Qishan Cao

Qishan Cao is the first of the ten Qin Cao⁴ set to lyrics by Han Yu (766-824). Han Yu claims that Zhou Gong (the Duke of Zhou) wrote them on behalf of Da Wang (or Tai Wang), a common name for Gugong Danfu (Old Duke Danfu). Danfu was the grandfather of Zhou Gong's father, Wen Wang (Civil King), founder of the Zhou dynasty (reputed date 1122 BCE).⁵ Wen Wang himself is the subject of the fifth melody in Taigu Yiyin, Juyou Cao.

The first Zhou capital was near modern Xi'an, but before that time the clan had been centered in the region of Bin, to the northwest.⁶ To avoid attack by the non-Han Di tribe the clan leader Old Duke Danfu moved south to Mount Qi; but because of his virtues, not only his clan but other people came and joined him.⁷

Danfu's grandson Wen Wang had two sons, Wu Wang (Military King) and Zhou Gong. After Wen Wang was succeeded by Wu Wang, Zhou Gong became his major adviser in the establishment of the Zhou dynasty. He also helped educate Wu Wang's son Cheng Wang, loyally serving him instead of seeking the throne for himself. This loyal service is also related in the qin melody Feng Lei Yin.⁸

The lyrics here can be found in Yuefu Shiji, Folio 57, #18. The preface there to this poem in Yuefu Shiji says only

"Qin Cao says, 'Zhou Gong wrote Qishan Cao on behalf of Da Wang.'"

The Qin Cao introductions as quoted in other sources are quite long and sometimes include lyrics not found here or in Yuefu Shiji. They all tell how Zhou Gong's great grandfather Danfu set a good example by ruling benevolently, and that Zhou Gong himself wrote the melody.⁹

This title is also found in four later handbooks, but the melodies are different.¹⁰

Original preface¹¹

According to Mencius (the following is paraphrased from King Hui of Liang, Part Two),

"When the realm of Taiwang was in Bin, the Di tribe often attacked them. He offered them leather and silk, (then) dogs, (then) horses, (then) pearls and jade, but all this was not effective; so he avoided the Di by going to Bin, building a town below Mount Qi so that he could live there. At that time the people of Bin all said that Taiwang was a virtuous person, so they followed him and came to Mount Qi as though they were going to the market." As for this melody, perhaps it was the one which Zhou Gong created to teach Cheng Wang by recalling the virtues of his ancestor (Gugong Danfu).

Music and lyrics: One section¹² (translation not completed)
-The setting of Han Yu's lyrics is largely syllabic, following the structure of the lyrics ([4+4] x 6):

My home has been in Bin, since my first ancestors.
For me to continue on, I dare to be different.
Now the Di people, want my land.
The people will fight for me, but who would allow such death and misery?
(Mount) Qi is rocky, but I will go there myself.
If people don't follow me, without thought I am sad.

Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1 Qishan Cao 岐山操
8095.4 Qishan Cao has several early references, beginning with "Name of a Yuefu qin melody". 8095.2 岐山 Qishan (Qi Shan): Mount Qi, a mountain and 縣 district in 陝西 Shanxi province. Has illustration. No connection to 箕山 Jishan or to 谿山/溪山 Xi Shan. (Return)

2 Mode is not directly mentioned in Taigu Yiyin (Return)

3 The illustration is from 8095.4 岐山 Qishan; the original source is not identified. (Return)

4 The 琴操 Qin Cao are discussed elsewhere; all ten are set to music in Taigu Yiyin. (Return)

5 For the story of 古公亶父 Gugong Danfu see Nienhauser, The Grand Scribe's Records, Vol. 1, p.56; fn. 16 says he was later called 太王 Tai Wang; Mencius (in King Hui of Liang, part 2) calls him 大王 Da (or Dai) Wang. There is another story of Danfu in the Shi Jing poem Spreading (#237, see Taigu Yiyin #9, Wen Wang Qu). (Return)

6 豳風歌 Song of Bin, a melody found in Qinpu Zhenchuan (1547) concerns the agriculture of this region. (Return)

7 狄 Di became a rather generic term for uncivilized non-Han people to the north (compare 戎 Rong, to the west).(Return)

8 See the introduction in Fengxuan Xuanpin (1539), #43. (Return)

9 See for example 琴苑要彔 Qinyuan Yaolu, supposedly a Yuan dynasty publication, and the biography 太王 Tai Wang in the Qin History of 朱長文 Zhu Changwen (1041-1100). (Return)

10 1549 (seven sections); 1585 (same lyrics, different music); 1670 (different music, but the lyrics would fit); 1802 (same lyrics, different music). (Return)

11 Original Chinese preface not yet online. (Return)

12 The original lyrics are (in Yuefu Shiji the characters in brackets replace the ones in front of them):

我家于豳，自我先公。
伊我承序（緒），敢有不同。
今狄之人，將王（土）我疆。
民為我戰，誰使死傷。
彼岐有驅，我往獨處。
爾（人）莫予（余）追，無思我悲。 (Return)

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