This later omission of the Kaizhi perhaps was an oversight. On the other hand it may also serve to reinforce the idea that for Shen Qi Mi Pu Folio I melodies Zhu Quan was simply copying old tablature that no one played. Since no one was playing this music, later compilers didn't realize the odd result for Qiuyue Zhao Maoting if its Kaizhi was omitted.

In fact, though, at the end of Qiuyue Zhao Maoting there are the clear instructions to "do the Yellow Bell ending", followed by four clusters from near the middle of the Kaizhi. As indicated above, later compilers did not seem to realize that this clearly meant for them to repeat the Kaizhi from this point. Zheyin Shizi Qinpu has perhaps the worst understanding of the original intent, as it pairs lyrics against the four clusters at the end, but does not include the Kaizhi. Fengxuan Xuanpin also writes out these four clusters but does not include the Kaizhi itself. Yet these four clusters clearly cannot end the piece.

Zhu Quan gives little concrete information about Qiuyue Zhao Maoting, mentioning only that there were two possible creators, Cai Yong and Zuo Si. The only rationale I have been able to find for these connections is that each is associated with a poem or melody about autumn. For Cai Yong it is the melody Qiu Si (Autumn Thoughts); for Zuo Si it is the poem Qiu Feng (Autumn Winds).

Cai Yong (133-182) was a famous writer of parallel prose (which maintains structures found in poetry). He was also a reputed qin master, author of Qin Cao (an introduction to melodies for the qin), and composer of Cai Shi Wunong (Five Melodies of Mr. Cai). Yuefu Shiji includes poems for four of these melodies, including six poems for the fifth, called Qiu Si (Autumn Thoughts). Of the six, two are by Li Bai (701-762), three are by Bao Rong (fl. ca. 820), and one is by Sikong Shu (720-790). None survives in a musical setting.

Zuo Si, also mentioned in connection with #9 Seeking Seclusion, was a poet and official from Shandong who became very popular in the Wei capital, Loyang, at the end of the 3rd c. CE. His surviving opus includes a Miscellaneous Poem published in Wen Xuan.⁵ The poem ([5+5] x 6) begins,

The lyrics attached to the version in Zheyin Shizi Qinpu are more specific to the theme of the title. With some re-arranging of the rhythms I selected in my SQMP reconstruction these lyrics can be sung.⁶ However, because there are no lyrics for the Kai Zhi, I suspect that the person who attached the lyrics did not know the music very well. The pairing follows the standard method of one character per right hand stroke and two per left hand pluck.

Besides my own there is one other recording of Qiuyue Zhao Maoting, by Yao Gongbai, following his father Yao Bingyan's reconstruction.

 
Original preface.⁷

The Emaciated Immortal says,

as for this piece, some say it was written by Cai Yong, others say it was by Zuo Si. The interest of the piece lies in its sketching a universe everywhere jade green, with all the myriad natural sounds silenced; there is (also) the bright autumn moon. The silhouettes reveal myriad images; at that time the lovely night is peaceful. In a wide open place shortly before midnight, a solitary man sits in a reed pavilion, cradling a qin on his legs, plucking the strings and singing; he is doing this to express the resolve in his heart, and yet when he sees the moon looking down on man, and (its light) entering the reed pavilion, this causes his heart and the Dao to become one, and his mind and nature also to come together. He doesn't care if it is a qin in his hands or his hands on a qin, everything is so natural. Its interest lies in this.

 
Music
Five sections, untitled; titles added here from Zheyin Shizi Qinpu ⁸

(00.00) 1. Blue sky
(00.49) 2. Quiet evening
(01.03) 3. Sitting in the pavilion
(01.27) 4. Expressing one's heart
(03.28) 5. The qin in harmony
(03.45) (6.) Return to the huangzhong ending
(04.19) -- harmonics
(04.33) -- End

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Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1. Qiuyue Zhao Maoting 秋月昭茅亭
25505.37 秋月 qiuyue;　nothing else.
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2. For Huangzhong mode, slacken 1st, tighten 5th strings each a half step. For more details on this mode see under Kai Zhi and in Shenpin Wuyi Yi. For more on modes in general see Modality in Early Ming Qin Tablature.
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3. 傅東黎 Fu Dongli (1960 - ) is an artist living in Hangzhou.
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4. See Zha Guide 3/33/41 lists six occurrences, but one is musically unrelated. More details are in the appendix below.
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5. Folio 29.
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6. The melody is quite angular and don't think the lyrics of Zheyin fit it very well.
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7. For the original Chinese text see 秋月昭茅亭.
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8. The original titles are 1. 天碧 ; 2. 夜寂 ; 3. 亭座 ; 4. 許心 ; 5. 琴調 ; (6.) 入黃鍾煞 .
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Appendix: Chart Tracing Qiuyue Zhao Maoting (see also the Kai Zhi)
based mainly on Zha Fuxi's Guide, 3/33/41 .

琴譜     (year; QQJC Vol/page)	Further information (QQJC = 琴曲集成 Qinqu Jicheng; QF = 琴府 Qin Fu)
1.  神奇秘譜       (1425; I/117)	5; ending says "go back to Huangzhong very end", then has five figures which lead one back to the last few phrases of the preceding Kaizhi; no phrasing indicated
2.  浙音釋字琴譜       (<1491; I/232)	5; same melody, but adds titles and lyrics; same ending, but book does not have a Kaizhi to go back to, and no lyrics are provided for the closing
3. 風宣玄品       (1539; II/375)	5, almost same melody as 1425, but with phrasing; includes ending, but again there is no Kaizhi (p.349 has a Shenpin Wuyi Yi for Huangzhong Diao, but it is unrelated)
4.   重修真傳琴譜       (1585; IV/492)	5, titled; same lyrics as <1491; music related but diff, and no reference to Kaizhi
. 思齊堂琴譜       (1620; IX/34)	12, titled; unrelated (shang mode)
5. 琴苑新傳全編       (1670; XI/405)	5; music almost same as 1425, no phrasing indicated; instead of instructions at end it adds the harmonics from Wuyi Yi, then gives the five figures of the old Kaizhi (but again no Kaizhi)

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