Dahulei and Xiaohulei are two extremely famous pipa in the history of our country. They are exquisitely made and have beautiful and legendary legends. They have become a beautiful story in the history of our country's music. It is said that it is named after its pronunciation that sounds like thunder, and it is also called the dragon head pipa or the two-stringed pipa.
According to legend, in 781 AD, Han Huang, a great calligrapher and painter who served as the inspector of the Tang Dynasty, Zuopushe Tongzhongshumenxiapingzhangshi (equivalent to the prime minister), discovered a strange plant in Luogu, Sichuan. If there was a tree, he ordered the county magistrate to send craftsmen to cut it down. The tree is hard and makes a sound like gold and stone when knocked on it. You can see that there are gold intertwined in the tree pattern. So he asked a skilled luther maker to make two qins, named Big Hulei and Xiaohulei. Han Huang did not dare to keep such a precious Qin privately, but dedicated it to Tang Dezong.
In 835 AD, the "Nectar Rebellion" occurred in the palace. The eunuch Qiu Shiliang took over the power and allowed his soldiers to bloodbath the palace. From then on, the big and small Hu Lei wandered among the people.
At this time, there was a female musician named Zheng in the palace. Because she was an artist among the palace ladies, she was called Zheng Zhongcheng. She is well educated, well versed in classics and history, good at poetry and painting, and can play a variety of musical instruments, especially the pipa. She once played Xiao Hu Lei, but later because Xiao Hu Lei's key head was broken, she was sent to Zhao's house in Chongrenfang for repair. One day, Emperor Wenzong of the Tang Dynasty listened to Zheng Zhongcheng playing the piano. He thought the tune was sad and displeased, so he ordered the eunuch to strangle her to death. Throw it into the river. At that time, a palace official named Liang Houben was fishing by the river. Suddenly he saw something floating on the river. It was about six feet long and as thick as two people's arms. It was wrapped in brocade and silk. Liang Houben hurriedly ordered people to fish it ashore. It turned out to be a coffin inside. When he opened it, he found a female corpse inside, with a lifelike appearance. After taking off the silk from his neck, he still seemed to have breath in his mouth. He drank some rice porridge and he suddenly regained consciousness. She was Zheng Zhongcheng, and later became Liang Houben's concubine.
Liang Houben heard from Zheng Zhongcheng that Xiao Hulei lived in Zhao's house in Chongrenfang and spent a lot of money to finally redeem Xiao Hulei. When Zheng Zhongcheng saw the musical instrument he had played, it felt like he was in another world and he was extremely happy. But she didn't dare to play during the day, and could only lightly play the plectrum at night. Sometimes I hold Xiao Hulei in my arms and say to myself: "Qin! Qin! People say that 'a son born in secret is afraid of others'. You and I have the same fate!"
One day, the weather was fine, Liang Houben and his wife were drinking under the flowers, and Zheng Zhongcheng played Xiaohu Lei beside him. Liang Houben was very happy. Unexpectedly, at this time, the Huangmen servant in the palace let his kite pass by outside the wall. Hearing the sound of pipa, he secretly said: "I have heard this song in the palace. Isn't this Zheng Zhongcheng playing Xiao Hulei? Zheng Zhongcheng is dead and was thrown to Yuhe was in the river. Could it be that her ghost was crying? Huangmen Shilang told the emperor about this strange thing. When Wenzong learned that Zheng Zhongcheng was still alive, he was surprised and regretted that his death was too much. When he heard that she was now Liang Houben's concubine, instead of blaming her, he gave the couple many rewards." In the Qing Dynasty, the famous dramatist Kong Shangren got Xiao Hulei in Beijing in 1698. , was very happy, so he and his friend Gu Cai (Gu Tianshi) compiled the story of Zheng Zhongcheng and Xiao Hulei into a drama "Xiao Hulei", and wrote poems on the pipa to express his nostalgia for the past. Later, Xiaohulei spread around. At the beginning of this century, a man named Liu Shiheng published the legend of "Xiaohulei" and attracted people's attention. A collector who collected Xiaohulei gave him this precious piano. . To this end, he specially built the "Xiaohu Lei Pavilion" and invited the famous litterateur Lin Qinnan and others to the pavilion to listen to senior musicians playing. It happened that one of the musicians who was listening to pipa at "Xiaohu Lei Pavilion" was named Zhang Ruishan. He said that he bought a two-string pipa thirty years ago and it looked very old. When I took it out, I saw that it was a big thunder. Therefore, Zhang Ruishan cut off his love and gave Dahulei to Liu Shiheng. Liu Shiheng changed the name of "Xiao Hu Lei Pavilion" to "Shuang Hu Lei Pavilion", and collected all the records and poems about big and small Hu Lei, and compiled it into a book "Shuang Hu Lei's Skills", which was published in Tianjin in 1911.