The Strad: Opinion: Relaxed body, focused mind

The Strad
Hsin-Yun Huang

The art of Chinese calligraphy has much to teach us about playing a stringed instrument, writes violist Hsin-Yun Huang

All art forms are mirrors of our inner selves. From writers to composers, from dancers to musicians, from artists to actors – the moment we are touched by inspiration, time stands still and we focus inward to create a transcendent artistic experience. It is every musician’s goal to communicate from the soul through music.

Ancient Chinese ideology taught that a cultured person was expected to study in six areas: etiquette, musicology, archery, chariot driving, literacy, and quantitative methodology and cosmology. 

To explain each area further:

1. Etiquette encompasses human and social behavior. It includes law, management and communication sciences
2. Musicology includes music performance, popular culture, ceremonies, rituals and spirituality
3. Archery broadly represents martial skills, sports and gentlemen’s competition
3. Chariot driving stands for martial arts and physical culture
4. Literacy includes reading, writing, literature, history and philosophy
5. Quantitative methodology and cosmology stands for physics, arithmetic and mathematics.

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