Shen You Liuhe, literally, the spirit roams in six directions (up and down as well as the points of the compass), survives in five handbooks to 1549, then is found again in 1670 and 1876;⁴ no version has lyrics. The 1705 Chengyitang Qinpu has a Liuhe You "also called Ji Qi",⁵ but that melody uses a different tuning and seems to be unrelated.

"Spirit roaming" is an ancient phrase. The Liezi story about Yellow Emperor visiting the Hua Xu clan (see Huaxu Yin) says that their country is so far away it can only be reached by a journey of the spirit (shen you). And the afterword to the version in Xilutang Qintong builds on a story first found in the book of Zhuangzi, Chapter 11, in which the Yellow Emperor learns the Dao from the Sage of Kongtong Mountain (see illustration), then seems to mount the vapors and in spirit roam the universe.⁶

There are also ancient references to the Six Directions. For example, Zhuangzi, Chapter II, has a passage in which Zhuangzi says, "While beyond our world, the sage exists but engages in no discussion; when in our world, he expounds but does not discuss."⁷ And a spirit wandering in six directions is also mentioned with #35 Liezi Yu Feng (Liezi Rides the Wind).

However, I have not found the two expressions shen you and liu he elsewhere combined, nor have I found any other music references.

Yang Zuan, mentioned here in Zhu Quan's commentary, was a wealthy music connoisseur who collected a large number of old qin tablature, reprinting many in his now-lost Song dynasty Handbook of the Rosy Haze Grotto (Zixiadong Pu, said to have included over 460 tablatures. Zhu Quan's comments here⁸ indicate that perhaps he had a copy of the Zixiadong Pu version of Shen You Liuhe, but he also found what seemed to be a more complete version, attributed to a student of Yang Zuan named Xue Zusheng.

So far I have found no other references to anyone named Xue Zusheng, the closest reference being to Xu Xuejiang, a nickname of one of Yang Zuan's closest followers, Xu Tianmin.⁹

No other recordings are available of this title.

 
Original Preface¹⁰

The Emaciated Immortal says,

the origin of this tune is in lofty antiquity, but the more lofty the tune the fewer those who appreciate it. This means those who play it are few and listeners are rare. Only those who consume mist and feed on the sun can describe this.

In former times the (school of the) Grotto in the Rosy Clouds considered this to be a secret piece which was not to be passed on. When old Yang Zuan was about to die he told his son to revise the tablature and was thus going to destroy it for students of later times (by leaving out the best parts). How could he have known that Xue Zusheng (another student?) had already learned the original! Thus (the whole piece) was transmitted.

The interest of the tune lies in riding on air throughout the universe and ascending up to the Nine Heavens, fulfilling the will in the kingdom of blue sky, playing with one's shadow in the Milky Way, flapping one's clothing at the Golden Gate (of Heaven), and aloofly looking down on the Yangzi and Han rivers (see image). How grand (this music) is! Only those who ride cranes and mount luan (a fabulous bird) can understand this theme.

 
10 sections, untitled¹¹

(00.00) 01.
(01.14) 02.
(01.41) 03.
(02.22) 04.
(03.01) 05.
(03.44) 06.
(04.16) 07.
(05.08) 08.
(05.59) 09.
(06.26) 10.
(07.09) --- harmonics
(07.25) --- Piece ends

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Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1. 25211.315 神遊 shen you has the Liezi story about the Yellow Emperor visiting the Hua Xu clan (see Huaxu Yin), which is so far away it can only be reached by a journey of the spirit (shen you); nothing on liuhe; 1477.168 六合 liuhe: N S E W up down; gives several place names and Daoist references, including the one from Zhuangzi mentioned below.
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2. Standard tuning is also considered as 5 6 1 2 3 5 6. For further information on shang mode see Shenpin Shang Yi and Modality in Early Ming Qin Tablature.
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3. 騎氣 Qi Qi Riding the Vapors
45787.xxx; some dictionaries have 騎 (also) pronounced as "ji". Compare 驥氣 Ji Qi under Liuhe You below, and 馭氣 yu qi in the 1549 afterword.
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4. Zha Guide 4/46/--; in Xilutang Qintong (1549) the title is given as "Qi Qi, also called Shen You Liuhe". Further details in Appendix below.
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5. Liuhe You, also known as Ji Qi 六合遊又名驥氣
六合遊 (1477.168 only 六合) means "six-direction wandering" or "wandering the universe". 驥氣 Ji Qi (46063.xxx) means "Strong Horse's Spirit". The Zha Guide includes this under Shen You Liuhe, but in fact the melody seems to be unrelated, even using a different tuning, ruibin. Only in 誠一堂琴譜 Chengyitang Qinpu (XIII.4, p.415). There is an afterword; it mentions Guangling San but says nothing to connect it with the earlier Shen You Liuhe. This version was copied from here into Tianwenge Qinpu (1876). See Appendix below.
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6. The Xilutang Qintong afterword says,

(Note that the phrase shen you is not in the relevant Zhuangzi passage). For more on this story see the melody Kongtong Wen Dao.
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7. 六合之外，聖人存而不論；六合之內，聖人論而 不議。 (Translated here is from James Ware.)
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8. 紫霞洞譜 More information in Shen Qi Mi Pu: A General Introduction.
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9. Xue Zusheng 雪祖生
43160.xxx, and generally no further information to help interpret what "雪祖生曾授受之" actually tells us about who transmitted this melody Shen You Liu He. The same "Xue" (snow) is found in the nickname of Yang Zuan's associate 徐雪江 Xu Xuejiang, nickname of Xu Tianmin, who compiled (or helped compile) the Grotto in the Rosy Clouds handbook (紫霞洞譜 Zixiadong Pu and originated the 徐門 Xumen qin tradition. It is tempting to try to interpret 雪祖生 as "Xue ancestral person/people", suggesting that this phrase means that it was followers of Xu Tianmin who transmitted the melody. However, both 25209.29 and 7/846 define 祖生 only as Zu Sheng: "Mr. Zu", a common reference to the famous 3rd/4th century general 祖逖 Zu Ti.
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10. For the original text see 神遊六合.
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11. Timing follows my CD.
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Appendix: Chart Tracing Shen You Liuhe
Based mainly on Zha Fuxi's Guide, 4/46/--.

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/127)	10; "also called 騎氣"
2. 發明琴譜       (1530; I/333)	10; same as SQMP but no punctuation
3. 風宣玄品       (1539; II/140)	10; close; no commentary
4. 西麓堂琴統       (1549; III/80)	9 (combines #10 w/#9); many differences; 騎氣, "also called 神遊六合 " afterword mentions the Yellow Emperor and 神遊太虛
5. 步虛僊琴譜       (1556; Facsimile)	10; related Not in Zha Fuxi's index
6. 琴苑新傳全編       (1670; XI/335)	10; = SQMP (see also 9 below)
. 誠一堂琴譜       (1705; XIII/415)	15; 六合遊又名驥氣 ; 蕤賓調; different
7. 天聞閣琴譜       (1876)	11; 六合遊;"琴苑譜" (i.e., same as 1670?)
. 天聞閣琴譜       (1876)	15; 驥氣， "誠一堂譜" (i.e., same as 1705?)

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