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On November 26, 2021, the two-month-long "Forbidden City Dunhuang Special Exhibition" came to a close at the Palace Museum. The exhibition combined cultural relics from the Gansu section of the Silk Road with artifacts from the Forbidden City, showcasing not only the brilliant gem of the Silk Road—the Mogao Caves—but also rare artifacts related to them. Together, they illustrate the flourishing cultural exchanges of that era.
Today, we will focus on the ancient guqin named "Lei Hu" from the "Wonderful Music and Dance" section of this exhibition, offering a glimpse into the rise and decline of dance and musical arts during the prosperous Tang Dynasty, and exploring the legacy of this famed instrument.
The Imperial Secret Collection Holds Exclusive Ownership
In a broad sense, "Lei Hu" should be considered a branch of the pipa, referring to a plucked string instrument that emerged and flourished in the Tang imperial court, characterized by two strings and a neck-like, semi-pear-shaped body. However, due to the lack of textual records, it remains unknown whether Lei Hu was popular among the general populace, whether it was mass-produced or widely performed, how it arose, or how it vanished. To date, when scholars mention "Lei Hu," they generally refer to two specific guqins: the "Great Lei Hu" and the "Small Lei Hu." These two instruments appear only briefly in Tang dynasty texts and later became a mystery.
The Great and Small Lei Hu in the Dunhuang Forbidden City Special Exhibition
Why could these two guqins stand alone as pioneers of a new type of instrument? Perhaps we should begin by examining their life stories—renowned instruments of the age ought to match the splendid narratives of their origins. According to Qian Yi's "Southern New Book" of the Northern Song Dynasty, the twin Leis—Thunder and Lightning—were political figures of the Middle Tang period.
They were invented by the painter Han Yun; after their creation, they were secretly stored within the Tang imperial palace until scattered into the common world amid upheavals.
When Jin Wengong (of the Han state) assumed power, he was dispatched to Shu. Arriving at Luogu (present-day Xianyang, Shaanxi), he admired a towering tree covered in moss, its black bird calls echoing unevenly. He dismounted, drew his red bow, and shot at the tree’s crown; the tree fell with a thunderous resonance shaking the valley. Afterwards, he ordered a local woodcutter to cut down the fallen tree, carry it home, and dry it in the sun. I do not know the name of the skilled craftsman. The wood was as hard as purple stone, with golden veins running through it. The artisan said: “For a huqin, this wood is unworthy.” Thus, he crafted two qins—the larger one called “Great,” the smaller one “Small.” Delighted by their sound in the imperial hall, he sent the Great Lei Hu to the forbidden quarters and kept the Small Lei Hu at home.—Northern Song Dynasty, Qian Yi, “Southern New Book”