Pipa Ji

Cai Bojie must leave his parents and his new wife Wuniang in Chenliu to take the exams in the capital. He comes in first place in the exams, then must stay in the capital to marry the daughter of Grand Councillor Niu. Some trickery keeps him out of contact with Chenliu, where Wuniang is trying to protect his parents during a famine. Five years later they have died and Wuniang goes to the capital to find him, taking along her pipa lute in order to make some money. Eventually she is happily reunited with Cai Bojie.⁵

In a scene called Appreciating the Water Lilies⁶ Cai Bojie plays a qin⁷ by a pond (see illustration at right) in the home of his second wife, expessing his resentment at the lack of news about his parents and first wife. The melodies all concern separation; this and the way he plays them reveals his anguish to his new wife. The melodies include Si Gui (Yin ?), Bie Gu (Cao ?), Feng Ru Song and Zhaojun (Gong?) Yuan.⁸

The novel Hong Lou Meng says that in a sequel to Pipa Ji someone plays Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Reed Pipe (Hujia Shibapai). I have not been able to find such a sequel, nor have I found mention of the melody in Pipa Ji itself.

Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1. Pipa Ji 琵琶記
For the instrument called "pipa" see the next footnote. As for the play (LXS, p.224), there are at least two English language versions.

Jean Mulligan (transl.), The Lute. New York, Columbia U. Press, 1980
Paul White (transl.), Wang Jianping (adapted into a narrative), The Story of the Lute. Beijing, New World Press, 1999. (Bilingual)

For its possible connection to a modern film (and mention of a 1939 costume drama) see A Spring River flows east.
(Return)

2. Pipa (p'i-p'a) 琵琶
The pipa is a popular Chinese plucked lute whose form and playing style have evolved considerably since it was introduced into China through Central Asia. Note that while it is correct to translate "pipa" as "lute", the word "lute" is actually a generic term that also includes a number of other Chinese stringed instruments. Note also, however, that although the guqin is often called a lute, this is strictly speaking incorrect.
(Return)

3. Image from 張國標 Zhang Guobiao, ed., 徽派版畫藝術 Art of Woodcut of the Huizhou School, 安徽省美術出版社 Anhui Publishing House, 1995, p.105. (Return)

4. 高明 Gao Ming (ca.1305-ca.1370)
For a short biography of Gao Ming (46302.348 平陽人字則誠號矛克) see ICTCL, p.473. ICTCL says he was from 瑞安溫州 Rui'an in Wenzhou district of Fujian, associated with the birth of the southern drama form called 南戲 nanxi. After passing the jinshi exam in 1345 he held a series of official positions, but eventually retired in disillusion over the actions of his Mongol superiors. He wrote Pipa Ji while in retirement at 櫟社 Lishe. He did not have a biography in the official Ming history, and in general there seems to be little biographical information about him (the ICTCL references are all to Pipa Ji, not to Gao himself). (Return)

5. 蔡伯喈 Cai Bojie; 五娘 Wuniang; 陳留 Chenliu; 牛承相 Grand Councillor Niu (Return)

6. 賞荷 Chang He (Return)

7. Although in operas it is not uncommon for a woman to be depicted playing a qin, it is much more conventional that a woman would play another instrument (such as the pipa), while it would be a man (specifically, a scholar) playing the qin. (Return)

8. Are there others? See, for example 13929.139/2 斷猿 Duan Yuan (Bereft Gibbons), which says it is 琴曲名 the name of a qin melody, quoting 琵琶記，琴訴荷池 the aforementioned chapter of Pipa Ji as follows, "似寡鵠孤鴻和斷猿 Like Gua Gu, Gu Hong, and Duan Yuan." Duan Yuan is mentioned in the third section title of Cangwu Yuan. However, the definitions of Gua Gu (寡鵠 7444.74) and Gu Hong (孤鴻 7111.216) make no mention of qin. (Return)

Return to the Guqin ToC