Photo: Courtesy of Chang Jing

She once performed the guzheng solo "Ritual Music - Spring Moonlight on the Flowers by the River" at the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, which won her the nickname of "Guzheng Fairy." 

Sixteen years later, on the opening day of the Paris Olympic Games, which falls on Friday, Chinese guzheng musician Chang Jing will release a new album, Red, White, Blue, which adapts the compositions of the French composers Maurice Rave, Erik Satie and Claude Debussy, as a gift to the Paris Olympic Games and to celebrate her ties with the Games as well.    

"When performing Western classic music with China's traditional instruments, I hope to make it an equal dialogue," the renowned musician told the Global Times when speaking about the album's cover, which shows her sitting down with each of the three composers for a dialogue. 

This dialogue starts with Debussy. The idea of playing Western classical music with the guzheng enlightened Chang, who "doesn't like repeating myself," and "I locked on Debussy almost immediately," she said, "because when I first heard Debussy's music, I felt that he must have been Chinese in his previous life. Those smart and dreamy notes are full of Eastern poetry and Chinese imagery."

This music is very typical of Chang's musical approach as she is known for introducing ancient Chinese culture to the world in a modern way, presenting a new interpretation of guzheng music through a unique way of playing and singing as well as a mix of Eastern and Western instruments. 

Photo: Courtesy of Chang Jing

In 2010, she founded a band composed of guzheng, violin, piano and percussion instruments that incorporates Chinese music elements such as Kun Opera. One characteristic of this band is that it has a strong sense of improvisation. Before each performance, they only set up a framework, a theme, determine the structure, before going directly to the stage.

One of the most talked about qualities of Debussy's music is the widespread presence of Eastern elements. In Chang's eyes, although Debussy had never been to China in his life, "He may have really dreamed of China." 

In order to integrate the guzheng with Debussy's music, Chang carefully studied the music selection, arrangement and performance. In the end, she selected three of Debussy's most classic works, and used her own creations to form a dialogue and echo with Debussy's melodies during the performance. 

"The sound of the guzheng is inherently poetic. I just let my fingertips follow my heart, and those beautiful long scrolls will slowly unfold and let those notes return to the East in their original way," she noted, adding that she hoped that if Debussy heard her playing these three works, he would say, "This is exactly what I am looking for."

It was only natural that she continued the project with two more French composers. Music is a language, which means "Treating each other sincerely and expressing our emotions in the truest language." East or West, it is just an instrument. "What really matters is what you want to say and what you want to express."

When recalling her performance at the opening of the Beijing Games 16 years ago, she said she was still very excited and proud "to be part of Chinese culture." When the world comes to another Olympic moment again, she hopes that "Just like sports, music will make us love each other and express the idea that we are the same."

As music has no boundaries, everyone can respect and appreciate each other, just like the special sculpture Chang encountered when doing postproduction in Athens. The sculpture depicts a dialogue between Socrates and Confucius, the great thinkers from China and Greece.