Zhu Changwen

Zhu Changwen (1041 - 1100) wrote his Qin History (Qin Shi) as a series of biographies of qin players and supposed qin players. Most of the essays begins with quotations from a variety of unnamed classical sources; sometimes quotes are added from works by the players themselves. For many of them Zhu added a few brief comments of his own.⁴

Qinshu Cunmu has a Qin Handbook of Zhe(jiang) Melodies (Zhecao Qinpu), saying it was listed in Jiangyunlou Shumu and might have been compiled by Zhu Changwen.⁵

As for Qin Shi itself, it has six folio. The first five have 146 biographical entries; nine of these have names attached, as mentioned below. In addition, two have double name titles and at least three more could also have had names attached (see details).

The original Zhu Changwen biography in Qin Shi Xu begins as follows:

Zhu Changwen, style name 伯原 Boyuan, from Suzhou, was a grandson of 朱億 Zhu Yi. Zhu Yi was deeply into qin, and Zhu Changwen carried on his studies. He thought that in the olden days people had written a lot about calligraphers and painters, and only qin hadn't been done. So he compiled Qin Shi, Six Folios. From ancient times it covered 146 qin 理者 experts, plus nine in attachments (see comment). Each one lays out the person's achievements, whatever melodies....

More to be added.

Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1. Sources for Zhu Changwen 朱長文
See also Zhu Changwen and Qin Shi in Qinshi Chubian, Chapter 6c1. 14779.290 says 朱長文，吳縣人，字伯原 Zhu Changwen, from Wu county, style name Boyuan....It briefly mentions his reputation then lists some of his writings as follows: 六經皆有辯說，又著吳郡圖經續記，墨池編，琴臺志，樂圃餘稿，等書, i.e., it mentions only a "Record of the Qin Terrace", nothing about Qin History.
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2. Nine Lines; Sources given as 宋史 Song Shi and 蓴湖漫錄 Chunhu Manlu.
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3. No illustration currently available.
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4. Regarding the quotations, Zhu may often have been working from memory or from secondary quotations, as they are sometimes different from the quotations as found in what are considered authoritative editions.
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5. Jiangyulou Shumu (降雲樓書目 42556.xxx) actually attributes this to 朱伯原 Zhu Boyuan. The compiler of Qinshu Cunmu comments that Boyuan was Zhu Changwen's style name, so "perhaps it was by Zhu Changwen". The source given is 說郛本 Shuo Fu Ben.
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