Wu Jinglüe (吳景略) (February 5, 1907 – August 16, 1987) is considered one of the most important

guqin The ''guqin'' (; ) is a plucked seven-string Chinese musical instrument. It has been played since ancient times, and has traditionally been favoured by scholars and literati as an instrument of great subtlety and refinement, as highlighted b ...

players of the 20th century and was also an active researcher and teacher. He was born in the town of

Xitang Xitang (), formerly known as Xietang (), Pingtang () and Xutang (), is a historic town in Jiashan County, Zhejiang, China. It borders Luxu Town in the north, Yaozhuang Town in the east, Ganyao Town in the southeast, and Tianning Town and Town in t ...

Changshu Changshu (; Suzhounese: /d͡ʐan¹³ ʐoʔ²³/) is a county-level city under the jurisdiction of Suzhou, Jiangsu province, and is part of the Yangtze River Delta. It borders the prefecture-level city of Nantong to the northeast across the Yangt ...

County, near

Suzhou Suzhou (; ; Suzhounese: ''sou¹ tseu¹'' , Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Soochow, is a major city in southern Jiangsu province, East China. Suzhou is the largest city in Jiangsu, and a major economic center and focal point of trade ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, Postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an Eastern China, eastern coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is o ...

, China, and died in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. Wu served as a professor at the

Central Conservatory of Music The Central Conservatory of Music () is a prestigious leading public music school of China and a member of Double First Class University Plan and former Project 211. Its campus is in the Xicheng District of Beijing, China, near Fuxingmen Statio ...

in Beijing, and played a prominent role in raising the guqin to professional standards as a concert instrument. His boldly passionate but also lyrically refined style was widely syncretic and incorporated influences from various qin schools as well as folk and Western music. The two most distinguished players to transmit his style and repertoire are Li Xiangting and Wu Wenguang, currently the leading guqin figures in Beijing's conservatories; Wu's broader influence extends much more widely. Wu styled himself an inheritor of the Yushan school of qin play influential during the Ming dynasty, but this association draws from his place of birth and his artistic aspirations rather than any unbroken lineage or firm stylistic affinity. His contemporary tradition is sometimes called Wu school, Yushan school, or Yushan Wu school.

References

1907 births 1987 deaths Guqin players People's Republic of China musicians Musicians from Suzhou 20th-century Chinese musicians People from Changshu {{String-musician-stub