Jiangnan, literally "South of the (Yangzi) River", includes Zhejiang and Jiangxi as well as the southern regions of Anhui and Jiangsu provinces. Lower Jiangnan here refers only to the area south of the Yangzi within a 200 km radius of Shanghai. It thus includes such important cities as Suzhou, Hangzhou and Shaoxing.

I reconstructed all the qin melodies mentioned here from Ming dynasty qin handbooks. Many of the melodies can be accompanied by visual images.

In addition, a number of melodies in the earliest surviving collection of qin melodies, Shen Qi Mi Pu (1425 CE), are associated with famous qin masters living in Hangzhou at the end of the Song dynasty (around the time Marco Polo wrote that he went there). A program on melodies of this region could use melodies connected to these masters.

1. Qiujiang Yebo (Autumn River Night Anchorage)
   The sound of the bell near Suzhou's Hanshan Temple is said to have inspired
   Yan Tianchi (from Changshou) to create this (adapting it from Yin De).
2. Chun Jiang¹ (Spring River)
   Fan Li relaxes on the Five Lakes (Taihu)
3. Dongting Qiu Si (Autumn Reverie at Dongting)
   This melody is today generally associated with Dongting lake in Hunan, but a close examination
   suggests it may have originally been associated with Dongting island at the south end of Taihu lake.
4. Zui Yu Chang Wan (A Drunken Fisherman Sings in the Evening)
   This fisherman is associated with Taihu Lake and the Song river flowing from there to Shanghai
5. Yu Ge (Fisherman's Song)
   Section titles mention the Songpu River, running from Taihu lake to Shanghai.
   Compare this with the Chu region associations of the raised fifth string version of Yu Ge.
6. Meishao Yue (Moon Atop a Plum Tree)
   Associated with Lin Bu, who lived on Gushan island in Hangzhou's West Lake
7. Liu Shang (Floating Goblets)
   This version of a melody also called Jiu Kuang is associated with the Lanting Pavilion by Shaoxing
8. Xiuxi Yin (Spring Purification Ceremony
   This ceremony is most famously associated with Lanting Pavilion by Shaoxing
9. Yu Hui Tushan (Emperor Yu's Gathering at Mount Tu)
   Mount Tu is thought to be south of Shaoxing (which has a temple dedicated to Yu)

   Extending the area another 50 km from Shanghai adds:

10. Tiantai Yin (Mount Tiantai Prelude)
    Mount Tiantai is south of Shaoxing; compare this with the Chu region associations of Taoyuan Chunxiao
    (Spring Dawn at Peach Spring), which tells a similar story, but the setting is Hunan.
11. Qiujiang Wan Diao (Autumn River Night Fishing)
    Concerns Yanzi Ling and his fishing terrace up the Fuchun River from Hangzhou

1. Chun Jiang is introduced here, but I have not yet completed my reconstruction of it. (Return)

 
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