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

Integrating cultural interpretation, live performance, and guidedparticipation, the program welcomed nearly one hundred attendees into theserene and contemplative world of this 3,500-year-old instrument. Ms. Fengdescribed 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 VastSea,” exploring its expansive imagery and spirit, and “ReturningHome,” highlighting its emotional depth and lyrical expression. Throughattentive listening and gentle exploration, participants experienced the calmand centered essence that defines the guqin tradition.

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

The program concluded with an interactive session, where Ms. Feng and herstudents 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 YuanyinGuqin Society, attended in support and expressed gratitude for sharing theresonance of the guqin in a sacred setting, wishing that in the New Year, allmay encounter mountains, rivers, and their true selves through music.