Wei Zhongle brings Chinese music to global stage

Wei Zhongle (1909-98), a Chinese musical instrumentalist from Wuxi, Jiangsu province, is known as the "king of pipa (a four-stringed Chinese lute)."

Beyond his mastery of the pipa, Wei was also proficient in many other folk instruments, including the guqin (a seven-stringed Chinese zither), erhu (a two-stringed Chinese fiddle), and dongxiao (bamboo flute). He learned guqin skills from Zheng Jinwen (1871-1935) at the Datong Music Society (Datong Yuehui) in Shanghai. Notably, he held the first solo concert featuring folk instruments in China's modern history. 

During his first time taking the stage in the United States, Wei played the renowned pipa composition Shimian Maifu, or Ambush from All Sides. Enthralled by his performance, critics drew parallels between his mastery and the legendary violinists Fritz Kreisler and Yehudi Menuhin.

A pivotal moment in his career came when New York's television station extended an invitation to him to illuminate the ancient and mystical realm of Chinese traditional guqin music. It made him the first Chinese folk musician to grace American television screens. His recorded albums in the US also became indispensable resources for American musicians studying Chinese musical traditions.

In 1940, Wei founded an orchestra to advance the development of national instrumental music, and in 1954, he performed with the Chinese cultural delegation in India, Myanmar and Indonesia. Throughout his life, Wei remained a stalwart champion of national instrumental music.