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TED Talks Daily

A multigenerational musical journey | Yijia Tu

13 Aug 2025

Transcription

Chapter 1: What journey does Yijia Tu trace through music?

0.031 - 19.336 Unknown

Tiesitkö, että joka neljäs yli 40-vuotias mies kokee virtsan karkailua? Se on todella yleistä, mutta siitä ei silti juuri puhuta. Tenamen suojat on suunniteltu erityisesti miehille. Huomaamattomat, varmat ja luotettavat. Ota tilanne haltuun Tenamenin avulla.

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29.512 - 48.783 Elise Hu

You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity every day. I'm your host, Elise Hu. Can you imagine playing an instrument that has 2,000 years of history behind it? Would you honor the tradition by playing music of old, or look to add to its history with new music? Maybe both?

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48.783 - 68.037 Elise Hu

This question is one that Chinese zither player, multi-instrumentalist and composer Yi Jia Tu often asks. In this beautiful talk and performance, she shares what led her to this incredible instrument and how for her blending traditional and modern music bridges past and present and the differences among us.

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77.15 - 103.795 Yijia Tu

This is a guzheng, an ancient Chinese zither that has over 2000 years of history. Growing up in China, I played the two most popular instruments. Can you guess what they are? It's the guitar and the piano. Not this. I wrote a song on the guitar that ended up on one of the biggest music shows of the time, called 中国好歌曲 . At 16, my life changed overnight.

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103.795 - 124.99 Yijia Tu

Olen päässyt tällaiselle ympäristölle Hanna Montanassa, kun olin yliopistossa lapsena. Näin näkemyksiä, kuulin musiikkia publicissa, mikä oli hirveä kokemus. Työskentelin musiikkialaisten kanssa ja kasvoin ymmärtämällä, kuka auttoi minun debiutti-albumini menemään prestiivisen Hua Yubang Zhongbangin, joka on myös kutsuttu kielten musiikkiauhtoon.

Chapter 2: How does Yijia Tu blend traditional and modern music?

126.222 - 135.993 Yijia Tu

However, as a Chinese musician, my music was very westernized. I didn't sound Chinese, and in a way I'm not sure if I really wanted to.

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138.355 - 164.748 Yijia Tu

You see, with traditional music, I didn't really think it was cool. I have to admit, in my language, there's this word for something that's not cool or backwards, called tù. But tù literally means the earth or soil that we stand on. On the other hand, you have this word called yangqi, which means the opposite, something very trendy and cool and avant-garde, but yangqi literally means western.

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166.199 - 175.43 Yijia Tu

Over time I realized that this isn't just a Chinese issue, but a global one. Music traditions are dying in the hands of our generation.

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176.307 - 197.182 Yijia Tu

But how can we preserve a tradition if we don't feel a personal connection to it? So I felt inspired to learn the traditional instruments and folk music to reconnect with my roots. But instead of playing traditional music traditionally, it's important for me to be creative with it.

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197.182 - 218.377 Yijia Tu

so i'm going to show you how i do that i'm going to play you a song that's a combination of a traditional folk song as well as my own composition i think you can guess which part is the traditional which one's not

Chapter 3: What personal experiences influenced Yijia Tu's musical style?

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288.543 - 393.775 Unknown

Hey, hello Is anyone home? I've been gone for too long Kiitos kun katsoit! Jo nianagua ku dobi satsmaje, nii hajatsin ne asiamsendo.

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406.263 - 431.069 Yijia Tu

Kiitos. Kiitos. Tässä on kutsu, jonka komponero Gustav Machler kertoi minulle. Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire. Music can transcend not just the barriers of language and culture, but also time and space.

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Chapter 4: How does music help preserve cultural traditions?

432.503 - 457.867 Yijia Tu

For me, music can build a bridge between the East and the West, the past and the present, and between you and me. And I've witnessed how music can reach beyond the limits of not just our human memory, but even our very own consciousness. When my grandmother developed Alzheimer's, we could no longer communicate through words. However, there was this lullaby

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457.985 - 487.364 Yijia Tu

that she used to sing to me when I was a child. It's a lullaby that her mother used to sing to her, so it's been passed down my family for over four generations. And whenever I sing the melody, she will recognize the melody and sing along with me, which is really sweet. And even though my grandmother has recently passed away, whenever I sing this lullaby, I still feel deeply connected with her. It's almost like

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487.769 - 515.022 Yijia Tu

She's still singing along with me, perhaps somewhere in a space that only exists through music. Jou i jou

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515.495 - 569.005 Unknown

我的小宝宝我的小宝宝宝宝宝宝宝宝宝宝宝宝宝宝宝宝宝宝宝宝宝宝宝宝宝宝宝宝宝宝宝宝宝宝宝宝宝宝宝宝宝宝宝宝宝宝宝宝宝宝宝宝宝宝宝宝宝宝 Suomalaisen koulutuksen jälkeen.

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Chapter 5: What significance does a family lullaby hold for Yijia Tu?

584.699 - 631.595 Unknown

Jauhi, jau, vain isä oma, oma. Yö, yö, yö, yö, yö.

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639.357 - 648.487 Elise Hu

Kiitos.

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649.702 - 675.655 Elise Hu

If you're curious about TED's curation, find out more at TED.com slash curation guidelines. And that's it for today's show. TED Talks Daily is part of the TED Audio Collective. This episode was produced and edited by our team, Martha Estefanos, Oliver Friedman, Brian Green, Lucy Little, Alejandra Salazar, and Tonsika Sarmarnivon. It was mixed by Christopher Faisy-Bogan. Additional support from Emma Taubner and Daniela Balarezo.

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675.655 - 680.498 Elise Hu

Olen Elise Hu, olen takaisin huomenna uudelleen uuden idean tehtävänne. Kiitos, että kuuntelit.

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691.518 - 710.553 Unknown

Tiesitkö, että joka neljäs yli 40-vuotias mies kokee virtsan karkailua? Se on todella yleistä, mutta siitä ei silti juuri puhuta. Tenamen suojat on suunniteltu erityisesti miehille. Huomaamattomat, varmat ja luotettavat. Ota tilanne haltuun Tenamenin avulla.

711.278 - 739.223 Unknown

On the TED Radio Hour. Don't you hate it when leftover cilantro rots in your fridge? I have to tell you, cilantro is like my nemesis. Food waste expert Dana Gunders says that's just a hint of a massive global problem. Food waste has about five times the greenhouse gas footprint of the entire aviation industry. Ideas about wasting less food. That's next time on the TED Radio Hour from NPR. Listen and subscribe to the TED Radio Hour wherever you get your podcasts.

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