Composer: Hua Yanjun (A Bing)
Arrangement: Ge Jia
Orchestration: Ge Jia
Pipa performance: Ge Jia
Mixing: Joseph Ma
“Zhaojun Goes Beyond the Frontier” is a pipa solo composed by Chinese folk musician A Bing (Hua Yanjun). It is one of the only three pipa performances handed down by A Bing, together with "Dragon Boat" and "Big Waves Washing the Sand." The work depicts Zhaojun's emotional changes when she goes beyond the frontier, expressing the composer's infinite emotion regarding this historical event.
According to A Bing himself, this song was taught by his father, Hua Xuemei. It has no similarity to "Zhaojun's Complaint" or "Song on the Frontier."
The music is divided into three sections.
The first section of the melody is dignified and profound, depicting Zhaojun's passionate grief and indignation when she goes beyond the frontier and the sorrow of parting from her homeland.
The second section has a steady and single rhythm, and the melody is full of inner dynamics, portraying a complex scene.
The third section is short in structure, the music is brisk and clear, with clear layers, expressing infinite emotion for Zhaojun's departure from her homeland for the steppe.
A Bing (1893-1950), formerly known as Hua Yanjun, was a folk musician. A native of Wuxi, Jiangsu, he was a Taoist priest. Once reduced to a street performer, he suffered a lot and became blind due to eye disease. He studied Taoist music assiduously and strived for perfection. He composed and performed more than 270 folk music pieces in his life. Of those, there remain three Erhu tunes "Moon Reflected in the Second Spring," "Listening to the Pine," and "Cold Spring Wind," and three pipa tunes "Big Wave Washing the Sand," "Dragon Boat," and "Zhaojun Goes Beyond the Frontier."
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