November 18th, the 9th 2025 Counselor Salon of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS), titled "The Beauty of the Guqin – 3000 Years of Guqin Culture and Art", was successfully held at the Auditorium of SDC Building. Organized by the "Nourishing the Heart with Beauty" Counselor Studio, this bilingual (Chinese-English) traditional Chinese culture lecture featured renowned Traditional Literati Guqin master and cultural inheritor Master Bao Chenli (also known as "Master Renjian"). He was invited to deliver a feast that integrated theoretical and practical depth with traditional Chinese culture and art appreciation for over 150 Chinese and international teachers and students of UCAS.
First, Wang Jing, the studio host and Party Secretary of the College of Resources and Environment / College of Agriculture, delivered an opening speech. She expressed gratitude to the Sino-Danish College and Dean Wang Haiyan for their strong support of the event. She also praised and encouraged the UCAS teachers and students for gathering amidst their busy work and study schedules, united by their shared love for outstanding traditional Chinese culture, to attend this Guqin encounter spanning three millennia. Simultaneously, she expressed the hope that this lecture would help everyone relax, release stress, and experience the unique traditional artistic charm of the Guqin and the power of traditional culture.
The lecture officially commenced with the timeless Tang Dynasty Guqin masterpiece "Liang Xiao Yin" (Peaceful Night Prelude), evoking a sense of a glorious past. Master Bao Chenli began by posing the question, "Why has the Guqin become an important symbol of the Chinese cultural heritage?" leading the teachers and students in tracing the 3000-year origin and flow of this ancient culture and art. He pointed out from the start that the Guqin's core position among the "Four Arts" (Qin, Qi, Shu, Hua – Guqin, Chess, Calligraphy, Painting) stemmed not only from the refinement of its performance technique but, more importantly, from its consistent connection to literati self-cultivation and cultural heritage. Discussing the most touching spiritual core of Guqin culture, Master Bao narrated the story of Bo Ya and Zhong Ziqi – "High Mountains and Flowing Water" meeting a true friend who shares a mutual understanding the music – in both Chinese and English. Master Bao pointed out that Bo Ya played the Guqin to convey the meaning of mountains and rivers, while Zhong Ziqi understood the aspiration for heaven, earth, and nature. This celebrated anecdote highlights the millennia-old pursuit in traditional Chinese culture of the "Unity of heaven and humanity, and the harmonious spiritual resonance between humans and nature."
After the theoretical explanation, Master Bao Chenli, treating the Guqin as a ritual instrument of the Junzi (a gentleman of noble character), integrated abstract Guqin cultural concepts into vivid live practice, allowing teachers and students to intuitively feel the profound artistic conception of the resonance between "Heaven, Earth, and Humanity." The Guqin's unique three sounds of timbre – "Heaven, Earth, and Human" – precisely mirror the spirit of "Unity of Heaven and Humanity" and harmony between Heaven, Earth, and Humanity in traditional Chinese culture. This is said to be the core philosophy behind the legendary creation and playing of the Guqin by Fuxi, a cultural ancestor in Chinese tradition. Master Bao explained the traditional etiquette of the "Ten Occasions Not to Play the Guqin" on site – "not playing during fierce winds or heavy rain, not playing in noisy and boisterous settings, not playing when encountering vulgar persons, etc." He clarified that these traditional etiquette rules are not intended as deliberate restrictions but reflect reverence for the ancient sages and wise men, and moreover represent the ancients' insight into conforming to the natural order of Heaven and Earth – the internal and external cultivation of harmonious coexistence between humans and nature, and harmony and self-consistency between people and their own hearts.
Throughout the lecture, Master Bao Chenli consistently connected theoretical explanations with live Guqin piece demonstrations through "interactive Q&A in both Chinese and English." He not only used his profound yet accessible professional knowledge to lead teachers and students in tracing and appreciating the 3000-year cultural vein of the traditional literati Guqin but also, through skillful questioning, ignited the enthusiasm of Chinese and international students for exploring traditional Chinese culture. He also periodically gave gifts like commemorative SDC bookmarks to actively participating students, making the transmission of traditional culture more contemporary and warmer.
In the final "Live Oral Transmission and Heart-to-Heart Guqin Experience" segment, Master Bao invited students interested in the Guqin to come on stage for close contact and to try playing the traditional Guqin. More than ten students enthusiastically raised their hands. Under Master Bao's patient guidance one by one, initially somewhat nervous students gradually relaxed. As their fingertips fell, even with a simple first touch of the strings, they immediately experienced the vast yet intricate, profoundly moving beauty of traditional Chinese culture.
After the lecture concluded, the students, still eager for more, gathered around Master Bao Chenli to continue discussing the profound connotations of the Guqin and traditional Chinese culture. This nearly three-hour lecture and exchange acted like a spark, igniting the students' enthusiasm for traditional Chinese culture in their hearts. Master Bao started from the usage and heritage of the Guqin within the literati tradition over three thousand years, eloquently describing its blending and continuation with traditional Chinese culture and art forms such as traditional Chinese calligraphy, painting, traditional Chinese medicine, and martial arts; he then extended the discussion to the aesthetic connection between the Guqin and contemporary life, even exploring how traditional Chinese culture can bring humanistic philosophy cross-disciplinary thinking to the development of science and technology. Master Bao opened a door for the students to the spiritual world of "Unity of Heaven and Humanity, Unity of Knowledge and Action" embodied by the literati. This lecture allowed the 3000-year-old Guqin to resonate with new sounds on the youthful campus, and also quietly planted the seeds of traditional Chinese culture’s wisdom in the heart of every attendee.
Author: MA Wenzhan
Photo: SDC, the "Nourishing the Heart with Beauty" Counselor Studio
Editor: GAO Yuan
