Several mountains in China have claimed a connection to Xu You's Mount Ji.⁷ The biography of Xu You says, "Today on the mountain top there is still a mound," but it does not indicate to which Ji Shan it refers.

The title Dunshi Cao survives in five handbooks from 1425 to 1670.⁸ The versions dated 1539 and 1670 are basically reprints of the 1425 edition; the version published in 1549 seems expanded from 1425;⁹ the version published in 1585 has quite a different melody, but its lyrics can with small adjustments be sung with this 1425 version.¹⁰

Xilutang prefaces Dunshi Cao with a short piece called Dinghui Yin¹¹ (Fixed on Mental Pursuits), which concerns Xu You being so focused on higher philosophical thinking that he washed his ears after the kingship was offered to him, and threw away a gourd because the sound of the wind whistling through it pleased his senses too much.

Besides my own, there is also a recording by Cheng Gongliang of Nanjing of his own reconstruction of Dunshi Cao.¹²

 
Original Preface ¹³

The Emaciated Immortal says

this tune was created by Xu You. Of all the lofty and pure tunes mentioned in Qin History,¹⁴ this one is the loftiest and most ancient. According to what is written in Zhuangzi:¹⁵

 
Music
10 sections:¹⁸

(00.00) 01. Walking alone in the haze and mist
(00.37) 02. The woodcutter tells him which road to take
(01.18) 03. Climbing up to Mount Ji
(02.22) 04. Monkeys howl in the bright moonlight
(03.00) 05. Clouds gather and the dragon can hide itself
(03.22) 06. The sun shines down on the cliffside¹⁹
(03.43) 07. Deer as friends
(04.05) 08. A fisherman and woodcutter exchange pleasantries
(04.24) 09. Sighing about the insecurity of life
(04.45) 10. Not caring about year or month. ²⁰
(05.30) --- Piece ends

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Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1. (Lament on) Withdrawing from Society Dunshi Cao 遯世操)
39972.4 遯世﹕避世如逃遯然，故曰遯世 hiding from the world/society as if escaping by concealing oneself, so it is called "withdrawing from society". References to 易、乾 the first chapter of the Yi Jing (Qian) and 禮記、中庸 the Zhongyong chapter of the Book of Rites. No musical references, and this title is not in any early lists. 遯 is sometimes written 遁 dun; 39893.6 遁世 dun shi says same as 遯世 but gives two different references, 孔叢子，記義 and 文選，陸機，演連珠 (Lu Ji, Expanse of Connected Pearls), both of which refer to 遯世之士 gentlemen who have withdrawn from society.

For 操 cao see diaozi and caonong plus various lists such those in as QSDQ, Chapter 11 and Chapter 13. See in particular 箕山操 Jishan Cao (also below).
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2. Manjiao Diao 慢角調
11385.xxx; 7/xxx. In Folio I pieces are grouped by mode with the name of the mode written below the first piece in each group. In Folio Three this mode is called biyu: see Shenpin Biyu Yi. For more on modes see Modality in Early Ming Qin Tablature.
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3. Xu You 許由
36125.50 許由，字惡仲 Xu You, style name Ezhong, is said to have been a famous philosopher-hermit; the legendary emperor Yao (23rd c. BC) wanted him to rule, but he preferred hiding at Mount Ji, perhaps in Henan province; in Section 61 of Shi Ji Sima Qian says he visited Xu You's grave there. Other references to Xu You include those in Zhuangzi, Huainanzi, and so forth. Cai Yong, Qin Cao (琴操 21570.92; by Seng?) gives a somewhat differant account than here.
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4. In his preface Zhu Quan says he has changed the names of some melodies without saying which ones.
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5. Zhu Quan's sources
Zhu Quan here mentions "qin history" (琴史 qin shi). Qin Shi is the title of a famous collection of biographies by Zhu Changwen (朱長文, 1041-1100), but Zhu Quan may not be referring to this title: the Qin Shi Xu You biography of Xu You mentions only Jishan Cao, not Dunshi Cao.
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6. Jishan Cao: (箕山操 26722.10)
Section 3 of Dunshi Cao is called 陟彼箕山 Ascending Jishan, but there is no way to know whether Dunshi Cao has a melodic connection to any versions of the famous early title Jishan Cao. In addition to the Xu You quote above from Qin Shi, Jishan Cao is discussed in various collections of information on qin cao. See, e.g.,

Qinshu Daquan, Folio 11 (V.230, commentary) and Folio 13 (V.281 and V.283, lyrics).
Cai Yong, Qin Cao, Hejian Zage, #1
Qinyuan Yaolu, Melody list, #21.
Seng Juyue, Qinqu Pulu, Most Ancient, #21

The Jishan Cao published 1676 in Japan is unrelated. So are Qishan Cao (岐山操) and Jizi Cao (箕子操). And the music of all these is unrelated to that of Jishan Qiu Yue, though some of the prefaces to the latter mention Xu You and Emperor Yao.
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7. Mount Ji (箕山 Ji Shan) of 許由 Xu You

"Graves" of Xu You

Over the years quite a few places have claimed to be the Mount Ji of Xu You. Perhaps the most widely believed are the claims for it being part of the 嵩山 Songshan Range in 登封 Dongfeng County, Henan province, and at right are three online images from Dongfeng Country showing what seem to be conflicting claims for a supposed 許由墓 grave of Xu You there (sources 1, 2 and 3).

This Mount Ji is also mentioned in the melody titles 箕山操 Jishan Cao and Jishan Qiu Yue. The mountain is by tradition the place where Xu You became a recluse. Xu You's home was on top. 箕 Ji means "winnowing basket", and mountain was said to have had a beauty that resembled such a shape, hence its name. However, there being no consensus on where the mountain should be located, in expressions such as "The desire to go to Jishan" (26722.6 箕山之志 Jishan zhi zhi) it simply refers to a desire to be like Xu You and withdraw from society.

26722.5/1 箕山 Ji Shan says 山名 "mountain name", then identifies eight possible locations:

1. Hebei: 河北省，行唐縣西北 western Xingtang district (north of 石家莊 Shijiazhuang).
   26722.5/1 quotes the 17th c. 讀史方輿紀要 (Essence of Historical Geography; 中文) as saying that it was here.
2. Shandong: 山東，鄄城四山之一 one of the four mountains of Juancheng (north of 菏澤 Heze, near the Hebei border)
   26722.5/2-5 identify the claims of 4 places here (益都縣、費縣、莒縣、濮縣); the last, Pu County, includes Juancheng.
3. Henan: 河南，登封 Dongfeng county, near the Songshan mountain range (as in images at right).
   26722.5/6 mentions this location; Nienhauser (GSR VII, p.2, fn.12) also places it here.
4. Shanxi: 山西，平陸縣 Pinglu district or 遼縣 Liao district
   26722.5/7-8 briefly mention these two claims.

As of 2010, Baidu mentioned only the claims of 登封 Dongfeng in Henan and 濮縣 Pu county in Shandong. An internet search did not turn up images claiming to show the actual Mount Ji; instead there were images such as the ones at right purporting to show grave of Xu You in Dongfeng. One can also find online images of a Xu You Temple (許由廟 Xu You Miao) in Dongfeng county, such as this one (the text, from the online source, indicates that in 2004 the temple committee was beginning to raise money for repairs, claiming the original temple dates from the Han dynasty.
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8. Tracing 遯世操 Dunshi Cao
Zha Fuxi's Guide 2/9/11 lists it in six handbooks, with 箕山操 Jishan Cao given as an alternate title and the melodically unrelated Japanese Jishan Cao given as #6. Further details are in the appendix below.
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9. 遯世操 Dunshi Cao in Xilutang Qintong (1549)
The version here is said to be in "太簇 taicu mode", but the tuning is the same as 1425; the music is related to 1425, but becomes gradually more different. It has 12 titled sections; compared to 1425, with 3 and 5 added, 6 and 7 somewhat changed from 4 and 5. Its is preceded by Dinghui Yin, also concerning Xu You. Its afterword is shorter than the 1425 preface, largely quoting only the second passage from Zhuangzi.

The new section titles are 3. 敝屣天下; 5. 倚巖睇盼. The altered titles are 6. 月明猿嘯; 7. 雲合龍隱.
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10. Later lyrics for Dunshi Cao
The possible pairing of these lyrics perhaps suggests that Dun Shi Cao was originally included in a complete version of Zheyin Shizi Qinpu. Note also the tea connection: these lyrics mention a tea stove, perhaps invented by Zhu Quan himself. These lyrics (Section 6) are:
    紅霞覆巖扁照，隱士睡酣窗外曉。百無憂雲耕月釣。
    青樹鳴鳩，鹿門遺嘯。遺嘯。木屢筆床茶灶。午夢時騖覺。
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11. Dinghui Yin 定慧引 (Fixed on Mental Pursuits)
Dinghui Yin (7256.188 定慧 name of a temple in Jiangsu; Buddhist term) is "also called Cast Aside the Ladle" (棄瓢吟 Qipiao Yin; 15251.67 棄瓢巖 Qipiao Cliff says it is a place in Henan where Xu You lived). These titles connect to the story in Qin Cao which says Xu You focused on high philosophical thoughts, washing his ears after the kingdom was offered to him, and throwing away a gourd because of the pleasant sound caused by the wind passing by it, interrupting his intellectual concentration.
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12. Recording by Cheng Gongliang
Included in Cheng Gongliang: Autumn Aria, ROI RA-941004C, 1994. Cheng changes flattened thirds to natural thirds whereas I don't. His interpretation of the technique quanfu (see, for example, several notes from the beginning) is also different from mine; quanfu is an archaic technique (found often in Folio I) which has several conflicting and sometimes unclear explanations. Cheng plays freely and sensitively, taking full advantage of the ability of metal strings to sustain notes (his version times at 7.50 compared to my 5.30).
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13. For the original 1425 Chinese preface see 遯世操.
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14. 琴史 Qin Shi: book name, or just the history of qin? Zhu Quan's sources are problematic.
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15. See Zhuangzi and the Qin. I consulted the translation in James Ware, Zhuangzi, Chapter 1, Let Fancy Roam
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16. bin (賓 "guest"; meaning is similar to ke (客 guest); in Qin Kuang (琴況 , cf. Qin Fu, p.288 bottom, l.2) the qin player is warned against having "guest sounds" when one plays a note: only include what is necessary.
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17. shizhu (尸祝); shi was a boy who stood motionless on the altar, later replaced by a tablet or statue; the zhu recited prayers
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18. For the original Chinese of these section titles see 遯世操.
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19. Cliffside = jiong (扃 = 戶+同 ). The original character in Shen Qi Mi Pu was shang (戶 + 向 ; 12024. 戶耳也 doorbell), apparently a mistake, unless it also implies a cliff dwelling.
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20. This section adds the instructions cidi tan (次第彈 play slowly and steadily); for this see also _______
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Appendix: Chart Tracing Dunshi Cao;
based mainly on Zha Fuxi's Guide, 2/9/11.

琴譜     (year; QQJC Vol/page)	Further information (QQJC = 琴曲集成 Qinqu Jicheng; QF = 琴府 Qin Fu)
1.  神奇秘譜       (1425; I/98)	10T; note: last section has instructions: 次第彈 "play continuously"; 2nd edition adds some phrasing
.  浙音釋字琴譜       (<1491; I/--)	Not included in surviving edition, but lyrics from 1585 can be made to fit 1425, so perhaps it was originally included
2. 風宣玄品       (1539; II/230)	10T; listed under 商角 shangjiao mode ? ; basically same as #1 but tablature updated Section titles as 1425, but no commentary
3. 西麓堂琴統       (1549; III/192)	12T; "太簇 taicu mode"; Details: music related, but gradually more different; afterword preceded by Dinghui Yin, also concerning Xu You
4.   重修真傳琴譜       (1585; IV/421)	10T; lyrics; same preface as 1425 and music related but sections titles somewhat different and music very different; see <1491
5. 琴苑新傳全編       (1670; XI/414)	10T; same as SQMP? has phrasing
. 和文注音琴譜       (<1676; XII/220)	(Japanese); 1; called 箕山操 Jishan Cao; shangjiao -- standard tuning; short; no apparent relation

Return to top, to the Shen Qi Mi Pu ToC or to the Guqin ToC.