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38. Melody of Mutual Affection
Also called 古琴吟 Old Qin Melody;2 Shang mode 1 2 4 5 6 1 2 3		 相思曲 1
Xiang Si Qu

Xiang Si Qu, later better known as Gu Qin Yin, survives in at least five handbooks up through 1894;4 the earliest surviving of these is in the 1573 edition of the handbook of music played by Yang Biaozheng; the version there is somewhat different from the one in Yang's 1585 edition.5 Yang was from Fujian but his handbook was printed in Nanjing. Nanjing is sometimes said to have been the center of the Jiang tradition of qin play, emphasizing songs. Next after Yang came the version of this melody, published in a handbook dated 1618 and also with a Nanjing connection; it is quite similar. After this is the one published in Japan, presumably taken from the 1618 handbook: the two are virtually identical.6 The later versions, such as the one played today, are clearly descended from these early ones, but there are many differences.

The stories connected to this melody all concern Su Dongpo (1037 - 1101) and a female ghost who was formerly a skilled entertainer, but the details of these stories differ. The present re-telling (repeated in 1618) tells of Su Dongpo meeting a Skilled Woman during his exile in Hainan island (1097 - 1100), here called by an older name, Qiongzhou.7 She dies of an illness, then her ghost appears during the following dynasty.

However, in later versions the ghost appears in front of Su Dongpo himself by Hangzhou's West Lake.8 One evening he hears a woman playing outside his window, singing the lyrics of the present song. After relating the lyrics, the story ends with, "Opening the window to trace the sound, Su Shi saw a slender young woman, who vanished under the wall. The next day he dug there, and found an old qin."9

The 1876 version of this melody is still in the modern repertoire.

 
Original Preface10

Formerly Master Su would take along with him a Skilled Woman who carried a qin, and they would often go to Hongfu Temple in Qiongzhou. But later the woman suddenly died of an illness, and was buried with her qin; they buried her behind the temple, west of a whitewashed wall. (Generations) later a provincial governor staying the night at this temple suddenly heard a woman choking with sobs and singing miserably; she continued for several hours. In the morning he tried to find out whether monks had been engaging in secret licentious behavior, but no one knew where this came from. (Then) and old monk responded to the command (for answers) by saying, "I heard that during a previous dynasty Master Su buried a Skilled Woman behind the temple: perhaps this could be the spirit of that woman. (The governor) having then ordered her coffin opened, he saw the woman embracing her qin, with the record of ci song lyrics; they were called Xiang Si Qu, and were the same as the song he had heard the previous evening. The temple monks then recited appropriate sutras. Although the melody was short, its message has a subtle beauty.  
Melody and Lyrics11
All handbooks attribute the lyrics to Su Dongpo himself12

Sounds, sounds, sounds, so heartless, truly heartless.
Ungrateful to me, ungrateful to me, even until today.
Remember how I would then sing quietly, pour small cups, each song of mine worth thousands in gold.
But now you have discarded me in the shade of an old wall.
Autumn winds in the rushes, white clouds far off, flowing streams, high mountains, where can I find (you)?
All is miserable, lonely and comfortless: help me endure it.

 
Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1. 相思曲 Xiang Si Qu (1; also called 古琴吟 Gu Qin Yin)
23733.140 相思曲 refers to an unrelated YFSJ poem (an alternate name for 懊儂歌 Aonong Ge, Section 6, Folio 46, p.667). (Return)

2. 古琴吟 Gu Qin Yin; not written Guqin Yin, as the title suggests an old melody, not an old instrument. (Return)

3. 商調 shang diao (Return)

4. Zha Guide 26/215/408 lists six tablatures from 1585. He did not see the 1573 edition of Yang Biaozheng's handbook, which is preserved in the National Library in Taiwan. There is a related recording and staff notation transcription for the one published in 1864:

  1. 1585 (IV.376; 1573 is somewhat different)
  2. 1618 (VIII/249; same lyrics, diff. music)
  3. Japan (XII/217; like 1618 but 音音音，真負心，恁負心....)
  4. 1864 (Gu Qin Yin; similar lyrics [音音音，爾負心，爾負心，真負心.,,. no 叫人怎禁 at end]; QF/612; 後記)
    Modern version: see transcription [p. 196] and recording [Track 1])
  5. 1878 (Gu Qin Yin; not examined)
  6. 1894 (Gu Qin Yin; not examined) (Return)

5. The melodies are particularly different at the opening. (Return)

6. It is thought that Jiang Xingchou brought these melodies to Japan; his biographical notes tell of his Nanjing connection. (Return)

7. 瓊州 Qiongzhou; this is also the name of the strait between Hainan and the mainland of China. (Return)

8. Su Dongpo was a minor official in Hangzhou from 1071 - 74, then around 1089 he was briefly deputy governor there. He is locally credited for having built a causeway across West Lake (Return)

9. This version of the story is told in Van Gulik, Lore, pp. 159-60, from a late Qing dynasty source. The 1876 introduction is similar to Van Gulik, adding the detail that it took place in a 靈隱山房 mountain hut at Lingyin, a hill by Hangzhou's West Lake.

There may also be other versions of this story, which may be given the title "古琴化女 (Su Dongpo and a female ghost"; 3308.xxx; 2614 only 化人). (Return)

10. The original preface is as follows :
昔蘇子攜妓抱琴，常遊瓊州紅拂寺。而後妓忽染疾亡，即以琴殉，葬之寺後粉牆西。後州守夜宿茲寺，忽聞女子哽咽悲歌，便次不去。曉，乃究僧隱淫之罪，眾莫知其由。老僧稟曰﹕“聞前朝蘇學士攜葬一妓於寺後，想此妓之魂歟？”遂命發棺，見女抱琴，誌詞一闋，名曰【相思曲】，與夜歌同。寺僧方釋。其曲雖小，寓意亦妙而微也。 (Return)

11. The original lyrics from 1585 are as follows (in brackets are some of the variations in later editions)

  音音音，恁負心，真負心。 (some have 您 or 爾 instead of 恁)
  辜負俺，辜負俺，到如今。 (or: 我 instead of 俺)
  記得當初，低低唱，淺淺斟，一曲值千金。  
  如今撇我在古牆陰。  
  秋風蓑草白雲深，流水高山何處尋？ (or: 衰 or 荒 for 蓑; repeat 流水高山, add 也;
  斷橋流水無故人 for 流水高山何處尋)
  悲悲切切，冷冷清清，叫人怎禁。 (or: 淒淒 for 悲悲; 教 for 叫; omit 叫人怎禁).
(Return)

12. Although the various prefaces say this, in light of the stories recounted (as in the preface above), presumably the editors realized this was not true.
(Return)

 
Return to the Chongxiu Zhenchuan intro, to the annotated handbook list or to the Guqin ToC.