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Li Bai
- Qin Shi Bu #73

李白 ¹
琴史補 #73 ²

Li Bai (ca 705 - 762), also called Li Po, is probably China's most famous poet. A great deal has been written about him. This commentary focuses on his connection to the qin. In this regard Ronald Egan writes (Controversy, p.53), "In the first centuries of the Tang dynasty, the poets Meng Haoran and Li Bo further promoted the cultivation of a special literati affiliation with this instrument."

Qinshu Daquan (QQJC, Vol. V) has the following poems by Li Bai about the qin, or that mention it:⁴

Folio 18, #37 ⁵ (V. 399)
Folio 19A, #8 ⁶ (V. 416)
Folio 19B, #31 - #32 ⁷ (V. 424, two poems),
Folio 20A, #11 ⁸ (V. 442)

Other poems include,

廬山謠 Lushan Ballad (see Sun Yu: Li Po, A New Translation, p.334), with the line,

早服還丹無世情，琴心三疊道初成。
Long ago I swallowed an elixer, and so have no more interest in worldly affairs;
When I expressed myself through the qin three times (qinxin sandie), my Dao became actualized.

In addition, a number of commentaries on this site connect Li Bai lyrics to qin melodies. Here is a sample. Only the first and last actually set his lyrics to a qin melody.

Cai Shi Wunong
Qiu Yue Zhao Maoting
Zhi Zhao Fei
Wu Ye Ti
Yi Guan Shan (see his poem Guan Shan Yue)
Qiu Feng Ci

The original Qin Shi Bu essay begins as follows.

Li Bai, style name 太伯 Taibo, was from east of the mountains (in Central Asia, where his family had been living.) As a youth he had extraordinary talent and a lack of restraint. The qin poems he wrote mention such melodies as Qingye Wen Zhong,⁹ Yu Guan Ding,¹⁰ Yuan Wang Huanghelou,¹¹ Yutang Qing,¹² and Dui Yue Yin.¹³ There was also playing You Jian Quan.¹⁴ The poem says,

拂彼白石，彈吾素琴。
幽澗愀兮流泉深。
善手明徽，高張清心。
寂歷似千古松颼飀兮萬尋。
中見愁猿吊影而危處兮，叫秋木而長吟。
客有哀時失志而聽者，淚淋浪以霑襟。
乃戢商綴羽，潺湲成音。
吾但寫聲發情於妙指，殊不知此曲之古今。
幽澗泉，鳴深林。 (You Jian Quan resonated in the deep forest.)

There was a 負琴生者....incomplete.

Further details in preparation.

Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1. 李白字太伯 Taibo; from 山東 (Return)

2. Only source given is 蓴湖漫錄 Chunhu Manlu (Return)

3. No image yet selected
(Return)

4. There are many others. Sometimes the meaning "qin" is conveyed by a reference such as Lu Qi, the name of a famous qin, as in In Praise of Qin below; this is spelled out in 遊泰山詩 his poem "Traveling to Mount Tai":

獨抱綠綺琴，夜行青山間。
Alone I carry my qin called Lu Qi, at night walking in the green mountains.
(Return)

5. 贊琴 In Praise of Qin, by 李白 Li Bai:

嶧陽孤桐，石聳天骨。
根老永泉，葉苦霜月。
斲為綠綺，徽聲粲發。
秋風入松，萬古奇絕。
(Return)

Yiyang gutong: the solitary tong trees on the south side Yi mountain (8707.1/.7; 書，禹貢 [Legge, Shoo King, p.107]) in 邱縣 Qiu district, near 徐州 Xuzhou in Jiangsu (not the one in Shandong) had trees good for making qins.

6. 詠琴 Declamation on the Qin, by Li Bai:

齊瑟彈東吟，秦絃美西音。
慷慨動顏魄，便人成荒淫。
彼美佞邪子，婉孌來相尋。
一笑雙白璧，再歌千黃金。
珍色不貴道，(臣言)惜飛光沉。 (36330. 臣+言 zhi = 訐 jie accuse, pry)
安識紫霞客，瑤臺鳴玉琴。
(Return)

7. 聽蜀僧濬彈琴 Listening to Monk Jun of Shu Play a Qin (僧濬 Seng Jun = "Monk Deep" [1111.xxx]);
Numerous translations, including Hinton, Selected Poems of Li Po, p.73, and Ronald Egan, Controversy, p. 46.

蜀僧把綠綺，西下峨眉峰。
為我一揮手，如廳萬壑松。
客心洗流水，餘響入霜鍾。
不覺碧山暮，秋雲暗幾重。

And 月夜聽盧子順彈琴 On a Moonlit Evening Listening to Lu Zishun Play a Qin
Lu Zishun (23580.xxx; 7072.548xxx); translated in Hinton, Selected Poems of Li Po, p.28.

閑夜坐明月，幽人彈素琴。
忽聞悲風調，宛若寒松吟。
白雲飛纖手，淥水清虛心。
鍾期久已歿，世上無知音。
(Return)

8. 酬裴侍御彈琴 Toasting Attendant Censor Pei for the Qin Playing, by 李白 Li Bai (QSCB, Folio 20A, #11)
In Complete Tang Poems (全唐詩·捲178) this is called 詶裴侍御留岫師彈琴見寄 Toasting Attendant Censor Pei for hosting the qin play of Master Xiu (Xiu Shi):

君同鮑明遠，邀彼休上人。
鼓琴亂白雪，幽愁變江春。
瑤草綠未衰，攀(番飛)寄情親。 (4982. 番飛 fan = 飛 )
相思爾不見，流淚空盈巾。
(Return)

9. 清夜聞鐘 Qingye Wen Zhong (18003.183; 18/178/--)
(Return)

10. 玉關定 Yu Guan Ding (21296.850xxx; only 玉關 Yu Guan) (Return)

11. 遠望黃鶴樓 Yuan Wang Huanghelou (39908.178xxx; only 遠望) (Return)

12. 玉堂清 Yutang Qing (xxx; 21296.439 and 37/--/530 = 玉堂春) (Return)

13. 對月吟 Dui Yue Yin (7617.12xxx; only 對月 dui yue) (Return)

14. 幽澗泉 You Jian Quan (彈幽澗泉詩 Tan You Jian Quan?)
There are two melodic settings of Li Bai's lyrics, in

Hewen Zhuyin Qinpu (#10)
Qinxue Lianyao (1739; Folio 4, #9)

The lyrics are the same, but two have completely different music. The compiler of 1739, Wang Shan says he wrote the melody himself. (9411.316xxx). (Return)

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