Ancient Strings Welcome the New Year: Guqin Music Inspires Cultural Heritage in Toronto

Fo Guang Shan Temple of Toronto

On February 8, Fo Guang Shan Temple of Toronto presented the Lunar New Year cultural program “The Beauty of the Guqin: A Cultural and Musical Appreciation,” featuring Ms. Cuiying Feng, a distinguished guqin educator and cultural practitioner with over forty years of teaching experience. A third-generation inheritor of the Yuanyin tradition and founder of the Shanxi Yuanyin Guqin Art Research Institute, Ms. Feng has devoted her life to preserving and transmitting the profound heritage of the guqin.

Integrating cultural interpretation, live performance, and guided participation, the program welcomed nearly one hundred attendees into the serene and contemplative world of this 3,500-year-old instrument. Ms. Feng described the guqin as embodying harmony between humanity and nature, noting, “A single qin is a miniature universe.”

The musical appreciation segment featured “The Laughing Song of the Vast Sea,” exploring its expansive imagery and spirit, and “Returning Home,” highlighting its emotional depth and lyrical expression. Through attentive listening and gentle exploration, participants experienced the calm and centered essence that defines the guqin tradition.

Abbess Venerable Chueh Fan expressed appreciation for Ms. Feng’s leadership in establishing a guqin class within the Temple’s Humanistic Buddhism courses, supporting the continued transmission of Chinese cultural artistry. Witnessing students perform in traditional attire with composure and focus was both inspiring and reassuring.

The program concluded with an interactive session, where Ms. Feng and her students provided one-on-one guidance in posture, hand technique, and rhythm, offering participants a meaningful personal connection with the instrument.

Ms. Feng’s daughter, Dr. Feihong Nan, successor of the Canadian Yuanyin Guqin Society, attended in support and expressed gratitude for sharing the resonance of the guqin in a sacred setting, wishing that in the New Year, all may encounter mountains, rivers, and their true selves through music.