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Wei Zhongle

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In this Chinese name, the family name is Wei.

Wei Zhongle
卫仲乐
Wei Zhongle
Wei Zhongle
Background information
Birth nameBingtao
秉涛
Also known asChongfu
崇福
Born(1908-03-21)21 March 1908
Shanghai County, Jiangsu, Qing
Died7 April 1997(1997-04-07) (aged 89)
Jing'an, Shanghai, China
GenresChinese traditional music
Occupationinstrumental musician
Instrument(s)Pipa, guqin
Years active1930s–1960s
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese衛仲樂
Simplified Chinese卫仲乐
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinWèi Zhònglè
Wade–GilesWei Chung Loh

Wei Zhongle, also romanized as Wei Chung-Loh[1] or Wei Chung-Lok[2] (simplified Chinese: 卫仲乐; traditional Chinese: 衛仲樂, 21 March 1908 – 7 April 1997), was a Chinese musical instrumentalist. He played a wide variety of traditional Chinese instruments, including Pipa, Guqin, Erhu, Xiao, and Jinghu.[3] He was nicknamed "Kreisler of Pipa", and was a member of the 2nd to the 6th National Committee of the People's Political Consultative Conference.[4]

Early life

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Wei was born as Yin Bingtao (Chinese: 殷秉涛) in Shanghai County on 21 March 1908. Due to financial difficulty in his biological parents' household, he was adopted by a widow with the surname Wei, and was renamed Wei Chongfu.[5] Starting in 1916, he enrolled in local schools, but dropped out in 1923 as the family could no longer afford tuition. He worked as an apprentice in several shops, and learnt to play xiao and flute in his free time.[6]

In 1926, Wei became unemployed when the shop he worked at was closed. Later in the year, he joined Lelin Silk and Bamboo Society (Chinese: 乐林丝竹会) and Postal Union Chinese Orchestra (Chinese: 邮务工会国乐团).[7] Wei joined a traditional Chinese music group called "Union Music Club" (Chinese: 大同乐会) in 1928, where he learnt to play Guqin, Pipa, Violin and other instruments. The founder of the Society Zheng Jinwen (Chinese: 郑觐文) personally instructed Wei, and advised him to change his name to Wei Zhongle.[8]

Career

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In 1933, he played the musical pieces Ambush from Ten Sides and The Moon over the River on a Spring Night in a documentary produced by Mingxing Film Company.[7] In 21 May of the same year, he performed Ambush from Ten Sides again on the opening ceremony of the Grand Theatre.[9] In March of the next year, Wei took part in the recording of the album The Drunken Fisherman (Chinese: 醉渔唱晚) by Pathé Records, which is the earliest recording of guqin performance.[10] Following the death of Zheng Jinwen in 1935, Wei took over as the deputy director of Union Music Club.[5] Later the same year, he joined the Chinese Music Research Association (Chinese: 中国音乐研究会) founded by Aaron Avshalomov, Shen Zhibai and Zhang Mei.[11]

In July 1938, Wei was invited by the Hong Kong Women's War Disaster Relief Association (Chinese: 香港妇女救济兵灾会) to participate in charity performances along with Xu Guangyi, Luo Songquan and other musicians. They performed consecutively from August 6 to 7, and all proceeds were used to help the victims of the Second Sino-Japanese War.[12] From 1938 to 1939, Wei traveled to the United States as part of a troupe, during which he performed a variety of instrumental solo and received the nickname "Kreisler of Pipa".[1][13] He enrolled in Curtis Institute of Music to study western music, was invited to performed on NBC as the first traditional Chinese musician to perform on Television, and recorded the album Chinese Classical Music with Musicraft Records.[14][15]

After returning to China in late February 1940, Wei became a professor of Chinese music at Hujiang University with recommendation from Shen Zhibai. At this time, the Union Music Club was relocated to Chongqing due to the ongoing war, and Wei established "Zhongle Music Hall" on its original site.[7] In 1941, Wei co-founded a Chinese orchestra group along with Jin Zuli, Xu Guangyi and others. He also performed for foreign radio stations in Shanghai, including British Democracy Radio and the Voice of the Soviet Union Radio.[16]

In 1949, Wei became a professor at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. In 1954, he joined a Chinese delegation to South and Southeast Asia, in which he visited and performed in India, Myanmar and Indonesia.[7] In 1956, Wei became the deputy director and later the director of the Folk Music Department of Shanghai Conservatory of Music. In 1962, he served as vice chairman of the Shanghai Branch of the Chinese Musicians' Association.[17]

During the Cultural Revolution, Wei Zhongle was accused of and detained for being a "reactionary academic authority", partially for his complaints during the Great Chinese Famine.[18] His disciple Tu Weigang bribed the guards to ensure that Wei could maintain a normal lifestyle.[19]

Wei died of myocardial infarction in Huadong Hospital of Shanghai on 7 April 1997.[20]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Chinese Artists Here on Tour". The Los Angeles Times. 21 September 1938. p. 27. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  2. ^ Saffle, Michael; Yang, Hon-Lun (1 March 2017). China and the West: Music, Representation, and Reception. University of Michigan Press. p. 54. ISBN 978-0-472-12271-4.
  3. ^ Encyclopedia of Contemporary Chinese Culture. Taylor & Francis. 2 August 2004. pp. 847–848. ISBN 9781134549535.
  4. ^ 解放日報 [Liberation Daily] (in Simplified Chinese). 1985.
  5. ^ a b 中国音乐年鉴 [Chinese Music Yearbook] (in Simplified Chinese). Culture and Art Publishing. 2003. pp. 298–299.
  6. ^ Zhuang, Yongping (2001). 琵琶手册 [Pipa Handbook] (in Simplified Chinese). Shanghai Music Publishing. p. 370. ISBN 978-7-80553-922-5.
  7. ^ a b c d 中国民族民间器乐曲集成: 上海卷 [Collection of Chinese National Folk Instrumental Music: Shanghai Volume] (in Simplified Chinese). 中国 Isbn 中心. 1993. pp. 1602–1604. ISBN 978-7-103-01183-6.
  8. ^ Yu, Jiafang (2006). 中国近代音乐史 [History of modern Chinese music] (in Chinese). Shanghai People's Press. p. 162. ISBN 978-7-208-06377-8.
  9. ^ "百年大同（2）大同乐会简介" [Centennial Harmony (2) Introduction to Union Music Club]. Museum for Oriental Musical Instruments (in Simplified Chinese). Retrieved 16 April 2024.
  10. ^ Zheng, Weitao (2010). 中國器樂作品巡禮 [Tour of Chinese Instrumental Music Works] (in Traditional Chinese). Chinese University of Hong Kong Press. pp. 3–4. ISBN 9789629964375.
  11. ^ 上海艺术史 [Shanghai Art History] (in Simplified Chinese). Shanghai People's Fine Arts Publishing House. 2002. p. 407. ISBN 978-7-5322-2879-9.
  12. ^ Chen, Jianhua; Chen, Jie (2005). 民國音樂史年譜, 1912–1949 [Chronicle of music history in the Republic of China, 1912-1949] (in Traditional Chinese). Shanghai Music Publishing. p. 266. ISBN 978-7-80667-659-2.
  13. ^ "Chinese Performers Given High Praise". The Charlotte Observer. p. 8. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  14. ^ "From Confucius to Television". The State Journal. 11 October 1939. p. 4. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  15. ^ The American Music Lover. P.H. Reed. 1940. p. 30.
  16. ^ Wang, Guangxi; Zhou, Guanwu (1998). 中国近现代文学艺术辞典 [Dictionary of Modern Chinese Literature and Art] (in Simplified Chinese). Zhongzhou Ancient Books Publishing House. p. 44. ISBN 978-7-5348-0971-2.
  17. ^ 中国大百科全书: (A-Z) [Encyclopedia of China: (A-Z)] (in Simplified Chinese). Encyclopedia of China Publishing House. 2009. pp. 23–228. ISBN 978-7-5000-7958-3.
  18. ^ Ju, Qihong (2002). 新中国音乐史, 1949–2000 [History of Music in New China, 1949-2000] (in Simplified Chinese). Hunan Fine Arts Publishing House. p. 63. ISBN 978-7-5356-1807-8.
  19. ^ Wang, Xiaojun (31 May 2001). "一门琵琶音 留伴彩云飞" [A pipa sound will accompany the colorful clouds flying]. People's Daily Online (in Simplified Chinese). Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  20. ^ 音乐艺术 [Music Art] (in Simplified Chinese). Shanghai Conservatory of Music. 1996.

See also

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