Exhibition Hall of Historical Materials on the Guangling School of Guqin

Exhibition Hall of Historical Materials on the Guangling School of Guqin

The guqin is an ancient Chinese musical instrument. Since the Ming and Qing dynasties, Yangzhou has produced many renowned guqin players who gained fame far and wide, giving rise to the distinctive Guangling School of Guqin.

The Exhibition Hall of Historical Materials on the Guangling School of Guqin is situated in the northwest corner of the Shrine of Shi Kefa. It covers an area of over 2,400 square meters, with an exhibition space of 420 square meters, displaying more than 40 cultural relics and over 300 items (sets) of books, historical materials, and photographs. The exhibition hall is divided into three functional areas: the exhibition area, the heritage center, and the guqin performance hall (also known as the guqin salon hall). It opened to the public on November 28, 2007. In 2013, the exhibition was upgraded based on extensive collection of related materials. Over the more than eight years since its opening, it has received over 300,000 visitors. In 2009, former President Jiang Zemin made a special visit to the Exhibition Hall of Historical Materials on the Guangling School of Guqin, highly praising the exhibition, its openness, and the work of guqin heritage. He also took great interest in enjoying performances by Guangling guqin players in the guqin performance hall and inscribed the name of the hall. It has also hosted more than ten groups of visits by national leaders including Wang Qishan and others.

The Exhibition Hall of Historical Materials on the Guangling School of Guqin is not only a display and heritage center for the Guangling School but also a hub for activities and exchanges of the school. In recent years, it has organized a series of influential events, such as

The Exhibition Hall of Historical Materials on the Guangling School of Guqin actively organizes guqin salon events, holding over 120 sessions, including the “Hu Ruosi’s Former Collection Guqin Masters Concert,” the “First Yangzhou Guqin Art Summit in China,” and a series of commemorative events for the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Guangling Guqin Society. These commemorative events received strong support and participation from guqin players across the country, with nearly 100 guqin players and enthusiasts from other regions attending. Leaders from the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Culture, Yangzhou City, the China Guqin Association, and the Chinese Guqin Society were present at the events. The series included: the Commemorative Conference for the 100th Anniversary of the Founding of the Guangling Guqin Society, the “Tenth Anniversary Memorial Event for the Late Mr. Mei Yueqiang,” the Youth Guqin Players’ Grand Prix commemorating the 10th anniversary of the inscription of Chinese guqin art as an intangible cultural heritage of the world, two guqin masters’ concerts for the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Guangling Guqin Society, and the special event “Melodious Tones Resounding Through Guangling.”

The exhibition hall also collaborated with China Bookstore Publishing House in Beijing to publish the book “Guqin – Centennial Commemorative Album of the Guangling Guqin Society,” which received positive social impact.

Since 2008, the Exhibition Hall of Historical Materials on the Guangling School of Guqin has partnered with Yangzhou guqin players of the Guangling School to establish a guqin skills training institute. It regularly enrolls talented students to teach famous pieces of the Guangling School. Over eight years, it has trained over 330 guqin students and actively organized Yangzhou guqin artists to apply for intangible cultural heritage inheritors, successfully obtaining three provincial-level and six municipal-level inheritor titles.