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He Bozhong
Qing pipa player of Shawan, Panyu, famed as the Pipa King for his ten-finger technique and early Guangdong music pieces.
Mural of the cultural record “Cantonese Music”, which this person is tied to.
He Bozhong, from Beicun in Shawan, Panyu County, Guangzhou Prefecture, was a Qing pipa player who also played the seven-string qin. Known for the Lingnan ten-finger pipa technique, he was called the Pipa King. Early versions of Rain on the Plantain and Hungry Horse Shaking Bells are traditionally credited to him, Dragon Boat Race survives as his work, and Xiaoyuan Chun Hui is also thought to be his. His grandson He Liutang inherited the technique and family scores and turned Dragon Boat Race into the Guangdong classic Winning the Dragon Boat Race, making the He family a source of Shawan's Guangdong music.
Life and times
Dates Dates disputed; by one account 1833–1874