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Passions of the Literati

27 July 2002, at the Chime conference in Sheffield, England, Dai Xiaolian and I had a recital entitled Passions of the Literati. The theme of the conference was "Sex, Love, and Romance: Reflections on the Passions in East Asian Music". Su Zheng of Wesleyan University provided commentary.

I play quite a few relevant melodies, many of them from Xilutang Qintong. My part of this recital included several of these:

Feng Qiu Huang (A Male Phoenix Searches for his Mate), which includes lyrics by which Sima Xiangru is said to have seduced Zhuo Wenjun ("Feng xi, Feng xi, gui gu xiang....")

Boya Diao Ziqi (Boya Mourns Ziqi): Boya finally meets someone who understands his music, then the man dies.

Han Gong Qiu (Autumn in the Han Palace): also called Autumn Fan, Ban Jieyu mourns that the emperor has discarded her, as one would a fan in autumn.

Yanyi Ge (Doorbar Song): the abandoned wife of the statesman Baili Xi comes to the court and sings of their former poverty (Baili Xi apparently then took her back). Dai and I played this together.

 
Generally speaking, qin melodies in my repertoire which fit into this theme can be divided into three categories: men and women; friends; and high principles. Representative melodies in each category include the following (no link means my reconstruction is incomplete):

I. Men and women

1. Courtship

Feng Qiu Huang: Sima Xiangru seduces Zhuo Wenjun
Guan Ju: A lord seeks his lady, from the Shi Jing

2. Sacrifice

Chu Ge: Yu Ji's suicide

3. Separation

Qiu Feng Ci: Loved one away
Dao Yi: Cleaning clothes while loved ones at frontier
Longshuo Cao: Wang Zhaojun sent to the barbarians
Da Hujia: Cai Wenji abducted by barbarians

4. Abandonment

Han Gong Qiu: Ban Jieyu discarded like fan in autumn
Yanyi Ge: Wife accuses Baili Xi: once rich he forgot her
Changmen Yuan: Empress Chen left in Changmen Palace

5. Loneliness

Zhi Zhao Fei: Man in 50s lonely: even birds have mates

6. Bereavement

Xiang Jiang Yuan: Two wives of Shun mourn his death
Cangwu Yuan: same

II. Friends

1. Bereavement Boya Diao Ziqi: Boya mourns death of Ziqi
Ya Sheng Cao: Confucius mourns for Yan Hui

2. Separation

Yangguan Sandie (long version and short version: Parting on long journey

3. Drinking

Zuiweng Yin: About the Old Toper, Ouyang Xiu
Jiu Kuang: We drink for philosophical principles

III. Heaven and principles

1. Involvement Li Sao: Qu Yuan's search for a good ruler
Xing Tan: The Apricot Forum, where Confucius taught

2. Detachment

Yuan You Song Yu's search for principles

 
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