The qin melody title Xuan Mei (Xuan Mo) survives in nine handbooks from 1425 to 1670.⁴ However, only five are related to the melody in Shen Qi Mi Pu. Those dated 1425, 1539, 1585 and 1670 are, as usual, almost identical. Also, as usual, the version in Chongxiu Zhenchuan Qinpu has a quite different but clearly related melody with lyrics added.⁵

The other five handbooks, dated 1547, 1552, 1557, 1647 and 1692, have a melody called Qingxu Yin ⁶ (Lofty Tranquillity Chant) that is in fact a somewhat shorter version of the Xuan Mei melody. Qingyu Yin is always placed just before the longer melody Guanghan You.

The attributions suggested here, to the 6th c. BCE qin master Shi Kuang,⁷ as well as to the 3rd c. CE poet Xi Kang,⁸ are not found in the normal early qin sources, such as Qin History.

The title Zuo Wang is connected to the 7/8th c. CE Daoist adept Sima Chengzheng, who lived in the Tiantai Mountains.⁹ Thus Qinshu Daquan (1590) has an introduction to Zuo Wang (no tablature) that says, Zuo Wang and a melody called Baiyun Yin (White Cloud Preface) were written by Sima Chengzheng. Sima Chengzheng is said to have told the Tang Ruizong emperor that a state "was governed precisely in the same way as one's own body is governed, viz, by keeping absolutely and dispassionately negative, and by falling into a natural harmony with one's environment."¹⁰

In spite of these ancient attributions, neither Xuan Mo nor Zuo Wang seems to occur in early lists of qin melodies. It does, however, have some archaic fingering techniques to support its placement in Folio I of Shen Qi Mi Pu, the section said to contain the earliest melodies.

Profoundly Serene, Sit in Abstraction, and Lofty Tranquillity all refer to ancient expressions of detachment. Thus the Han History has, "Laozi was profoundly serene" and Huainanzi has, "The way of heaven is profoundly serene, without fixed form or pattern"; Zhuangzi relates Yan Hui telling Confucius he feels better because he can just "sit in abstraction". ¹¹

The only recording I know of Xuan Mei is my own.

 
Original preface:¹²

The Emaciated Immortal says,

some people claim Shi Kuang wrote this piece; others say Xi Kang wrote it. It is not known who is correct, only that it is very old: it has existed since the Spring and Autumn period (6th - 3rd c.) of the Zhou dynasty. The interest of this piece is in shrinking heaven and earth and narrowing the six directions (down to manageable size), in advance¹³ of creation. Its spirit wanders outside the Universe¹⁴ and causes one to forget whether one is separate from objects around him; this is in accord with the Dao. It has an indescribable interest, (but) the Superior Man can attain it.

 
Music
Undivided; here arranged into five sections according to 1585, ¹⁵ which adds lyrics ¹⁶

(00.00) 1. Shrinking the universe
(01.10) 2. Narrowing the directions
(01.58) 3. Becoming one with creation
(02.30) 4. Forgetting the difference between things and oneself
(04.07) 5. Changing along with the Dao
(05.32) -- End

Return to top

 
Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1 Xuan Mei 玄默
For Xuan Mei (might also be pronounced Xuan Mo 21288.327 has "沈靜寡言 very basic/essential few words"; nothing musical; gives references to 淮南子，主術訓 Huainanzi, Zhushu Xun (Sanmin Shuju edition pp.381/400) and 左思，魏都賦 Zuo Si, Rhapsody on the Wei Capitol (文選 Wen Xuan, p.243; translated in Knechtges, Vol. One, p.463, "darkly silent"). 2/323 gives a few more references. (Return)

2 For more on gong mode see Shenpin Gong Yi. For more general comments see Modality in Early Ming Qin Tablature. (Return)

3 Sitting and Forgetting (坐忘 Zuo Wang)
Zuo Wang 坐忘 5067.31 (lit.: "sitting forgetting"; perhaps also "sit in forgetfulness" or "sit in abstraction") has nothing on music; it mainly quotes 莊子，太宗師 Zhuangzi, Taizong Shi (James Ware, Zhuangzi, Chapter 6, Let God be Teacher: Yan Hui explains to Confucius what he means by "sitting and forgetting".) Zuo Wang is a term apparantly also used in religious Daoism. See the story above about Sima Chengzheng. A chapter in Thomas Cleary, Taoist Meditation, is "Treatise on Sitting Forgetting", described as "A Tang Dynasty text that sets meditation practice in terms familiar to Confucians and Buddhists." (Return)

4 Zha Fuxi's Guide 3/29/34. Also see the appendix below. Only 1425 and 1585 have prefaces, and these are identical. The other three with the Shen Qi Mi Pu melody are Fengxuan Xuanpin, Chongxiu Zhenchuan Qinpu and Qinyuan Xinchuan Quanbian. Fengxuan Xuanpin and Qinyuan Xinchuan Quanbian both often copy SQMP pieces. (Return)

5 This 1585 version also divides the melody into five sections; these titles have been applied to the music here.. Its lyrics concern...

These lyrics can be made to fit the SQMP fingering following the common method of one character for each right hand stroke and certain left hand plucks. Most of the melodies in Zheyin Shizi Qinpu (<1491) are identical to those in SQMP, but with lyrics added; however, the surviving Zheyin is incomplete. The fact that the 1585 lyrics can fit the SQMP melody suggests that Xuan Mei might have been included in a complete version of Zheyin. (Return)

6 清虛吟 Qingxu Yin
Qingxu Yin 18003.xxx; .490 清虛 Qingxu Yin "清高淡泊 Lofty Tranquility" refers to Huainanzi, same section as Xuan Mei (淮南子， 道應訓。) See also Bo Juyi (白居易，睡起晏坐詩) . Zha Fuxi's Guide 18/176/-- lists this as a separate piece, but see appendix below. The only preface to Qingxu Yin (it is the same in both 1552 and 1557; see QQJC, III, p. 320) connects the melody to the story of Tang emperor Ming Huang and Yang Guifei:

7 Shi Kuang 師曠 9129.198; See 琴史 Qin Shi #31. (Return)

8 Xi Kang 嵇康 ; see Qin Shi #84. (Return)

9 The Qin Shi biography of 司馬承正字子微號白雲 Sima Chengzheng quotes extensively from 素琴傳 Su Qin Zhuan, a qin book attributed to him (Wang Mengshu's Wusilan Zhifa Shi, p.21 #9, seems to indicate it is quoting his 琴賦 Qin Fu). It does not mention Zuo Wang, but it does mention Baiyun Yin and also the melody You Lan. (Return)

10 For this story concerning Sima Chengzheng see Qinshu Daquan Folio 12, #47 (1590; QQJC, V.270). This introduction quotes 赤城叢紀 Chicheng Congji; it also discusses a melody called 白雲引 Baiyun Yin (White Cloud Preface). (Return)

11 See footnote 1 above for citation. (Return)

12 For the original Chinese text see 玄默. (Return)

13 26418.14 兢奔 jingben "爭先奔走也 struggle to be first hastening". (Return)

14 "Great Void" (Return)

15 1. (Xiao tian di [小天地]) ;
     2. (Ai liu he [隘六合]);
     3. (Ju zao hua [俱造化]);
     4. (Wang wu wo [忘物我]);
     5. (Tong zao hua [同造化]).
(Return)

16 Lyrics not yet translated. (Return)

Return to top

 
Appendix: Chart Tracing Xuan Mei and Qingxu Yin
Based mainly on Zha Fuxi's Guide, 3/29/34 and 18/176/--

1.  神奇秘譜       (1425; I/113)	Xuan Mei; not divided into sections; no phrasing indicated; "一名坐忘 also called Zuo Wang"
.  浙音釋字琴譜       (<1491; I/--)	Not in this edition, but lyrics of 1585 fit 1425, so perhaps it was originally included
2. 風宣玄品       (1539; II/92)	Xuan Mei; same as 1425 but adds phrasing
3. 琴譜正傳       (1561; II/488)	清虛吟 Qingxu Yin; 3; precedes Guanghan You opening is different, but then it seems like a shortened version of 1425 Xuan Mei
4. 太音傳習       (1553-62; IV/47)	Qingxu Yin; 3; like 1547; "廣寒遊以傳之" has commentary
5. 太音補遺       (1557; III/320)	Qingxu Yin; 3; like 1547; precedes Guanghan You, sharing same commentary
6.   重修真傳琴譜       (1585; IV/344)	Xuan Mei; 5, titled; lyrics; somewhat different from 1425
7. 徽言秘旨       (1647; X/54)	Qingxu Yin; 3; like 1547; no commentary
8. 徽言秘旨訂       (1692; X/--)	identical to 1647? missing?
9. 琴苑新傳全編       (1670; XI/475)	Zuo Wang; 8 sections; otherwise almost the same as 1425 "by Shi Kuang"

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