1. Bagong Cao
   Attributed to Liu An, prince of Huai in Anhui

2. Meihua Sannong
   This melody was supposedly played on a flute during a chance meeting in Anhui

3. Zuiweng Yin
   The Old Toper had his estate near Chuzhou in Anhui

Thus a performance focused on Anhui province would feature music from two very important guqin handbooks produced in Anhui during the Ming dynasty,

1. Taigu Yiyin (1511) and
2. Xilutang Qintong (1549)

These handbooks were both published in She county, Anhui Province. Today this region, part of the old Huizhou district, is often simply called the Huangshan (Yellow Mountain) region as it is the main base from which people go to visit the Huangshan range just to the north.

From the late Ming through the Qing dynasties this area was known for its merchant class. The Taigu Yiyin of 1511 is the earliest surviving book of qin songs; Xilutang Qintong has the largest number of melodies of any surviving qin handbook.

Although the qin was often viewed as the exclusive domain of the literati, there seems to be evidence here of the music being influenced by the interaction of these scholars with the Huizhou merchant class. This is a topic which has not yet been properly researched, so for the present one can say little more than that there is much beautiful and distinctive music in these two handbooks. Further research into their background could lead to new insights into qin playing during the Ming dynasty.¹

 
Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1 Also related to this is the page The Qin in Popular Culture: Novels and Opera. (Return)

2 (Return)

3 (Return)

 
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