T of C 
Home 		My
Work		 Hand-
books		 Qin as
Object		 Qin in
Art		 Poetry
/ Song		 Hear
Qin		 Play
Qin		 Analysis History Ideo-
logy		 Miscel-
lanea		 More
Info		 Personal email me search me
Performance Themes       My Performances       My Repertoire 首頁
Areas and specific places

Many melodies can be associated with specific regions or places:

  1. Chu/Hunan (South Central China)
    Note in particular the characteristic tunings.

  2. North and Central Asia (including the Silk Road)
    About nomad problems, not trade; again note the characteristic tunings

  3. Lower Jiangnan (within a 200 km radius from Shanghai)
    Almost all melodies use standard tuning.
    For Hangzhou in particular, see Music from the Time of Marco Polo.

  4. Anhui Province
    Special focus on She county

  5. Henan Province
    Includes the ancient capitals Loyang and Kaifeng

  6. Xi'an (and southern Shaanxi province)
    Most related melodies are connected by early stories

  7. Nanjing
    Many important mid- and late-Ming qin handbooks were published here

  8. Japan
    The earliest surviving qin music was brought to Japan in the 17th c.; never localized

  9. Korea
    The qin was often imagined in literature and painting, but no known music

  10. Vietnam
    The qin was often mentioned in literature and painting, but no known music

  11. Other Areas
    Other specific known locations with connected melodies include

    1. Jiujiang, in Jiangxi: Gui Qu Lai Ci (Come Away Home)
    2. Qu Fu, Shandong: Xing Tan (Apricot Forum), where Confucius is said to have taught.
    3. Linqiong (Qionglai), Sichuan: Linqiong Yin concerns Sima Xiangru's seduction here of Wenjun; see also Feng Qiu Huang.
      A Sichuan-theme program might actually focus on melodies as played by Zhang Kongshan.

For some melodies the related places may be multiple, and/or the specific place may not be so easy to locate. Examples include

  1. Liu Shui (Flowing Streams) is often associated with Sichuan province because of the famous version by Zhang Kongshan, but other versions of Liu Shui may be associated with other places.
  2. Kongtong Wen Dao (Discussing the Dao at Kongtong Mountain, in Henan or Gansu)
  3. Mingde Yin and Kongsheng Jing (Bright Virtue Prelude / Sacred Confucian Canon; the latter is set to the text of the Great Learning; the former has Zhu Xi's commentary, probably written at the Yuelu Academy, a teaching institute (now also a museum) he had founded in Changsha, Hunan)
  4. Qingjing Jing (Canon of Purity and Tranquility; this chant is a morning lesson sung at a Daoist monastery in Wudang Mountain in northwest Hubei, but also elsewhere)
  5. Yu Hui Tushan (Emperor Yu had his capital in Henan but the Meeting at Mount Tu was supposedly near Shaoxing in Zhejiang).

 
Return to the Guqin ToC