MA XIAOHUI And Cross Culture

DBy LIN Hongnian Nov. 2008

The world’s best-known Chinese Er-Hu Virtuoso has brought her beautiful melody to America, Europe, Africa, and elsewhere. The Er-Hu (with two strings and a simple sharp) a “violin-like” Chinese traditional stringed instrument is becoming familiar to the world. The author has not met the virtuoso for many years. What is inspiring me today is the recent concert titled "Magic Erhu holding hands with the world——MA Xiaohui and Her friends" in Shanghai Concert Hall, during which the Er-Hu of Ms. MA played with western instruments in such a harmonized way that all the audience, home and foreign, were very pleased and deeply touched-some even wept. In the eastern city of Shanghai, MA Xiaohui and her friends performed this concert, which includes jazz musicians from the United States. Their wonderful cooperation on stage reveals a beautiful harmony between the West and the East for which, as the author knows, MA Xiaohui has done much more than she has to….

Music is a form of culture. Different nations have different cultures, which have been naturally formed from their long and unique history. We know there have existed, now and before, conflicts between different civilizations or cultures. But at the same time, we can see that different cultures not only are different from each other but also have something in common. You may have come from the East or the West, from the South or the North. We may live by different means or in different styles. But we are all human beings on the earth, and all are pursuing happiness and good things. We can always find a connection between the two sides of a conflict. That is the perspective of dialectical philosophy, which is also the Chinese traditional view of harmony.

Xiaohui is an example of harmony across cultures. She has been abroad many times, and found eager audiences on the other side of the Pacific. However, this is not an easy job always, as the author knows. How can you let a foreigner really get to know you? How can someone from another land really recognize you? And where is the point of connection between the soft Er-Hu and the strong western instruments? She has to look for the answer. And how much time it must take! Not one day, not one year, and not half a decade. It takes a dramatic commitment of time and energy. And more important, it requires the power of a determined will. I still clearly remember the meeting with Xiaohui on a spring afternoon in 1992, when she told me she was leaving Shanghai for Canada. She said that she wanted the western world to learn to appreciate the Chinese Er-Hu. Half a year later, she returned home. Frankly, I did not think she had accomplished all her goals. But I could see that she had made the first meaningful step forward towards building a bridge between Chinese traditional melody and the western audience. From this point of view, we may say Xiaohui was quite successful at that time. In fact, there has never been a failure for MA Xiaohui. Every so-called failure simply means seeking another way forward. She learned fluent English, the means for communicating internationally that, combined with her sincerity and her efforts on music, won many friends overseas for the Chinese nation. She cooperated with western musicians to compose and arrange Chinese music for the Western audience, and vice versa. In this way, the East and the West have become one family or one chapter or one melody, which is so pleasing and so touching. In this way, MA Xiaohui, as an emissary for Eastern culture, together with her friends at home and abroad, has functioned as a bridge spanning different cultures, and she has brought beautiful things to many nations. MA Xiaohui and her friends have created a kind of “cross culture in harmony” through the magic of her music. Also made herself so successful.

The author wrote in Shanghai

马晓辉和跨文化

笔者 林洪年(观众) 2008年11月

这位著名的二胡演奏家将她美妙的旋律带到了美洲、欧洲、非洲、等等地方，由此，一种中国的传统弦乐器日益为世界熟知。笔者已多年未与这位演奏家见面。而今令我惊讶的是最近在上海音乐厅举办的名为“神奇二胡与世界握手——马晓辉和她的朋友们”的专场演出，期间马女士的二胡与西方的乐器交融得如此和谐，令所有的中外观众倾心、触动甚至落泪。马晓辉和她的朋友们（包括中国的和美国的音乐家）为这座东方的城市——上海献演。他们的绝佳合作展示了东西方绝妙的和谐，为此，如笔者所知，马晓辉付出了许多许多。

音乐是文化的一种形式。不同的民族有不同的文化，这些不同的文化是由各自漫长而特殊的历史而形成的。我们知道，不论过去或现在，于不同的文明或文化之间存在着矛盾。但同时，我们可以看到不同的文化在大相径庭的同时也具有共同的地方。你可能来自东方或西方，南方或北方。以不同的手段或不同的方式生活。 不管怎么样，我们同属这个星球上的人类，都在追求幸福和美好。我们往往能够发现在矛盾的双方之间存在着连接。这种发现源自于辩证法的哲学，该哲理也是中国人传统的和谐理念。

我认为是鉴于上述的理由，晓辉一次次地出国去寻找太平洋另一边的观众。然而，根据笔者的经验知道这不是一件容易的事情。怎么能使得陌生人认识你？怎么能让他们承认你？ 还有，柔和的二胡与强有力的西方器乐，它们之间的结合点在哪里？她必须寻找答案。 还有，这将花费多少的功夫啊！不是一天，不是一年，也不是半旬五年。 我想，不管怎么数，这将是时间和精力的消耗。而更重要的是，它需要坚忍不拔的毅力。我仍然清楚地记得1992年春天的某一个下午与晓辉的见面。当时她告诉我她将离开上海去加拿大。我理解她想让西方世界接受中国的二胡。半年后，她回家了。坦率地说，我当时并不认为她取得了辉煌的成就。但是我坚信，为了建起一座跨越中国传统器乐和西方观众的桥梁，她跨出了具有历史意义的第一步。从这个角度看，我们可以说当初的晓辉也是成功的。对马晓辉来说，从来不存在失败。每一次尝试或所谓的失败意味着在接近彼岸的目标。她学会了流利的英语——这一国际交流的手段，以此，再加上她的真诚，她那孜孜不倦的努力，她为中华民族赢得了海外的朋友。她与西方的音乐家合作为西方的观众创作改编了中国的音乐，同样西方的音乐家与她合作为中国的观众创作改编了西方的音乐。就这样，东方和西方变成了一家，或者说组成了一个乐章，或者说形成了一个旋律，如此地令人惬意，令人动情。就这样，马晓辉作为一名文化的使者，和她的国内外的朋友们，担当了跨越不同文化的桥梁，并将美好送达了不同的民族。马晓辉和她的朋友们在和谐中创作了一种交叉文化。也铸就出了今天卓越非凡的马晓晖。

作者 写于上海