Me and Empress Dowager Cixi

Chapter 9 Pick Up
In the impression of ordinary people, the queen mother seems to be just an old woman with little knowledge, because she really has little contact with the outside world.The actual situation is not the case, her knowledge is not less than the average person.

She has a band with several instruments so old that probably only those who are good at playing them know their respective histories.But the queen mother knows everything, which really makes me admire.All the sources and legends about ancient musical instruments that I know are all told to me by her.

No matter where she goes, the queen mother will bring her own band.Even in the bedroom, or in other small corners of the palace, those musicians would always be by the Queen Mother's side, and no one could leave half a step without the Queen Mother's orders.The last time I went to Rehe, the Queen Mother took these people with me, and of course I will not leave behind this time when I go to Fengtian.As for what kind of troubles the band will bring during the trip, what kind of financial burden it will cause, or what kind of difficulties they will encounter, she doesn't ask.It is not for nothing that the queen mother is so relieved, because no matter what kind of unfavorable situation arises, no one will disturb her, and someone will always come forward to deal with it.Qingshan and my second brother take care of various chores, including taking care of the band.

Due to my work relationship, I became interested in the Queen Mother's band.As long as I have the opportunity, I go to them, look at them carefully, and listen to them.After a long time, I know not only their names, but also what they are best at.And I can play with those musical instruments for a while, I dare not say how superb the skills are, at least there will be no major problems.

There are a total of twelve members in this band, without exception, they cannot escape the fate of eunuchs.From the outside alone, this band is very neat and beautiful.They all wore a weft cap on their heads, but compared with the eunuchs carrying Luanyu, there was an extra bright red tassel on the weft cap.The clothes are uniform, the same peach red waistcoat and purple red gown, even though they are clean-faced, without any embroidery, they are still very gorgeous.In this band, apart from the brightly colored costumes of the musicians, even the musical instruments are also decorated gorgeously, including the large shelf where the musical instruments are placed, which are tied with a few bright yellow silk cloths, which are very eye-catching.

In addition to the twelve official band members, each of them has a helper.This is not to show off, it is entirely because they are too busy and have to find someone to help, otherwise many things will not be handled well.Those so-called helpers are not inferior to my forehand in terms of music knowledge.For example, when it’s time to play music, the instruments used in the forehand always have to be changed, and the speed needs to be very fast. In addition, under normal circumstances, it is inconvenient to say what instrument should be used, and it is all up to the assistant to judge by himself. What to hand over.For the uninitiated, this is no easy task.In addition, while handing over the instruments that should be used, you have to hang the unused instruments on the shelf. There is no room for hesitation in the process. You must be flexible in your hands, feet, and brains, and you must have a wealth of musical instrument knowledge.

I am very interested in the instruments in the band, and their respective histories make me even more interesting.So, I'm going to introduce it carefully here.I always feel that many of the new musical instruments that are popular around the world today are developed from these ancient musical instruments, as if we humans were gradually developed from apes.

Let’s talk about the “chime” first. This musical instrument is somewhat similar to the gong, but it seems to be more noble, and it belongs to one of the “Eight Treasures”.I have already mentioned its appearance in the previous chapter. The real musical instrument is exactly the same as the pattern embroidered on the satin, so I won’t go into details here, and mainly talk about its function.

The music played at that time was hard to comprehend.If it is listened to by modern people, it may not be very interesting, because it basically has no beat. From the perspective of hearing, it is only monotonous, not pleasant.However, if you experience it from the perspective of the soul, the solemn and elegant rhythm will make you feel a kind of soul impact.This is the characteristic of ancient Chinese music. The "chime" instrument is used to coordinate the rhythm. Only with it can the sound of the whole band change, sometimes rapid, sometimes soothing, and not too rigid.

The sound of the gong is crisper than that of the "chime", like a cool breeze blowing through the woods in late autumn, giving people a cool feeling; like an ancient poem, it has a profound artistic conception and can deeply shake the hearts of the listeners.This requires the musicians not to exert too much force on their wrists when playing, so as not to make too loud a sound and lose the elegant beauty.

There is another musical instrument, like chime or gong, which is used to adjust the rhythm. It is called Pangu, also known as "intervention".Its sound is not pleasant, it can be said to be a bit monotonous. If you think about the sound of hitting the table with bamboo chopsticks, it is what it sounds like.In addition, the woodpecker makes a similar sound when it taps the tree trunk with its beak.Interestingly, this does not hinder its important position in the whole band.Pangu is a very special round drum with a diameter of about nine inches. The drum surface is made of white pigskin, and the middle part is slightly bulged. This part is about two inches in diameter.The entire drumhead is a whole piece of pigskin, fixed with many small nails on the side.The small nails are very special, called "round-head nails" because their heads are very large, about the same size as today's screws.

From the outside, Pangu is very beautiful, because it is covered with a drum garment like a woman's skirt.The drum clothes are made of yellow satin, and many patterns are carefully embroidered on it, and the colors are bright and unusual.If you look carefully at these patterns, you will find that each pattern represents a musical instrument, and just this one piece of drum clothing is embroidered with almost all the musical instruments that have been used in ancient China.

When playing, the general drummers in Chinese bands will tie belts on both sides of the drum and hang it around their necks. The drum is just in the stomach for easy beating.But in the Queen Mother's band, the drummer didn't have to work so hard.He has an assistant, he can ask the assistant to hang the Pangu on his back, while he himself holds two not particularly thick drumsticks, stands behind and beats left and right.

The next thing I want to talk about is "nine-tone gong".In my opinion, it is arguably the most interesting of these instruments.The reason why it got its name is because it is composed of nine small gongs, and the sound from each side is different.And these nine different sounds are exactly the nine scales in ancient Chinese music scores, which are similar to the current 1234567, but they are called differently. Their names are "work, four, upper, chi, five, one, six, ten thousand, combine".Why do they have to be called these names, what meanings do they contain, this series of questions is not only impossible for me to answer, it should be said that it is difficult for most people to answer.Their origins are too old for people to be interested any longer, as long as they can sing the tune.

The structure of this "nine-tone gong" is relatively simple, and it is just a wooden frame when you look around.The big shelf mentioned above is used to store various musical instruments. It is about five feet high and about eight feet wide. The two wooden supports below are heavy and have a large angle. No matter how many musical instruments are hung on it, it will not look top-heavy. , even if the wind blows it down. The shape of the "Nine-tone Gong" shelf is similar to that of this big shelf, but the size is different. It is only fourteen inches high and two inches wide.Three beams were nailed to the frame at exactly equal intervals, and three small gongs hung from each beam.There is also a hook nailed to the back of the top beam for easy hanging on that big shelf.

When playing the "Nine-tone Gong", a very thin small wooden stick is used. At the top of the wooden stick is a hardwood ball, the size of which is like an abacus bead.When knocking, use light force, because it is hardwood, the sound is loud and pleasant, and there is a detached realm in it-this is why I appreciate it so much.The next thing I want to talk about is the oldest and most exotic of all Chinese musical instruments - Sheng.Judging from the appearance, the sheng looks like a bergamot. 24 thin bamboo tubes of different lengths are tightly packed together, with many small holes in it.A thing like a car handle is lifted up at the bottom, and the performer blows on it, and the fingers put the small holes on the bamboo pipe together one by one.Ever since, various musical tones emanated like nine-tone gongs, which happened to conform to the nine scales mentioned above.It's just that because the bamboo tube is too thin, even if the musician uses a lot of strength, the sound will not be too high.

Chinese people still have some prejudice against the instrument of Sheng.Everyone thinks that people who play the sheng will get lung disease sooner or later; there is even a terrifying saying that if you split a long-used sheng, you will see blood.Hearing is delusion, seeing is believing. I have never seen blood with my own eyes, so I dare not make a judgment, but I did see an eunuch in the palace who played the sheng. It's a cough.

In addition, there are pipa, guqin, trumpet, gong, flute, flute, cymbal, etc., which are all traditional Chinese musical instruments, so I won’t introduce them one by one here.

In short, the Queen Mother's band is very well equipped, and the music played is solemn and ethereal, giving people a mysterious feeling.I always have an idea that the reason why these musicians can play to such a state is that they didn't put their emotions into it when they played.Their faces were all rigid, expressionless, like moving wooden figures.

But, no matter what, in the eyes of the Empress Dowager, this band is the best in the world, and no matter what, there is no second one.

Whether the skill is good or bad, we don't want to jump to conclusions, but everyone can see the hard work of musicians.On weekdays, they have to perform invariably according to the stipulated time and occasion.For example, every time the Empress Dowager boarded the Luanyu, the band had to play on the side, until the Empress Dowager gave the order to start driving and the Luanyu started to move, and then they stopped playing.This is not over yet, next, these musicians must immediately pack up their instruments, take a shortcut in a hurry, rush to the place where the queen mother is going, and wait there. .Special attention should be paid to the fact that during the whole process of packing up and running for the road, no loud noises can be made, otherwise heavy penalties will be imposed.

In comparison, this is fairly easy, but what is hard to deal with is the sudden idea that pops up in the queen mother's mind. As long as the queen mother is happy and wants to listen to music, no matter what time and place these musicians have to play immediately Play up.

There are quite a few such things.The few times I was most impressed were in the Queen Mother's bedroom and the theater in the Summer Palace.The Queen Mother reclined comfortably on the dragon chair with her eyes closed, while the band played beside her endlessly, often without stopping for several hours.The Empress Dowager closed her eyes and seemed to be really asleep, but once the band stopped playing, she would immediately open her eyes and blame the musicians for being lazy.If she really gets angry, the heads of these musicians will be hard to save.The musicians are worried all day long, worrying about their own lives, how can they relax?
The same is true for going to Fengtian this time.Every time the train stopped, the musicians got off immediately, stood respectfully under the window of the Queen Mother's carriage, and began to play and play.If the queen mother suddenly wants to get off the train and take a ride in Luanyu, or board the train again, there must be a performance.

Let's just get out of the car.Before the Empress Dowager appeared, the people under the car had already knelt down in unison, Emperor Guangxu knelt in front, and the rest of the people knelt on the ground in order of their official positions.It also includes these musicians. They seem to be more nervous, because after they kowtow very respectfully, they will immediately get up and play music. At this time, they will play a farewell song.

These movements are simple to say, but for them, every step is extremely tense.Originally, they were holding musical instruments. If they wanted to kneel and kowtow, they had to put down the instrument first, and then they had to stand up immediately after kowtowing, and they had to hold the musical instrument in their hands and start playing immediately.When the Queen Mother left while they were whistling and rushing to her destination, the musicians became even more nervous.

They should pack up all the musical instruments at once, and hurry to the place where the Queen Mother is going.As soon as the queen mother arrived, she immediately began to play and play again, and greeted her again with the music she had just sent off.It sounds funny, but this move has a very solemn name, that is "pick up".

Because they were worried about not being able to catch up with Shengjia, these musicians always walked very quickly to their destination.In fact, this kind of worry is unnecessary, because the empress dowager's Luanyu moves very slowly, and it is impossible to run faster than the musicians, so these musicians have never delayed their performance.The whole process of Luanyu operation is similar to the funeral ceremony of ordinary people.

When not playing, the musical instruments of the musicians must be hung on a special wooden stand.The structure of this wooden frame is very simple. It looks like a door frame. The two vertical wooden bars are about five feet high, and there are also two horizontal wooden bars, one on the top and one in the middle.There are several hooks nailed to the two crossbars. I remember that there are three on the top and four on the bottom.

These hooks are for hanging musical instruments.Although there are so many musical instruments, there is no need to worry about no place to hang them, because those that are often used must be held in hand anytime and anywhere, and there is no chance to hang them on the hooks.For the Chinese, it doesn't matter to make up for ordinary things, so it is normal to hang several musical instruments on one hook.Of course, this situation only applies to Chinese bands.

(End of this chapter)