《胡笳十八拍》是流芳百世的古琴名曲。它的作者蔡琰，是一位女音乐家。
蔡琰自小受到音乐的熏陶并有着很高的音乐天份。在她只有七、八岁的时候。有一天，蔡琰的父亲--大音乐家蔡邕正在弹琴，忽然啪的一声，有一根弦断了，蔡琰正在门口玩，顺口问道“父亲，是第二根弦断了吧？”父亲看了一下，果然没错，很是惊异，他把这根弦接好了，继续弹奏，但故意的略去四弦不弹，然后问女儿：“又断了一根，你听是第几根？”蔡琰马上答道“第四弦”。蔡邕很满意女儿的回答，看得出女儿对音乐有很高的悟性和极其敏锐的听力。这样一位天才的音乐家却有着非常坎坷的身世。
在匈奴入侵中原时，蔡琰与家人失散，被匈奴掳走，匈奴的左贤王是个明君，见蔡琰谈吐不凡，非常欣赏她的才华，就把她留下来做了自己的王妃，并且生了一男一女两个孩子。可是蔡琰在遥远的他乡一直思念自己的故乡。一年又一年，终于中原平定了，曹操用金帛把她赎回，回来帮助整理蔡琰父亲的文稿，她被迫又要与自己的儿女离散，生离死别的痛苦折磨着她，她只有寄托于音乐，于是写了著名的词曲《胡笳十八拍》。词曲之音都表达了她坎坷的人生之路，和对儿女刻骨铭心的思念之情。这首名曲，至今仍是音乐会的保留曲目。

Cai Yan and Her Hujia Shibapai

Hujia Shibapai (Eighteen Songs on a Nomad Flute) leaves its landmark in the history of Chinese Guqin music. Its female composer, Cai Yan, showed her musical talent at her early years. When she was only seven or eight years old, her extraordinarily acute hearing and distinguished music sense to identify the notes of different strings of Guqin surprised her father Cai Yi, a famous musician.
Cai Yan experienced a life of frustration. When the Huns invaded the Central Plains, she was captured and taken to the remote northern grassland of the Huns. The king of the Huns was deeply attracted by her artistic talent. Cai soon became the king's wife and had a son and daughter, but she never stopped missing her hometown in the Central Plains. With years passing by, the Huns were driven out of the Central Plains and Cai Yan was redeemed and allowed to go home to help her old father sort out his scholar works. Tortured by parting from her husband and her children, Cai composed the famous melody Hujia Shiba Pai, a perfect reflection of her rough life and her deep yearning for her children. Until now, this famous melody is still one of the repertoires of Guqin concerts.