He Wanchun

He family's ancestor, He Huaizhi, was an excellent pipa player who led the seated musical division in Emperor Xuanzong of Tang's Masked Troupe Orchestra. After the An Lushan Rebellion, the He family went into seclusion in Huzhou, turning to farming as they grew increasingly conservative. He Huaizhi's stone pipa was sealed in a cellar, forgotten until the eldest son of the He family discovered it. The son had rebelled against tradition since childhood. Disdaining poetry and classics, he obsessed over operatic tales and the line, "A smile brings eternal spring, a tear invokes endless sorrow." He cast off his given name, insisting everyone call him "Wanchun". Intrigued by the pipa's peculiar aged appearance, he struggled to pluck at its strings, only to find them made of an unknown and impossibly tough metal. Despite being too weak to play a single note, he grew determined. Sneaking into the cellar daily, he strained to play until, after days of effort, he accidentally vibrated the thinnest string. Its melody lingered, deeper and more resonant than any he'd heard, captivating him utterly. Soon, he could play all five strings. He played recklessly, unaware the harmonics pierced the cellar walls and startled the village. During the family's mourning period, his conservative father flew into a rage, ordering the pipa smashed. But its body resisted rocks and fire alike, so he threw it off a cliff outside the village to curb his son's musical obsession. Wanchun fell gravely ill, fueling rumors that he was a pipa spirit in human form. His father grew distant, and Wanchun withered, losing his childhood plumpness. By some twist of fate, an opera troupe came to perform in the village. When Wanchun went to watch, he found himself increasingly drawn to the performers during their conversations. Realizing he was overlooked and unappreciated at home, within the clan, and in the village, he decided it was better to strike out with the troupe. With a flick of his sleeves, he left home and wandered the world with them. At a musical contest in Weiyang City, a theater master unveiled a Tang Dynasty pipa, carved entirely from stone. He Wanchun recognized it instantly: This was his family's pipa. He demanded its return, but the theater master, having paid a fortune for it, refused. As they argued, a man in his thirties appeared with a smile. "The true owner of this pipa can play it," he said. "Since both claim it, let each prove it with a song." The theater master, confident in his skill, went first. But the stone pipa was impossibly heavy. He could barely lift it. Propping it against the ground, he plucked at its strings, succeeding only in cutting his fingers. He Wanchun laughed, hoisted the pipa onto his shoulder, and strummed wildly. The notes rang for miles, though hardly melodious. Humiliated, the theater master ordered his men to seize the pipa and break He Wanchun's hands. Outnumbered, He Wanchun fought back, until the stranger intervened, revealing himself as Hu Changyi, acting master of the Masked Troupe. Hu Changyi purchased the pipa and told He Wanchun that if he wanted it back, he must return to the Masked Troupe with him. He Wanchun had no choice but to agree. Upon arriving at the Masked Troupe, he first began studying music but ended up snapping 300 pipa strings and breaking 50 ramskin drums. He damaged every instrument in the Dewfall Barge: flutes, guqins, ruan lutes, panpipes, ramskin drums, bili pipes, yu pipes, fangxiang, pipas, and clappers. The Dewfall Barge's music master finally lost patience, deciding the boy had no musical talent and transferring him to the Snowswirl Barge where He Wanchun trained in song and dance with junior disciples, but his tone-deaf singing wrecked every melody. After several disasters, the dance master ordered him to focus only on group performances. His muscular build and gangly limbs made him anything but "light as swirling snow" in dance, and his powerful movements often meant accidental collisions with his partners. He managed modest success only in sword dances and character formation dances, while his peers avoided him like the plague. The Snowswirl Barge's dance master concluded he lacked rhythmic talent altogether. Noticing his strength, they assigned him to carry instruments and set up stages across the pavilions. He Wanchun grew deeply frustrated, thinking he might as well return to wandering with his old opera troupe. That night, he carried the stone pipa to the lakeshore and played, pouring all his pent-up frustration into the music. Unaware of how much louder the stone pipa was than ordinary ones, his playing rippled across the water, disturbing the entire Masked Troupe's sleep and awakening Hu Changyi, who was drinking at Zephyr Pavilion. Following the sound, he found He Wanchun and learned of his struggles. Astonished, he tested He Wanchun and discovered his long, powerful fingers, keen ear, and sharp memory, ideal traits for a musician. How could the Dewfall Barge masters declare him untalented? The truth emerged when he understood He Wanchun's history with the stone pipa: Crafted by He Huaizhi, its extreme weight and rigid strings had taught the boy only brute force as a child, preventing him from mastering the subtle control needed for other instruments. His talent had been stifled by starting with the wrong tool. Thereafter, Hu Changyi ordered He Wanchun to return to the Dewfall Barge, but with a strict condition: He must hold a chicken egg in his hand while playing. If the egg broke, it meant he was using too much force. He would only be allowed to formally study music when he could complete a piece without cracking the egg, and he was forbidden from touching the stone pipa until then. It took a full year for He Wanchun to play an entire piece with the egg intact. From there, his progress surged as he mastered every instrument and score in the Dewfall Barge. Once he could play ordinary instruments with skill, Hu returned the stone pipa to him, again requiring the chicken egg to be held. Three years later, He Wanchun finally played a piece with the stone pipa from start to finish without breaking the egg, and Hu Changyi declared him fully trained. By then, his pipa skills had made him the leading musician of the Dewfall Barge's seated orchestra division. He Wanchun was never one to stay in one place. After notifying the troupe master, he often set out on journeys. Gradually, his fame spread throughout the land, and he became known as one of the "Six Great Performers" of the Masked Troupe.