Known for boasting the beginnings of China’s Wu culture brought about Wuxi people’s reputation for being smart, making them an employer’s dream. That indeed spurred the region’s industrial development, but it also gave rise to their having a diverse range of interests, transcending age and culture, including an appreciation for the finer things in life, music in particular.
无锡以中国吴文化的起源而闻名，为无锡人带来了聪明的声誉，使他们成为雇主的梦想。这确实刺激了该地区的工业发展，但也引发了他们超越年龄和文化的多元化兴趣，包括对生活中美好事物的欣赏，尤其是音乐。
In downtown Wuxi along a commercial pedestrian street sits a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit. The ordinary home from Republican-era times appears ramshackle and almost forgotten, were it not for it sitting on the City’s most expensive piece of real estate. More notably, this was the birthplace of the greatest Erhu player ever to have lived.
无锡市中心的商业步行街旁坐落着一处全国重点文物保护单位。这座民国时期的普通住宅看起来摇摇欲坠，几乎被遗忘，如果它不是坐落在这座城市最昂贵的房地产上的话。更值得注意的是，这里是有史以来最伟大的二胡演奏家的出生地。
A love child, Daoist priest and folk artist who died before being reputed as a legendary folk musician, A Bing (Hua Yanjun; 1893-1950) composed and performed over 270 pieces of folk music throughout his life. However, only six of his memorable works were ever recorded.
阿丙（华彦钧，1893-1950）是一位私生子、道士和民间艺术家，去世后被誉为传奇民间音乐家，一生创作和演奏了270多首民间音乐。然而，他的令人难忘的作品中只有六首被录制下来。
But circa 1925, A Bing lost sight in both his eyes, nevertheless setting out to make a living as a busker, with his wife Dong Cuidi assisting to his needs. That was to also help in the making of a legend. And in Wuxi later being officially recognised as national capital of China’s erhu culture.
但大约在 1925 年，阿兵双目失明，但他仍然开始以街头艺人为生，妻子董翠娣帮忙维持生计。这也有助于创造一个传奇。无锡后来被正式认定为中国二胡文化之都。
Somewhat away from the downtown is to be found the Meicun Erhu Industrial Park that opened in 2020. Highlighting the town’s cultural tradition of erhu craftsmanship and spanning 1,000 square metres, the park integrates erhu workshops, cultural and creative stores, classrooms and much more.
距离市中心较远的地方有2020年开业的梅村二胡产业园。该园区突出了梅村二胡工艺文化传统，占地1000平方米，集二胡作坊、文创店、教室等为一体。
A government backed initiative serving as a hub for promoting and preserving this intangible cultural heritage, visitors are fascinated to view the masters’ manipulation of the python skin that makes up the seal for the erhu’s sound box and the lengths of wood for its neck. Lucky attendees may even be treated to a performance, one in which they may come to be struck by the accessibility of the melodies therein, in that which is a stark contrast with those of many other traditional Chinese instruments.
这是一项政府支持的倡议，作为促进和保护这一非物质文化遗产的中心，游客们着迷地观看大师们对蟒蛇皮的处理，这些蟒蛇皮构成了二胡音箱的密封件和琴颈的木材长度。幸运的参加者甚至可能会得到一场表演，他们可能会被其中的旋律所震撼，这与许多其他中国传统乐器的旋律形成鲜明对比。
If erhu at its heart is essentially pop music, then the harmonica so too has a place in the Chinese masses’ hearts, for its affordability and portability.
如果说二胡的核心本质上是流行音乐，那么口琴也因其价格实惠和便携而在中国大众心中占有一席之地。
Dai Weihao is Vice General Manager of EastTop Harmonica which is also host to the Oriental Harmonica Museum, specialised in the preservation of harmonica culture.
戴伟豪是东方口琴公司的副总经理，该公司还拥有东方口琴博物馆，专门致力于保存口琴文化。
Dai points out that there are only 19 producers of harmonicas in the entire world, of which fully six are to be found in Jiangyin of Wuxi.
戴指出，全球口琴生产企业仅有19家，其中无锡江阴就有6家。
Rightfully proud of a collection comprising 5,000 harmonicas, the EastTop’s credentials are also solidified by one Bai Yansheng who serves today as the company’s technology consultant. For it was Bai who led he and his two brothers to win for China a gold award in 1989’s second World Harmonica Competition in Trossingen, Germany. That trophy gets a pride of place in the Museum, as does a harmonica gifted to Deng Yingchao, wife of China’s first Premier Zhou Enlai, and that which is the world’s biggest harmonica, at 2.199 metres tall, weighing 51.91 kilograms. And yes, it is possible to play it.
EastTop 拥有 5,000 架口琴，值得自豪，如今担任公司技术顾问的白燕生也巩固了 EastTop 的信誉。 1989年，白先生带领他和他的两个兄弟在德国特罗辛根举行的第二届世界口琴比赛中为中国赢得了金奖。这座奖杯在博物馆中占有一席之地，还有赠送给中国第一任总理周恩来的妻子邓颖超的口琴，以及世界上最大的口琴，高 2.199 米，重 51.91 公斤。是的，可以玩它。
Out with the piano; in with the harp
带着钢琴出去；与竖琴一起
Away from the harmonicas of Jiangyin and the erhus of Meicun, more meticulous musical production processes are to be found in Wuxi’s Huishan Economic Development Zone.
远离江阴的口琴、梅村的二胡，更精细的音乐制作工艺，在无锡惠山经济开发区。
It is there that the world’s premium harp maker, Salvi, has set up shop for what is in fact only its third production facility in the world, to cater to growing demand in the Asia region. That’s not only from orchestras and music schools, but also from parents, with plucking a harp now seen by an increasingly wealthy middle class as a more respectable alternative to tickling the ivories. Salvi’s cheapest lever harp produced in Wuxi sells for ¥30,000.
世界顶级竖琴制造商萨尔维 (Salvi) 正是在那里开设了其全球第三个生产工厂，以满足亚洲地区不断增长的需求。这不仅来自于管弦乐队和音乐学校，也来自于家长，现在越来越富有的中产阶级认为弹奏竖琴是比象牙挠痒痒更受人尊敬的选择。萨尔维无锡生产的最便宜的杠杆竖琴售价为3万日元。
Here, some 34 supremely skilled craftspeople; from carpenters to tuners; churn out 1,000 hand made harps per year, entirely out of materials imported from all over the world, in the process bringing in ¥30 million. It’s all the more impressive a tally considering that just one harp takes a whole month to make. Meanwhile, somewhere between 30 and 40 percent of sales are comprised of such lever harps, which, being easier to learn, are ideal for children beginning a learning journey.
这里有大约 34 名技术精湛的工匠；从木匠到调音师；每年生产 1,000 架手工竖琴，完全采用从世界各地进口的材料，在此过程中带来了 3,000 万日元的收入。考虑到制作一把竖琴需要整整一个月的时间，这一数字更加令人印象深刻。与此同时，大约 30% 到 40% 的销售额由此类杠杆竖琴组成，这种杠杆竖琴更容易学习，非常适合开始学习之旅的孩子。
According to Gary Zhang, GM of Salvi Musical Instruments (Wuxi), his HQ back in Italy chose Wuxi for its unique musical culture, excellent logistical access to market and generous government support in setting up its facility which opened as recently as 2022.
萨尔维乐器（无锡）总经理张嘉瑞表示，其意大利总部之所以选择无锡，是因为其独特的音乐文化、良好的市场物流通道以及政府对设立工厂的大力支持，该工厂于 2022 年开业。
Yet, hardware is one thing; software altogether another. For Wuxi people so too have song in their blood. That, in part, translates to older members of the fairer sex in Wuxi to be found dancing in troupes, as anywhere in China. But in Wuxi, they add song in to the mix.
然而，硬件是一回事；硬件是一回事。软件完全是另一回事。无锡人的血液里也流淌着歌声。这在一定程度上意味着无锡的老年女性成员会在舞团里跳舞，就像中国其他地方一样。但在无锡，他们在混音中加入了歌曲。
The Canal Concert Hall, right beside the Grand Canal is home to the Wuxi Shanhe Choir, founded in 2000 as an amateur choir, named after its sponsor and comprising six troupes of different ages and characteristics from all walks of life. 300 people now make up the greater ensemble, who together have performed more than 1,000 works, accumulating in the process a rich repertoire and yielding outstanding results; 12 international gold medals and 28 of the domestic variety.
大运河旁的运河音乐厅是无锡山河合唱团的所在地。无锡山河合唱团成立于2000年，是一个业余合唱团，以其主办者的名字命名，由来自各行各业的六个不同年龄、不同特点的团体组成。乐团现有300人，演出作品1000多部，积累了丰富的剧目，取得了骄人的成绩。国际金牌12枚，国内金牌28枚。
In Wuxi, music is multicultural, multi genre and multi generational
在无锡，音乐是多元文化、多流派、多代际的
The choirs may the preserve of those more advancing in years, but the same cannot be said for opera, with Wuxi Opera one of the major opera genres in Jiangsu.
合唱团可能是那些年纪较大的人的保留，但对于歌剧来说却并非如此，无锡歌剧是江苏的主要歌剧流派之一。
Dating from in the middle of the Qing Dynasty, Wuxi Opera was formed by the integration of mountain song, Daoism and the singing of propaganda scrolls in the countryside of Wuxi and neighbouring Changzhou. Accompanied by the erhu, lute, flute and percussion instruments, Wuxi Opera thrived to become popular all across the Lake Tai Basin.
无锡戏起源于清朝中叶，融合了无锡及邻近常州乡村的山歌、道教和宣画的唱腔而形成。在二胡、琵琶、笛子、打击乐器的伴奏下，无锡戏蓬勃发展，流行于太湖流域。
At the Jiangnan Vocational College of Media Arts, youngsters queue seated as the audience, for their turn to audition in front of their peers and teachers for a part in an upcoming College opera production. Not far away, a student orchestra comprised entirely of traditional Chinese instruments is also put through its paces.
在江南传媒艺术职业学院，孩子们作为观众排队等候，在同学和老师面前试镜即将上演的学院歌剧作品。不远处，一支完全由中国传统乐器组成的学生管弦乐队也在进行表演。
Wang Xiaohong with the School of Music & Dance points to more and more of today’s younger generations taking up such instruments.
音乐舞蹈学院的王晓红指出，当今越来越多的年轻一代开始接触这种乐器。
According to Wang, previous generations may not have looked kindly upon those basing a career on a traditional Chinese instrument. But things are different today, with social media to thank. Post millennials today realise that dedication to the craft could land them a role in a TV series or a movie, together with all the accompanying social adoration. Their parents have not missed the point.
王说，前几代人可能不会善待那些以中国传统乐器为职业的人。但今天情况有所不同，这要归功于社交媒体。今天的后千禧一代意识到，对手艺的奉献可以让他们在电视剧或电影中扮演一个角色，以及随之而来的社会崇拜。他们的父母并没有忽视这一点。
But Wang also freely admits that there remain more fringe Chinese traditional instruments perhaps close to extinction. The Erhu’s pop sensibilities may secure its future, but for instruments such as the Guqin, with its compositions reflecting more the abstract meanings of life or the human condition, an arguably less certain destiny awaits.
但王也坦率地承认，仍有更多边缘的中国传统乐器可能濒临灭绝。二胡的流行情感可能会确保其未来，但对于像古琴这样的乐器来说，其作品更多地反映了生命或人类状况的抽象意义，可以说，等待着它的是不太确定的命运。
It’s a fact not lost on some of Wang’s students, gathering for themselves more lofty ideals in their recognising there is the risk of some such arts dying out, and assigning themselves as protectors to carry on the faith.
王的一些学生并没有忽视这一事实，他们认识到某些此类艺术面临消亡的风险，并为自己树立了更远大的理想，并把自己定位为继承信仰的保护者。
Back in the home of the Erhu, Lin Hui with the Meicun Sub District of Wuxi’s Xinwu District has also taken note on the phenomenon. And acted upon it. Lin too speaks of the youngsters studying the craft of Erhu to then live broadcast their progress from dedicated studios within the facility.
回到二胡故乡，无锡市新吴区梅村街道的林辉也注意到了这一现象。并付诸行动。林还谈到了年轻人学习二胡技艺，然后在设施内的专门工作室现场直播他们的进步。
Elsewhere, their contemporaries are absorbing alternative music of altogether another style; western. Nestled in the waters of Lake Li that is part of Lake Tai, the Huxin Utopia-Yide Music Bookstore is home to a plethora of music-related books, many of them dedicated to 20th Century western music. With pages literally falling out as the most thumbed among them, a biography of brief trailblazers The Stone Roses who flirted with the limelight in 1989 stands out as an obscure and unlikely choice over which young Wuxinese might obsess. Niche, yes, but concrete evidence as to the importance of melodies in the Wuxi psyche.
在其他地方，他们的同时代人正在吸收完全不同风格的另类音乐。西。湖心乌托邦一德音乐书店坐落在太湖的漓湖水域中，拥有大量与音乐相关的书籍，其中许多是二十世纪西方音乐的书籍。其中，翻阅次数最多的书页实际上已被淘汰，一本关于 1989 年成为众人瞩目的先驱者石玫瑰的简短传记脱颖而出，成为无锡年轻人可能着迷的一个不起眼且不太可能的选择。是的，这是小众的，但却是旋律在无锡心理中的重要性的具体证据。
Music is often a reflection of any era’s societal condition. With Meicun the indisputable capital of erhu in China and more and more youngsters now taking up the art, so too the once industrial hinterland of Wuxi has become somewhat synonymous with music for the masses. As those very smart people of the Wu would have known all along, it’s the very core of Chinese culture.
音乐往往反映了任何时代的社会状况。随着梅村成为中国无可争议的二胡之都，越来越多的年轻人开始接触二胡艺术，曾经的工业腹地无锡也成为了大众音乐的代名词。正如那些非常聪明的吴人一直都知道的那样，这是中国文化的核心。
