The Museum of Russian Gusli and Chinese Guqin opened in Sokolniki - a vivid illustration of moral support for the Chinese people in the fight against the epidemic of coronavirus

February 17, 2020

On February 12, 2020, in Moscow, on the territory of the Sokolniki Museum and Educational Complex, the grand opening of the world's first Museum of Russian Gusli and Chinese Guqin took place. On February 12, 2020, in Moscow, on the territory of the Sokolniki Museum and Educational Complex, the grand opening of the world's first Museum of Russian Gusli and Chinese Guqin took place. One of the partners and honorary director of the museum is Mr. Xie Jindong, founder and head of the guqin factory in Chenzhou, Fujian province. It was the meeting of Alexey Shaburov and Mr. Xie Jiangdong in July 2019 on the territory of this factory that prompted Alexei Shaburov to create a museum in Russia and place a piece of Chinese culture in Sokolniki.

Gusli and guqin (qin) are two related musical instruments known since ancient times, which fully reflect the history and national flavor of their countries of origin. Both the gusli and the guqin bear a large layer of traditional culture. It is no coincidence that the event attracted the attention of representatives of various circles: politicians, cultural figures, scientists.

The opening ceremony of the museum was attended by:

- Lyubov Dukhanina, State Duma Deputy of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Education and Science Committee of the of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation;

- Gong Jiajia, Minister-Counselor, Head of the Culture Department of the Chinese Embassy in the Russian Federation, Director of the Chinese Cultural Center in Moscow;

- Bai Sykhun, one of the founders of the Public Association “Chinese community”;

- Andrey Vitalievich Lapshin, Director of the Sokolniki Park of Recreation and Culture;

- Grigory Bazlov, ethnologist, candidate of historical sciences, founder of the author’s system of Russian hand-to-hand combat style “Buza”, author of the book “Russian Gusli” (Tver);

- as well as the founders of the Museum of Russian Gusli and Chinese Guqin Aleksey Shaburov and Dmitry Paramonov.

The opening of the museum took place during a difficult period for China, and this event is designed to demonstrate solidarity to the Chinese people in the fight against the epidemic of coronavirus.

Congratulating everyone on the opening of the museum, Ms. Gong Jiajia could not help but share relevant information on the measures taken by the Chinese government to stop the spread of coronavirus. According to her, at the moment, in her homeland, in China, entire cities have been closed, travel groups are banned from going abroad,traffic has been suspended. People are not allowed to leave their homes and visit public places. “The situation is complicated, but I am proud of my compatriots. Ordinary citizens unquestioningly carry out all the orders of the government, Chinese doctors decrypted the virus genome in record time and passed the results of the discovery to other countries for study. In Wuhan, a new specialized hospital was built in just ten days. We are doing everything possible so that the epidemic does not go beyond China, ”she said. Ms. Gong Jiajia also expressed confidence that under the leadership of the Chinese government, with the support of the government of the Russian Federation, the Russian people and the entire world community, China will certainly defeat the dangerous virus: “Difficulties cannot scare us, we are not discouraged: "Hang on, Wuhan! Hang on, China!” Concluding her speech, Ms. Gong Jiajia noted: “Guqin is China's oldest musical instrument, which appeared 3,000 years ago. It was Confucius's favorite musical instrument. The great philosopher believed that guqin is a musical instrument of people with high moral qualities. When the epidemic will be over, the day of fun will come, and we will invite the masters of the gusli and guqin to participate in a joint concert dedicated to overcoming this unusual and very difficult period - the period of hardships and unhappiness and at the same time the period of solidarity, friendship, unity and humanism of all mankind. ”

At the end of the official part, the guests witnessed a unique concert. Guests of the event witnessed a unique musical festival. At the museum opening ceremony, Russian and Chinese authentic music was performed by the ensemble "Gusli Art Workshop" and masters of the guqin Anastasia Novoselova and Svetlana Plakasova, as well as folk, folk fusion, ethno-pop, pop and rock music.

Spectators saw performances by world-famous musician, singer, folk song collector Sergei Starostin, singer, composer, vocalist of musical projects Zventa Sventana and My-Ti Tina Kuznetsova, singer, musician and poetess, creator and leader of the band "Kovcheg" Olga Arefyeva, musician, teacher, graduate of the Moscow Theological Seminary, the head of the band "Ihtis" Adrian Huseynov, culturologist, folklorist practitioner, researcher of Russian traditional culture, master of playing gusli Dmitry Paramonov, musician, composer, the founder of the gusli ensemble "Zhivaya Voda" Egor Strelnikov and many others.

The concert ended with the song “Katyusha”, which was performed by the Chinese and Russian guests in chorus, thereby once again reminding about the friendship and solidarity between the two people.

According to the founders of the Museum of Russian Gusli and Chinese Guqin Alexei Shaburov and Dmitry Paramonov, the new temple of art will serve as a platform for international humanitarian cooperation and the implementation of cultural, educational and musical programs. The main objectives of the museum are to convey an understanding of the value of Chinese and Russian cultural heritage and to introduce Muscovites and visitors to the art of playing ancient musical instruments. The museum already has a school for playing gusli; in the nearest future, learning playing guqin will be taught here, a carpentry workshop will open where master classes in making gusli will be held as well.“The museum has a special room named after Mr. Li Hui, who held the post of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People’s Republic of China to Russia from 2009 to 2019 and who made an invaluable contribution to supporting cultural and educational projects and developing friendly relations between Russia and China. According to our plan, great calligraphy will be born in this room, to the sounds of guqin and gusli, ”said Alexey Shaburov.

Lyubov Dukhanina, State Duma Deputy of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Education and Science Committee of the of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, Gong Jiajia, Minister-Counselor, Head of the Culture Department of the Chinese Embassy in the Russian Federation, Director of the Chinese Cultural Center in Moscow, Alexey Shaburov, Director of the Association of Private Museums of Russia and co-owner of the Museum of Russian Gusli and Chinese Guqin, and Kong Lingmin, renowned calligrapher from Shandong, China in a special room named after Mr. Li Hui

Lyubov Dukhanina, State Duma Deputy of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Education and Science Committee of the of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, Gong Jiajia, Minister-Counselor, Head of the Culture Department of the Chinese Embassy in the Russian Federation, Director of the Chinese Cultural Center in Moscow, and Alexey Shaburov, Director of the Association of Private Museums of Russia and co-owner of the Museum of Russian Gusli and Chinese Guqin

Gong Jiajia, Minister-Counselor, Head of the Culture Department of the Chinese Embassy in the Russian Federation, Director of the Chinese Cultural Center in Moscow

Alexey Shaburov, Director of the Association of Private Museums of Russia and co-owner of the Museum of Russian Gusli and Chinese Guqin

Dmitry Paramonov, gusli player, creator of the "Gusli Art Workshop" and the guski playing school, co-founder of the Museum of Russian Gusli and Chinese Guqin