Text by Madeline Weng Photos by ZengJian and Shikun

LIU SHIKUN STAYlNG SHARP THROUGH lT ALL

Text by Madeline Weng Photos by ZengJian and Shikun

At the age of 18, Liu Shikun took second place in the most prestigious of piano contests-The lnternational Tchaikovsky Competition, held in Moscow. Unfortunately, his return was welcomed by a six-year sentence in jail.

As witness to the dramatic historical period of contemporary China - The Cultural Revolution - Liu Shikun is someone with a valuable story to tell.

The 1.9m-tall (6'2") pianist looks like a giant among a group of children, whom, excitedly, make the V-sign when they're having their photo taken with the master. Liu Shikun, however, says: “Not the 'scissors hands' again!”

Liu Shikun is not the most amiable person you can think of. He's often described as a man with a serious disposition. However, when you get closer to him, you can soon tell that he is actually a very humorous man.

“To me, the piano is only a tool to make a living with,” He says:“I hated the piano when I was a child.”

This child grew up into the perfect representative of “a successful pianist with no interest in the piano.”At the age of nine, Liu won first place in national youth piano competitions and became pianist Tatulyan's student when he was 16. After two years' professional training with the Russian pianist, he was sent to Moscow to attend the first International Tchaikovsky Competition, in which he defeated hundreds of top-level pianists from around the world by coming second.

Sadly, soon after he returned home, Liu encountered one of the most diffi cult moments for artists and intellectuals in Chinese history, when labor had a much higher position than art. Liu was sent to the Ming Tombs Reservoir in Beijing for so-called“reeducation”.

During the Cultural Revolution, the pianist's valuable hands were used for hard physical work such as digging. Although he didn't touch a piano for at least six years, Liu's skills never fell behind.

After he was released from prison, Liu was invited to perform for Chairman Mao at his house, where he was told to compose a symphonic piece under the highest instruction. This is when one of the most infl uential Chinese symphonic pieces -“Fighting the Typhon”- came into being. This piece marked the beginning of the Chinese Orchestra, which did not exist until fi rst assembled by Liu Shikun. He used Chinese instrument erhu to replace the violin, zhonghu instead of the viola, and so on.

“China has been stressing the importance of the preservation and development of national art,” the 77-year-old pianist remarked.

Liu Shikun has now become a successful piano educator. Apart from giving performances, he has also opened up around 200 piano education centres and ten kindergartens in China, offering professional training to more than 1,100,000 students.

When he was asked if he would turn his life story into a biography, Liu replied: “I do intend to ask someone to write one for me. As a pragmatist, I realise that if my biography only talks about piano, it won't sell more than 50,000 copies.”

刘诗昆传奇岂止于钢琴

18岁那年，刘诗昆在难度空前绝后的柴可夫斯基国际钢琴比赛中获得亚军，载誉归国后却不幸遭遇“文革”动乱，因叶剑英女婿的身份被捕入狱。冤狱六年间，这双长跨十度琴键的大手被用于挖土、建水库……

刘诗昆是真正有故事的人，而在他的眼中，却看不到一丝骄傲的神色。也许正是经历了中国解放前后的历史剧变，饱尝了人生低谷的苦涩，才造就了我们眼前的这位伟人。

身高一米九的他站在一群孩子中间仿如一个巨人。

拍照的时候，孩子们用看圣诞老人一般的眼神望着这位与他们每年同台演出一次的钢琴家，兴奋地摆出了“剪刀手”。然而，这个pose一亮出来就招到了大师的反对：“太俗气啦！快放下！”

由此可见，刘诗昆不是一个传统意义上的慈祥老人。很多时候，他甚至有可能给人留下“为人严肃”的第一印象。但实际上，当你与他深入接触，你会在这位77岁钢琴家身上看到岁月带来的睿智和从容。

刘诗昆从不刻意美化自己作为一位钢琴家的形象。“钢琴对我来说只是谋生的工具，”他直言不讳地说道，“小时候，我最讨厌的就是钢琴。”

这个厌烦枯燥练习曲的孩子后来成为了“没兴趣却成功成为钢琴家”的头号代表。9岁的他便拿到了全国少儿钢琴比赛的第一名，16岁师从苏联音乐家塔图良。18岁那年，刘诗昆被国家派往莫斯科参加第一届柴可夫斯基钢琴比赛，五个月赛前准备时间里，他把自己关在旅馆里每天苦练12至14个钟头，最终战胜了百名钢琴高手，获得了中国人历史上参加的国际钢琴比赛中最高的奖项。

然而，归国后，迎接刘诗昆的却是一场长达十年的“文化大革命”。在那个体力劳动远比艺术重要的年代，这位钢琴家被下放到北京十三陵水库劳动，六年未碰琴键。

重获自由后，刘诗昆的琴技没有丝毫退步。他不仅受邀在毛泽东的住所为其单独演奏，还在主席的最高指示下创作了一曲《战台风》。这首曲子不仅使其成为最早将西洋乐器同中国民乐结合的第一人，还成为了中国民族乐团建立的开端。他首创组建了一支由民族乐器配置而成的交响乐团，以二胡和高胡代替西洋交响乐团的小提琴，中胡取代中提琴，以此类推。

“中国在文艺领域一直以来强调：民族化文艺要注重创造和发扬本民族传统文艺特点。”刘诗昆总结道。

老年的刘诗昆成为了一名成功的钢琴教育家。除了演出外，他还在香港及内地创办了超过200家钢琴艺术培训中心和10多家幼儿园，培养了超过11万琴童。

当被问到他是否会将如此精彩的人生故事著成传记时，刘大师嘴角微扬，幽默地说道：“我的确准备找人为我写传记。但我想得很实际——我的传记不能光写钢琴，要不然五万本都卖不掉。”