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I just read an article entitled 男孩学古筝会变娘娘腔？专家:男孩学古筝占很大便宜 which I can approximately translate to: ‘Would boys who learn the Guzheng become effeminate? Experts differ, claiming that boys have a huge advantage in Guzheng playing’, and you can read it here.

To summarize the article, the perception of the Guzheng seems to have evolved over the recent decades into a musical instrument for females. The proportion of male to female students used to be equal, and now it is almost 1 male to 99 females. Descriptions such as “独苗现象”and “万红丛中一点绿”were used to describe the peculiar sight of a  lone male amongst the females. Parents (of boys learning the Guzheng) feel unsettled and awkward.

To reduce connotations in the article that the ”Guzheng will become a 100% female instrument in time to come”, the last half of the article focuses on the past and the present state of Guzheng playing for boys, with interviews from industry experts. Here are four main points that were pro-male:

1. The maestros/masters of Guzheng were mostly males.The current No. 1 Master Wang Zhongshan is also male. One of the industry experts Zhang Ying exclaimed a contradiction: “(translated) China’s history of Zheng masters are almost all men, however the Guzheng has become a women’s instrument in people’s eyes!”
2. The 5 main Guzheng organizations/schoolsof China – Henan, Shandong, Hakka, Chaozhou and Zhe - were set up by men.
3. Many (higher level) songs written for the Guzheng are masculine in nature, which requires exceptional strength and skill. Females have a hard time to pulling it off whereas males are able to fully express the song naturally. One of the experts joked that when female zheng-players in his class were playing the song 《临安遗恨》, a song depicting the prowess and valor of Yue Fei*, it sounded more like a song announcing the arrival of Wang Zhao Jun**.
4. Other than masculine strength, another advantage male zheng-players have during competitions these days is the attention of judges. With so many female zheng-players competing nowadays, a male zheng-player makes the judges sit right up to listen intently.

So yup, that’s the gist of the article. But why, oh why, concentrate on the past and present advantages?  We should be concentrating on is the future of Guzheng for boys and men. Otherwise the ratio of males to females may soon turn from 1:100 to 1:1000. Maybe it already has. Obviously, the above 4 points are not enough to change perceptions.

Here’s my response to the article.

Response #1: I’m not surprised.

C’mon, this phenomena is not just for the Guzheng. The ENTIRE Chinese Orchestra is swamped with females during my day. Even the erhu(which is falsely stereotyped to be played sorrowfully by blind men) section had a female majority. The handful of males in the Chinese Orchestra gravitated towards the woodwinds and the percussion section. But hey, even the females are enjoying the flutes and the drums these days. Any current members of a Chinese Orchestra who agree or disagree with this, I would be glad to hear from you in the comments section!

As for males becoming effeminate… well I must say that because so many of us are females, we do treat the guys in the Orchestra like sisters, like one of us girls. LOL

That being said, out of  10-20 males from various orchestras I have personally known in my short lifetime, only one is slightly less masculine. But that is solely his unique personality, and not due to being in the Orchestra. He may express himself femininely, but confesses is not gay.

The Guzheng may be popular among the male Baby Boomer (post World War born) generation, but not anymore. Male zheng-players were rare when I first started learning the Guzheng in junior high. Throughout school I did not meet a single male Guzheng player or teacher, and that was more than a decade ago. SO many years later, the article re-states the male-female imbalance. Nothing has changed.

Response #2: I’m sad.

I really (sings: truly, madly, deeply do~) believe there is a difference in what male and female Guzheng players bring to the table. Of course this is very subjective. 

Why don’t we give it a try. Close your eyes and listen to one player at a time. Get someone else to play the following two videos of the same song randomly for you. 

Can you feel a difference?Are you able to tell which is male and female just by listening? (They are both my favourite Guzheng maestros btw)

I could tell a difference. Especially since this is a macho song (打虎上山)about climbing a mountain to kill a ferocious tiger. To her credit, Wu Yang (the female) has exceptional skills, and in reality she is quite accomplished.

Of course, you could TOTALLY disagree with me, think that they sound the same…or even think that the females play better, masculine songs or not. Well, if a majority of you think so, than i guess it is unfortunately a matter of time that male Guzheng players go extinct. :’-(

But I think people really can tell the difference, and there is something special that men are able to bring to the Guzheng. Otherwise why would Wang Zhongshan be the #1 Guzheng Master of China? There are so many people competing with him. In any area of skill you can name, there is possibly someone better, and the ladies are particularly excellent in nimbleness.

Is the advantage for males really just about strength as mentioned in the article? While it is true, I believe there is a masculine factor to it that makes it sound different, perhaps most importantly in song interpretation.I mean how many females can really imagine themselves beating the pulp out of a tiger right? The fact that she is playing the Guzheng already brings the perception of tenderness – or at least that’s what parents think when they send their little girls off to Guzheng school. Even for gentle calming Guzheng songs, Wang Zhongshan is able to interpret the songs in a way that does not feel effeminate at all. Go check it out.

Response #3: I have some humble suggestions.

 1. It is common to see pictures and paintings as well as photo shoots of females playing Chinese Instruments. We need to hang up more pictures of accomplished men playing the Guzheng professionally on the walls- at least during any recruiting/open house evens. Maybe even let 90% the pictures of instrumentalists be male. That way, parents who bring their daughters may also be comfortable bringing their sons, or recommending it to their relatives and friends. This is not about discrimination, it is about awareness – parents are likely to bring girls to learn the Guzheng anyway, even if the only pictures in the school are of Wang Zhongshan.

Women are usually the cooks at home, but being a chef (e.g. Jamie Oliver, Michael Smith, Gordon Ramsey) does not make a man less masculine. Women are the ones who love fashion, but that doesn’t make designers (Ralph Lauren and others) and tailors any less masculine. The same should apply to the Guzheng, and I think we just have to bring about such an awareness.

 2. Short news clips or documentaries are not enough.To turn around the gender inequality of Guzheng players, we need the media to sensationalize male Guzheng players… via a serial drama with a good script and top actors… or perhaps a long running anime with male Guzheng (and other Chinese Instrument) players with special powers … Ahahaha… I wonder whether this would backfire, luring even more females to the Guzheng…

3. I think more male-female duets written for Guzheng would be wonderful, with male parts leading. Just like how a male hand “leads” when a couple holds hands. The female parts complements the males, Just like how traditionally a father leads and the mother complements. Hopefully the duet can contrast their differences, and show how males and females can bring each of their uniqueness into harmony. Parents who listen to this may be more at ease in sending their young sons to Guzheng schools, and adult men – would be more comfortable with the instrument.

So if you are male and play the Guzheng reasonably well, please find some female players in your area (wherever you are) and duet! Like Pomplamoose.

To end, I hope the above 3 suggestions could create “space” for men, to allow people to feel that there is a place for men in Guzheng playing… Because it seems that the overwhelming female population is crowding them out. LOL

Footnotes:
*Yue Fei was a mighty (army) General, who is famously known for his loyalty to his country/the emperor. The most popular story of him was about his mother tattooing a huge character on his back to remind him to stay loyal.

**Wang Zhao Jun was Yuan Emperor’s lady-in-waiting, who was never visited by the emperor. She was later sent to marry the king of Xiongnu (the inner Mongolians). She is known for her legendary beauty, for playing the Pipa, for establishing blood relationships between China and Mongolia, and for her loyalty.