This particular birthday started over a week ago. My family brings me to Mario’s Place for dinner before I head off to LAX. The trip takes me across the Pacific to Hong Kong, into China, and then up to the mountainous region in Yunnan, near the borders with Tibet Autonomous…
Because of the first theme’s similarities to the hymn “O God, Our Help in Ages Past,” Bach’s Fugue in E-flat Major (BWV 552/2) is known in the English-speaking world as St. Anne’s Fugue, even though this hymn would not have been known to composer. The contrapuntal form typifies fugue construction,…
Once again, it’s springtime. With the increased rainfall this season, the plants appear happy. Over the last month, I’ve been photographing the coming-to-life of the garden, starting with bursts of pink from the flowering peaches, then sparkle of yellow forsythia blossoms, and now the elegance of purple wisteria and red-fringed…
This piece, YiGuRen 憶故人, Thinking of an Old Friend, is a relatively recent composition. Although melodically simple, the tune is layered in complex meaning. It starts out with harmonics that set the mood before delving into the main section. This part begins abruptly, as if with a flutter of emotions…
This melody has two titles: Tune of the Sea Dragon 滄海龍吟 and Night Rain on the Vast River 滄江夜雨. The former name is more well-known, and it is attributed to the Three Kingdoms strategist, Zhuge Liang 諸葛亮, who is also known as Kongming 孔明 and the Sleeping Dragon 臥龍. Originally…
This version of Lament at Changmen Palace 長門怨 is from the Mei’an Guqin Manual 梅庵琴譜 of 1931, but the melody is from centuries earlier. The accompanying story, however, dates from the Han Dynasty. When Liu Che 劉徹 ascended the throne in 141 BC and became Emperor Wu of Han…
Jim Ponder, Publications Editor and Writer for Loma Linda University, ran a photo shoot excursion to Crystal Cove. Despite the cold weather, the clouds, sky, and all the other natural elements gave us so many subject possibilities.
This piece from the MeiAn School 梅庵琴派, Moon over the Mountain Pass 關山月, alludes to the poem by Li Bai 李白 with the same title. This recording was made a few hours before the actual full moon, capturing its rise from behind San Bernardino Peak. 明月出天山，蒼茫雲海間。 長風幾萬里，吹度玉門關。 漢下白登道，胡窥青海灣。 由來征戰地，不見有人還。 戍客望邊邑，思歸多苦顏。…
First published in 1634, the piece, Wild Geese Descending on Sandbanks 平沙落雁, became widely popular in subsequent centuries, existing in many variations and tunings. The music opens with an introduction of harmonic octaves partial scales, evoking the imagery of geese lining up, perhaps flying in formation through distant clouds. The…
The slowly brightening sky casts an orange-pink glow on our campsite. After Brad, I’m the next to get up. Suddenly, the car horn wakes up the entire campsite. Max, who slept in the car, had set off the alarm; Brad, who held the keys, was off hiking by the lake.…
Thanksgiving lunch this year included new friends from China. Here, we stopped by the pond. From right to left: Chenhong Wang, Xiaoming Zhang, Suwen Yang, Zhongwu Jin, Mom, Dad, me, and Jack Tian.
The hike to the Hollywood Sign started at the end of Beachwood Drive, just by Sunset Ranch. The horses from the ranch dusted up the first part of the trail—not just from hoofs and horseshoes. After the fork to the left, it got much better. The midday sun was beating…
As usual, I woke up early yesterday. Packing occupied most of the morning. Then, Cai Hongxin came to my apartment and we chatted for a little bit. He brought me and my parents to tour the other bank of Qiantang River, along the new developments. We had a wonderful time…
The MeiLiZhou Church is beautiful. After all, the name means “beautiful isle.” Sleek modern lines make up the contemporary campus, and stark natural maple decorate the inside. Engraved Ten Commandments hang on the front wall, illuminated by sunlight streaming in from the windows. Located as part of a resort, the…
Having arrived in Hangzhou on the high speed train Wednesday afternoon, which was delayed by a few minutes, Drs. Cai Hongxin and Liu Chao picked me up at the station and got me situated at the Foreigners’ Residence. My parents arrived from Hong Kong and joined us at the warm…
From Shantou, I flew to Shanghai. Before coming to China, I had written Dr. Chen Shiyi, and I told him that I will be giving a shoulder talk at Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, which will quote a paper he published a few years ago. He insisted that I visit…
Sunday morning, on my first full day here, my dad and I walked around town and visited some of our relatives’ businesses. My mom’s older cousin is in the toy industry, and the younger runs a bicycle shop. It’s good to see that their business is really successful. My older…
Between leaving home and arriving at my destination in China, the journey has taken 42 hours. It started off with a shuttle to LAX, leaving at 8:00 Thursday morning. I arrived in plenty of time, checked in, and had Panda Express for brunch. The plane, which looks like it has…
This piece is titled Seagulls and Forgetting Schemes 鷗鷺忘機. The story originates from a passage in the Han dynasty text Liezi 列子. Therein, a seafarer finds that that seagulls have no fear until he intends to catch them to bring home. Like rolling waves, initial series of harmonic glissandi invite…
After church, we had a lunch barbeque at Dana Point’s Salt Creek Beach. On the menu were Grillers burgers and salt & vinegar chips. Many friends brought specialty dishes as well. The water was warmer than usual, and the climate was perfect. I went for a run along the beach…
At my tenth lesson, my teacher gave me this piece to learn. It is the slightly shortened version of Pu’an Zhou 普庵咒. Apparently, the full version is extremely repetitious. As it is, this is the longest piece that I’ve played. The earliest form was published in 1592 and later…
We’re having Alex and Nicolas visit from Europe as part the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons’ traveling fellowship. Chris arranged for us to take a tour of the San Andreas Fault, sponsored by the San Bernardino County Museum and led by Kathleen Springer. Our first stop took us by Lost…
Like my most recent pieces, this composition, Summoning the Wind and Thunder 風雷引, is from the collection of the Mei’an guqin handbook 梅庵琴譜 and uses the lowered third string tuning. As with most pieces of the Mei’an tradition of briskly paced rhythm, this song employs unison and octave chords to…
Today’s excursion took my brother and me to Bergamot Station to visit Stuart Green’s show. This exhibit highlights some of the key points of color theory. Dr. Green’s self-directed study of color theory—much influenced by Feininger, Itten, Albers, and faculty members of the Bauhaus School of Design—led him to take…
