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10. Eighteen Blasts of the Nomad Flute
- (Fugu Diao mode: 1 3 5 6 1 2 3 2 |
胡笳十八拍1
Hujia Shibapai |
This introduction does not concern the instrumental melody of this name still played today,3 but the long qin song of this name first published in Luqi Xinsheng (1597).4 This version is sometimes attributed to the handbook's own author or compiler, Xu Shiqi, but the basis for this is unclear.5
Melodies that have in their title the name Hu Jia6 (nomad reed flute; e.g., Xiao Hujia and Da Hujia) all concern the story of Cai Wenji abducted by Central Asian nomads. All use the same tuning, are generally played as purely instrumental melodies, and are generally attributed to the famous Tang dynasty qin player Dong Tinglan. However, the actual melodies are not all related.
One version of Da Hujia has had lyrics applied to it, but it not really a qin song.7 The earliest known version of this story set to lyrics as an actual qin song is this Hujia Shipapai, dated 1597.8 The lyrics, a first person narration, are the ones attributed to Cai Wenji herself.9
I assume this 1597 version has had some popularity because several unrelated Chinese friends have sung for me the opening lyrics. However, they do not recall who arranged this version into an opera.10
I have written out my own transcription of the 1597 version of Hujia Shibapai, but have not worked on it with a singer, so I consider my note values quite tentative. I did the transcription without consulting the one by Wang Di in her Qin Ge11 Her transcription is said to come from 1611, but that edition is missing the first page; otherwise it seems identical to the present one.
Original Preface
None here
Melody and Lyrics
Eighteen sections12
Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a
separate page)
1.
Hujia Shibapai 胡笳十八拍
30073.359 tells the basic story then mentions various poetic and musical texts.
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2.
Fugu Diao 復古調
For Fugu Diao lower the first string and raise the 5th string each one step. This tuning is also called Wuyi Diao, Huangzhong Diao, and other names.
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3.
Guqin Quji Vol. 1, pp. 135 - 151, transcribes a performance by Wu Jinglue of the Hujia Shibapai in Wuzhizhai Qinpu (1722). There are also several recordings of this version.
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4. Zha's guide has Cai Wenji's lyrics in the following handbooks:
I have not been able to examine all the 19th century handbooks, but it seems likely that all the melodies are related to 1722.
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5.
Attribution of this Hujia to Xu Shiqi
At the beginning of the melody (see VII/31) there is the statement "written by Xu Shiqi", but this is also the first page of Folio 3 of Luqi Xinsheng, and so the attribution should be to the book, not to the melody. On the other hand, according to QSCB,
Chapter 7a4, Xi Shiqi was noted for creating qin melodies with lyrics.
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6.
Zha Guide 8/77/119
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7.
The Da Hujia set to lyrics in
<1491 uses the same melody as in 1425, and the lyrics seem to be new and not naturally adaptable for singing.
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8.
The Qin Shi Xu biography of Chen Shi says "今琴曲有胡笳十八拍詩所造也 present-day qin melodies include a Hujia Shibapai poem he wrote." There is some further information in Xu Jian's QSCB, Chapter 7, Qin Song Composers.
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9.
Source of the Hujia Shibapai attributed to
Cai Wenji (蔡琰 Cai Yan)
According to Xu Jian, QSCB, Chapter 6b1-2, the first publication of this version of the poem is in the 楚辭後語 Afterword to the Songs of Chu, compiled by Zhu Xi (1130-1200). However, elsewhere it is said that the earliest known publication was in the 12th century Yuefu Shiji, Folio 59, #3 (pp. 860-865), where it is said to be the original, and that it was later imitated by Liu Shang (late 8th c.). However, the Liu Shang poem, also a first person narrative, is known to have had some popularity during the late Tang, so it could well be that the poem attributed to Cai Wenji herself was the imitation. See Idema and Grant, p. 121ff. It is translated there as well as in Chang and Saussy, pp.22-30.
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10.
Traditional operas that concern this story (see LXS) include Wenji Goes to the Desert (文姬入塞 Wenji Ru Sai) and Wenji Returns to Han (文姬歸漢 Wenji Gui Han). A modern opera by Bun-Ching Lam (Wenji: Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute, 2002) is mentioned elsewhere.
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11.
王迪 Wang Di, 1982, pp. 42 - 54; it does not include the original tablature. Her transcription is also published in Zhongguo Gudai Gequ (1990, pp. 123 - 133). The 1982 publication also has a transcription of Sections 9 and 10 of the musically unrelated 1722 Hujia Shibapai; that 1722 volume appends Cai Wenji's lyrics after the tablature, so Wang had to pair them to the music according to her own method.
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12.
Hujia Shibapai as attributed to Cai Wenji: original lyrics
There are translations is Idema and Grant, p. 121ff; and in Chang and Saussy, pp.22-30. The original lyrics are as follows:
戎羯逼我兮為室家，將我行兮向天涯。
雲山萬重兮歸路遐，疾風千里兮揚塵沙。
人多暴猛兮如虺蛇，控弦被甲兮為驕奢。
兩拍張絃兮絃欲絕，志摧心折兮自悲嗟。
Return to the annotated handbook list or to the Guqin ToC.