This song is based on the fact that when Chu and Han fought a decisive battle in Gaixia (now southeast of Lingbi County, Anhui Province) in 202 BC, the Han army ambushed on all sides and completely defeated the Chu army, forcing Xiang Yu to commit suicide in Wujiang River.
Gaixia decisive battle is a famous battle in the history of our country. At the end of Qin Dynasty, Chen Sheng and Guangwu rose up. Under the violent blow of the surging peasant uprising, the Qin Dynasty declared its demise. At this time, Liu Bang's Han army and Xiang Yu's Chu army fought for the Central Plains and dominated the world. By 202 BC, Chu and Han had been at war for several years. Because Xiang Yu, the overlord of the place of Xi Chu, was arrogant and indecisive, he missed the opportunity to destroy Liu's army again and again, but Liu Bang survived several times in total annihilation and pulled himself together again. By the time of the decisive battle in Gaixia, Liu Bang surrounded Xiang Yu's10,000 people with the absolute advantage of 300,000 troops. In the middle of the night, Sean played the flute and the soldiers sang Chu songs, which made the Chu army feel cornered, forcing Xiang Yu to lead 800 cavalry to break through and flee overnight, while the Han army pursued them with 5,000 cavalry, and finally launched a duel on the Wujiang River. Xiang Yu committed suicide by drawing his sword because he was outnumbered, and the Han army won a great victory. Pipa's Ambush on Houses shows the fierce situation of this ancient war by means of music, which is a vivid and touching sound and picture of the ancient battlefield.
House of flying daggers first appeared in the Manual of Chinese Pipa published in 18 18, and later it was renamed Huaiyin Pingchu in the Thirteen Sets of Daqu Pipa Manual edited by 1895. But this is a traditional piece of music circulating among the people. As early as the end of16th century, Wang Youding of Ming Dynasty recorded the vivid scene of Tang Ying, a famous pipa player, playing Chu and Han in Four Zhao Tang Ji. The article writes: "A Song of Chu and Han", the two armies dueled, the heavens and the earth moved, and the tile house flew down. Xu and examine it, there are golden sounds, drums, swords, crossbows, chariots and horses. Over time, those who have grievances are difficult to understand, and they are Chu Ci; Those tragic voices are the generous voices of Wang Xiang's elegy; Trapped in daze, there is the sound of chasing horses; To Wujiang, there is the throat of the king; I rode for Wang Sheng, which made the listeners feel excited and sad at the same time, and finally they couldn't cry. It's so touching. "This passage shows that the content, structure and musical image of House of Flying Daggers are generally consistent with those described in Chu Han, which proves that it has a very long history.
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Pipa song "House of Flying Daggers" adopts the traditional large-scale divertimento structure in China. The whole song * * * has thirteen small paragraphs, and the title of each paragraph is very general. These titles are: 1. Camp; Second, blow; Third, key meetings; Fourth, formation; Fifth, go to the team; 6. ambush; Seven, Jiming Mountain outpost; Eight, Jiulishan War; 9. Wang Xiang was defeated; X. Wujiang committed suicide; Eleven, the military played Qi; Twelve, the generals will strive for merit; Thirteen, win back to camp.
The whole song can be divided into three parts.
The first part describes the preparatory work of the Han army before the war, focusing on the magnificent lineup of the Han army. * * * Includes the first five paragraphs.
"Hunting Shadows" is actually the introduction of the whole song. The rhythm is free and changeable. From the very beginning, he took the lead with the method of "rowing by turns", which rendered a strong atmosphere of war. The sonorous rhythm is like inspiring drums, and the passionate and high-pitched voice is like the bugle that shakes the valley, vividly depicting the unique drums and bugles on the battlefield. Since then, people have used various expression techniques to express spectacular scenes such as buzzing voices, drums, three links and one leveling, the sound of military guns and the galloping of iron horses, which appropriately summarized the typical tense and intense environment of ancient battlefields.
"Blowing" is the only paragraph in the whole song with strong melody and strong lyrical atmosphere. Pipa simulates the March of ancient wind instruments with the long sound played by wheel fingers. This interlude is very similar to the magnificent scene of ancient marching, depicting the image of the disciplined Han army, which is mighty, from far to near and striding forward. This piece of music has a lofty spirit in shaping the artistic image of music.
There are some changes and trade-offs in the actual performance of the three paragraphs, namely, "Pointing to the Desk", "Arranging" and "Walking". Their common features are neat and compact rhythm and elastic pitch jumping, which show Liu Dajun's high morale before the war, rapid formation change in the drill and the vigorous pace of soldiers. The orderly structural arrangement of music makes the emotional development step by step, which fully paves the way for the transition to fierce fighting scenes.
The second part includes six, seven and eight short paragraphs, which is the central part of the whole song. Its image depicts the fierce scene of the decisive battle between the Chu and Han armies.
The music of Ambush and the artistic conception it depicts are very distinctive. It shapes the melody of development with relaxed rhythm and sound pattern, and creates an atmosphere of tension and terror. Give a person a kind of gloomy feeling, there are ambushes everywhere, and the Chu army is approaching under the shadow of night.
In the "Little Battle of Jiming Mountain", Pipa used the stunt of "stopping the string", vividly showing the scene of small-scale fighting between the two sides. "The sound made by the brake string is not pure music, but an effect containing metallic sound, just like swords, spears and halberds colliding with each other. The gradual acceleration of speed and the progress of melody make the mood more tense.
Jiulishan War is the climax of the whole music. The musician used a variety of pipa techniques to describe the cries of thousands of troops and horses and the earth-shattering fierce battle. Pipa is very good at simulating noisy and fierce fighting sounds, which makes people immersive and infectious. The whole song depicts the conflict between the two armies of Chu and Han. At this point, the outcome has been decided and the contradictions have been resolved.
The third part includes the last five paragraphs. The first two paragraphs describe Xiang Yu's suicide by the Wujiang River after his failure. The low musical atmosphere is in sharp contrast with the previous climax. Among them, Wujiang commit suicide must have a tragic melody, which shaped the artistic image of Xiang Yu's generous elegy. The last three paragraphs describe the scene in which the Han army emerged as a winner. However, the current performance is generally abridged, some omitting the whole third part, and some abridged the last three short paragraphs of "All the Army Plays Kai" to concentrate the artistic conception of the music and avoid verbosity.
House of flying daggers is the representative work of Wu Qu, a great pipa player in China traditional instrumental music. The traditional pipa music in China has a beautiful melody and gentle rhythm, and its techniques are mostly left-handed push-pull and rubbing. Good at depicting beautiful natural scenery or expressing delicate feelings inside. Wu Qu, on the other hand, has intense and magnificent emotions, complicated and changeable rhythms, and is full of drama, and is good at using the right-handed playing skills to express strong atmosphere and emotions. Therefore, this piece of music is magnificent, passionate and has a distinct artistic image.