The present page focuses on the music of Liu Shui (Flowing Streams); most comments that refer to the music of both Liu Shui and its companion title Gao Shan (High Mountains) are included with the introduction to Gao Shan. The introduction to Gao Shan also tells the story of Gao Shan Liu Shui, perhaps the most famous story in the qin repertoire. In this story Boya evokes nature with his qin play, but only Ziqi is able to recognize this; after Ziqi dies, Boya never plays again.

Versions of Liu Shui survive in 33 handbooks between 1425 and 1946;³ in fact, it is the only piece from Shen Qi Mi Pu Folio 1 to have survived actively in a recognizable form into the modern repertoire.⁴ However, only the versions in two other handbooks (1539 and 1552 - see comments with Gao Shan) follow closely the one in SQMP. The others are rather similar in what are called here the first four sections (particularly the harmonics), but they then become almost completely different. They all seem descended from a different version.

Like Gao Shan, the Liu Shui in SQMP also had no punctuation, so again my reconstruction uses the phrasing from the identical version in Fengxuan Xuanpin (1539). And also as with Gao Shan, Liu Shui was not divided into sections; sectioning here is based in part on the sectioning of the version in Xilutang Qintong (1549).

It should be noted that the SQMP version of Liu Shui is considerably longer than the other surviving early versions. In my transcription I have divided it into what seem to me to be 16 natural sections. Ten of the titles I have used are the ten Xilutang Qintong (1549) sections, here applied to sections that seem best to correspond well with the Shen Qi Mi Pu music; two titles are phrases from Zhu Quan's preface to the melody; the other four titles come from the version in Chongxiu Zhenchuan Qinpu (1585).

The biography of Bo Ya mentions other melodies also associated with Bo Ya. Of note here is the ancient mention of Sanxia Liuquan⁵ (Springs Flowing into the Three Gorges); it might relate a similar story.

There are at least 25 recordings available of Liu Shui but besides my own the only other ones based on the version in SQMP are those by Yao Bingyan and his son, Yao Gongbai.⁶ Both use metal strings. The one by Yao Bingyan is transcribed by Bell Yung in Celestial Airs of Antiquity.

The version commonly played today is the "72 gunfu Liu Shui"⁷ attributed to Zhang Kongshan⁸ of the Sichuan school. It has been said that these gunfu (harp-like glissandi) are appropriate to the lofty mountains of Sichuan, whereas this older version is perhaps more descriptive of streams in the lower mountains of eastern China.⁹

 
Original Preface¹⁰
Zhu Quan's preface to #05 Gao Shan serves for both melodies.

 
Music
Undivided; here arranged into 16 sections; titles are from
Xilutang Qintong (X), Chongxiu Zhenchuan Qinpu (C), and Zhu Quan's preface (ZP)¹¹

(00.00) 01. The long stream stretches out like a ribbon (X1)
(00.37) 02. A qin resounds by the hidden mountain stream (X2)
(01.09) 03. Directing the pulses (a Daoist exercise) leads to a long life (X3)
(01.40) 04. Floating clouds knock together (X5)
(02.24) 05. The wind causes ripples in the water (X6)
(02.58) 06. Look at the Big Dipper while traveling on an immortal's log (X7)¹²
(03.35) 07. Spring water gurgles up (X4)
(04.09) 08. Bubbling eastward (C7)
(04.30) 09. Rivers return down to the sea (related to 9; has harm. ; C5)
(04.57) 10. (The qin evokes) the vastness of the waters (resembles 15; ZP)
(05.17) 11. Rowing hurriedly through the mist (fast; X8)
(06.01) 12. (The river flows) eternally (freely; C6)
(06.39) 13. Mist above a clear river (slower; C4)
(07.24) 14. People of wisdom enjoy the waters (ZP)
(07.53) 15. The cinnabar door is thick (with lacquer? X9) ¹³
(08.10) 16. The spirit is like deep, dark waters (X10) ¹⁴
(08.48) --- Piece ends

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Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1. Liu Shui 流水
17762.16 流水 gives only geography; 17762.20 流水高山 adds nothing to Gaoshan Liushui.
17762.21 流水韻 writes of people using the sound of water to write music, but has nothing beyond the Bo Ya story. (Return)

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

3. Zha Fuxi's Guide 2/25/17. Details are in the appendix below. (Gao Shan seems to have been more popular than Liu Shui, which survives in only 33 versions during this period). Note that Gao Shan is not in Zheyin Shizi Qinpu, and the lyrics of Chongxiu Zhenchuan Qinpu don't fit SQMP. (Return)

4. One can debate whether Gao Shan survived into the modern repertoire: there are some recordings available but they are rare. Melodies which have clearly survived, in addition to Liu Shui, are Meihua Sannong from Folio II and Xiaoxiang Shuiyun from Folio III. In addition several pieces have survived in very much modified form. From Folio II the most recognizable of these is Yin De (in the form of Qiujiang Yebo); much less commonly played are versions of Bai Xue, Liezi Yufeng, Qiao Ge and Shanju Yin. There are no other melodies surviving from Folio III. To my knowledge, other Shen Qi Mi Pu titles played today are either reconstructions, or are unrelated pieces of the same title. (Return)

5. Springs Flowing into the Three Gorges (三峽流泉 Sanxia Liu Quan)
See comments in footnote to Shishang Liuquan (Springs Flowing over Rocks). General sources don't mention where Bo Ya lived, but one tradition says it was in Sichuan, location of the Three Gorges. Xu Jian, QSCB, p.177 (Chapter 9), says Tang poetic references to Sanxia Liuquan also indicate it might be have been an early form of Liu Shui. (Return)

6. In Yaomen School, Hugo HRP 748-2, track 7 (10.35); Yao Bingyan's timing is 11.59; for mine it is 8.52. (Return)

7. 袞拂 gunfu
To play a gunfu, the fingers of the right hand run from the 7th to 1st, then 1st to 7th strings. The 72 gunfu version of Liu Shui depicts the water flowing over the rocks so evocatively that one need not be a Zi Qi to realize it. Traditional qin music, though commonly programmatic in title, tends to be more subtle. (Return)

8. Zhang Kongshan 長空山
See his biography under Tianwenge Qinpu (1876). Note in particular the comments on his so-called 72 gunfu version of Liu Shui.
(Return)

9. To my ears the 72 gunfu version is indeed beautifully evocative of flowing streams -- to the extent that it should not take a Ziqi to recognize its theme. It is thus perhaps somewhat ironic that the explicit nature of this version has contributed to making it a modern model for evoking the traditional qin aesthetic. (Return)

10. The Chinese preface is under 高山. (Return)

11. The Chinese titles, from 西麓堂琴統西, 重修真傳琴譜 and Zhu Quan's 朱序 are:

12. This cha 槎 , a popular art object, is usually a piece of wood carved to show an immortal traveling on a log; cf. e.g., Treasures of China, HK, Commercial Press, 1983. (Return)

13. 101.87 dan qiong 丹扃 (XLTQT seems to have shang 戶 + _向); 18213.14 zhanruo 湛若 has only zihao. 字號(Return)

14. 18126.xx yuanxuan 淵泫; Matthews has "a waste of waters"; Zha thinks the characters are yuanjie 淵結 , which he chages to yuanzhi 淵質. (Return)

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Appendix: Chart Tracing Liu Shui;
based mainly on Zha Fuxi's Guide, 2/25/17.

琴譜     (year; QQJC Vol/page)	Further information: (QQJC = 琴曲集成 Qinqu Jicheng; QF = 琴府 Qin Fu) Right aligned commentary is for later versions of Liu Shui; compare Gao Shan chart
1.  神奇秘譜       (1425; I/109)	Original has no sectioning (but compare above) or phrasing indicated; lyrics of 1585 don't fit
2. 風宣玄品       (1539; II/87)	Same as 1425 but adds phrasing
3. 西麓堂琴統       (1549; III/76)	10T; quite different: more elaborate
4. 太音傳習       (1553-62; IV/55)	Phrasing but no sectioning; similar to 1425
5.   重修真傳琴譜       (1585; IV/318)	8T; lyrics; melody is very different
6. 玉梧琴譜       (1589; VI/16)	8; related
7. 藏春塢琴譜       (1602; VI/310)	8; identical to 1589
8.a 真傳正宗琴譜       (1589; VII/154)	8; compare 1425 (楊倫太古遺音)
8.b 真傳正宗琴譜       (1609; VII/--)	same as 1589? (楊倫太古遺音)
9. 古音正宗       (1634; IX/276)	8; related
10. 徽言秘旨       (1647; X/43)	8; related
11. 徽言秘旨訂       (1692; X/---)	missing?
12. 琴苑新傳全編       (1670; XI/317)	8; no subtitles; related but different from 1425
. 松風閣琴譜       (1677/82; XII/387)	Gaoshan Liushui: unrelated
13. 澄鑒堂琴譜       (1670; XIV/206)	7; also related; no Gao Shan
14. 德音堂琴譜       (1691; XII/487)	8; related
15. 嚮山堂琴譜       (<1700?; XIV/93)	7; related Handcopied partial edition beginning with Liu Shui: Gao Shan was in original?
16. 蓼懷堂琴譜       (1702; XIII/178)	8; related
17. 一峰園琴譜       (1709; XIII/514)	4T; related;
18. 琴劍合譜       (1749; ?)	???
19. 穎陽琴譜       (1751; XVI/70)	9; related
20. 自遠堂琴譜       (1802; XVII/298)	7; related
21. 指法匯參確解       (1821; ?)	? No Gao Shan
22. 琴學軔端       (1828; ?)	???
23. 悟雪山房琴譜       (1836; ?)	One version (had two versions of Gao Shan)
24. 槐蔭書屋琴譜       (1840; ?)	???
25. 一經盧琴學       (1845; ?)	?  No Gao Shan
26. 琴學尊聞       (1864; ?)	???
27. 天聞閣琴譜       (1876)	only one version (had three versions of Gao Shan)
28. 希韶閣琴譜       (1878; ?)	???
29. 雙琴書屋琴譜集成       (1884; ?)	???
30. 枯木禪琴譜       (1893; facsimile)	7+1; related
31. 琴學叢書       (1910; 琴府11)	two versions No Gao Shan
32. 雅齋琴譜叢集       (ND; ?)	?
33. 沙堰琴編       (1946; ?)	Sichuan school handbook: see its Gao Shan
34. 夏一峰傳譜       (1957)	#10 has staff notation of a Gaoshan Liushui (see 古琴曲彙編 Guqinqu Huibian, Beijing, 1957: commentary says it is from 1876; it looks like Zhang Kongshan Liu Shui
35. 研易習琴齋琴譜       (1961)	7 sections
36. 愔愔室琴譜       (2000/307)
37. 虞山吳氏琴譜       (2001/40 &: 339)	Staff notation

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