—It wasn’t considered a serious major act; he was simply the last to perform in the group singing.
As the last to start singing, the folk arts stage likely wanted to promote the newly recognized intangible cultural heritage of zidi shu, but many were concerned whether Qi Shejiang and his zidi shu could stand up to the performances of so many esteemed masters before him.
Qi Shejiang stood center stage with a sanxian in hand, and the audience clapped in his direction.
He nodded slightly, composed in demeanor, his left hand pressing the strings while his right hand played in a fluid, rapid picking motion, the rhythm produced resembling rolling pearls, occasionally employing three-finger or five-finger techniques.
Even in this introduction, before the lyrics emerged, those experienced in the art were already nodding in approval.
Good strings, good finger picking.
Finger picking was rare with sanxian accompaniment; it was originally a technique of the pipa, and mastering such finger picking ability required both hard work and talent.
In Qi Shejiang’s performance today, the technique would be applied multiple times. He managed a style that featured the attractive characteristics of the pipa while entirely retaining the essence of the sanxian, his fingers alternating quickly over the strings in a smooth, continuous motion—truly enjoyable to hear.
In preparation for today’s performance, Qi Shejiang had deliberated for a long time before selecting the segment “Ten Questions and Answers” from the zidi shu.
“Ten Questions and Answers” spans twenty-two chapters, telling the story of familiar characters from the Three Kingdoms—the very reason Qi Shejiang chose it.
It was said that when Guan Yu was detained by Cao Cao, he sent Diao Chan to him. If Diao Chan failed to answer well, he would seize the opportunity to kill her. These questions ranged from astronomy to geography, containing many difficult inquiries, all with a regular pattern, from one to ten. In the end, Diao Chan responded fluently to the difficult problems posed by Guan Yu.
