Neither Guanghan You nor Qingdu Yin can be found in melody lists pre-dating its inclusion as Guanghan You in Shen Qi Mi Pu (1425 CE). This melody then survives in at least 14 handbooks from 1425 to 1647, but after this it essentially seems to have gone out of the repertoire, though the 1647 version is later copied twice (see appendix below⁴). Three of the handbooks use the title Heavenly Capitol Prelude (Qingdu Yin.⁵) The first two of these attribute the melody to Mao Minzhong; I have not seen such an attribution elsewhere.

Guanghan (or Guanghan Gong), is said to be the name of a palace on the moon, but it can also refer to the moon itself.⁶ From what Zhu Quan wrote in his preface, it seems that the melody uses the image of the moon to evoke a rather abstract theme.⁷ However, Zhu Quan would certainly have been aware of the romantic story about the Tang emperor Minghuang (685-762) going to the lunar palace to visit Yang Guifei.⁸

In fact, at least two later handbooks do connect this melody directly with the Tang Minghuang story.⁹ Although there is no specific evidence that connects this melody to that famous love story, one must consider the possibility that it was there, but Zhu Quan ignored or rejected the stories because of their folkloric, romantic, or foreign associations.¹⁰

For another romantic allusion to this melody, the scene Qin Tiao from the 16th century opera Jade Hairpin has the novice nun Chen Miaochang play a melody called Guanghan You; her wooer Pan Bizheng then comments that it is a melody often played by nuns. Since Miaochang seems not at all unwilling regarding his advances, perhaps this melody was known to have this double meaning.¹¹

As for the Tang Minghuang story, according to some historical sources, once when the emperor was viewing Ladies' Mountain¹², in He'nan, he imagined himself flying to the moon and seeing the beautiful women said to live there.¹³ Returning to his palace he created music to describe the imaginary trip. He wrote about half, then the rest was finished by palace musicians; in this there is said to have been influence from Indian Buddhist music, in particular a Brahman Melody.¹⁴ The result was a dance piece called Nishang Yuyi (Rainbow Garment).¹⁵

Later versions of this story, particularly in Chinese opera, had Minghuang actually going to the moon, hearing a celestial melody, memorizing it, and then teaching his court musicians to play it; or his famous concubine Yang Guifei creating the dance from a dream, then enthralling the emperor so much that after she died he was miserable until he, too, died and was able to join her on the moon and see her dance it again.¹⁶

However, so far I have found no actual musical connections between the qin melody Guanghan You and operas that relate this story.

The only recording available is on my own CD.

 
Original Preface¹⁷

The Emaciated Immortal says

this is an old tune. Its meaning is elevated and profound, its interest broad and deep. You have thoughts of effortless solitary steps in the Heavenly Net. The flavor is of ascending emptiness and riding the winds, grabbing a shimmering essence as it brightly flows in the Great Void; moreover, its aim is pure, imperceptible and profound, and I cannot get it well enough to describe it. It causes a person who listens to it intuitively to feel comfortably cool (in hair and bones), and to straighten up his body as if he were in a palace of broad coolness and clear void.¹⁸

 
Music
Nine sections (untitled; titles here are from Chongxiu Zhenchuan Qinpu)¹⁹

(00.00) 1. Mist and fog on the mysterious road
(01.19) 2. Riding an immortal's log through the Milky Way
(01.30) 3. Melodious music of the immortals
(02.23) 4. The cool jade cup is dark and shiny
(02.42) 5. Ax of Wu Gang²⁰
(03.54) 6. Palace of Heng E²¹
(04.14) 7. Meeting of Wind and Clouds
(04.39) 8. Happiness is finalized, so return
(05.17) 9. Perform songs and laugh while dancing
(05.50) -- harmonics
(06.04) -- Piece ends

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Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1. References for Guanghan You
9693.200 is 廣寒 Guang Han: lunar palace, or the moon itself; 3/1267 Guang Han adds that this can also refer to the northern palace for Daoist immortals. The dictionaries have no specific reference for 廣寒遊 Guanghan Qiu. Similarly with 清都引 Qingdu Yin, the dictionaries refer only to qingdu, a celestial palace or the emperor's residence. The association of a lunar palace with emperor Tang Minghuang is best known through the opera Palace of Eternal Life (長生殿 Changsheng Dian 42022.90); there was also the related story told through the Song of Everlasting Regreat (長恨歌 Chang Hen Ge).
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2. Heavenly Capitol Prelude (Qingdu Yin 清都引)
Only 18003.485 清都 (qingdu: heavenly capitol)，天帝之宮闕帝都也; also 5/1310. See appendix below.
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3. Painting by 白雲立 Bai Yunli; see detail.
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4. For further information on gong mode see Shenpin Gong Yi and Modality in Early Ming Qin Tablature.
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5. Zha Fuxi's Guide, 3/36/48; see appendix below.
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6. Guang Han (Gong)
Literally, (Palace of) Spreading Frigidity. 9693.200 says,

The "Palace of Spreading Frigidity" is also mentioned in the seduction scene of the opera Xi Xiang Ji.
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7. Zhu Quan also gives an abstract explanation for #25 Guanghan Qiu; compare its associations with popular stories.
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8. In addition to the general popularity of the story, it was also told in opera; Zhu Quan wrote a famous book on Yuan dynasty opera. One Yuan drama, Rain on the Paulonia (梧桐雨 Wutong Yu, told this same story (but with no apparent reference to the moon: Minghuang mourns under a wutong, a tree long associated with the qin.
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9. In particular the handbooks dated 1557 and 1585 (see section headings under Music, above)
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10. Some of these are discussed in footnotes below about fairy ladies, the [in]famous concubine Yang Guifei, and the Indian Buddhist connection. In his preface Zhu Quan says he considered the names of some pieces to be inappropriate and so changed them.
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11. See 琴挑 Qin Tiao in 玉簪記 (Jade Hairpin) by Gao Lian 高濂 (fl. 1573-1581).
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12. 6170.2 女ㄦ山 Nü'er Shan, about 75 km southwest of Loyang, the old Zhou and latter Han capital; also called 石雞山 Stone Chicken Mountain.
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13. Some famous inhabitants of the moon are mentioned in the section titles (q.v.).
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14. Brahman Melody (婆羅門曲 Polomen Qu)
Polomen Qu, said to have come from within the court, was said to have been the origin of the Rainbow Garment Melody (see next).
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15. Rainbow Garment Melody (霓裳羽衣曲 Nishang Yuyi Qu)
楊蘟瀏，中國古代音樂史稿 Yang Yinliu's History of Ancient Chinese Music, 1980, p.222 ff. 霓裳羽衣 Nishang yuyi describes the rainbow-colored long gowns worn by fairy immortals. (43292.9/2 and .12 discuss its origins as a Brahman Melody (see previous footnote); the latter is a long entry with many literary references. 43292.12 霓裳舞 Rainbow Dance says it is a dance for Nishang Yuyi Qu, but makes no mention of Yang Guifei (see next footnote).
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16. Yang Guifei 楊貴妃
Yang Guifei was one of China's "four great beauties". She is sometimes said to have learned the 霓裳羽衣 Rainbow Garment dance during a trip to the moon. Two opera titles related to this story are 唐明皇遊月宮 Tang Minghuang You Yuegong and 長生殿 Changsheng Dian.

17. For the text of the original Chinese preface see 廣寒遊.
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18. Palace of broad coolness and lofty tranquillity (廣寒清虛之府)
Regarding "lofty tranquillity" (清虛 Qingxu: also "clear void" or "clear emptiness"), the versions of this melody in the handbooks dated 1552, 1557, 1561 and 1647 all are preceded or followed by a melody called 清虛吟 Qingxu Yin (Intonation on Lofty Tranquillity)

Intonation on Lofty Tranquillity (清虛吟 Qingxu Yin)
Five handbooks, dated 1547, 1552, 1557, 1647 and 1692, have a melody called Qingxu Yin. It is in fact a somewhat shorter version of the SQMP Folio I melody Xuan Mei, but it generally seems to be associated withGuanghan You, coming either just before or just after it (see appendix below). Note that the Qingxu Yin prefaces in 1552 and 1557 relate the story of Tang Minghuang.
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19. Two sets of section titles for Guanghan You
The preface to the version in Chongxiu Zhenchuan Qinpu (1585) is one that relates the story of Tang Minghuang. However, its section titles do not reflect this. The original Chinese section titles from 1585 are:

Buxuxian Qinpu (1556) has a similar melody for Guanghan You but divided into eight sections and with competely different (though thematically related) titles. Van Gulik, Lore, translates Guanghan You as Traveling to the Palace of Wide Coolness, and then translates the section titles as follows (Lore, p. 89)

* "In the middle of this part there occur some heavy chords, where the remark is added: 'The sound of the Jade Hare pounding the elixir of immortality.' According to Chinese popuar belief, in the moon there lives a hare that prepares the elixir of life under a cassia tree.:
** "In the middle of this part there occur some high notes, with the explanatory remark: 'The sounds of laughing and talking of Chang-E, the Moon Goddess.' "
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20. 吳剛 Wu Gang (See also under Guanghan Qiu)
Wu Gang spends all his time trying to chop down a tree which keeps growing new leaves; however, he was able to stop long enough to defend Heng E.
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21. 姮娥 Heng E (See also under Guanghan Qiu)
Heng E is the original name of 嫦娥 Chang E (or Chang O), a beautiful woman who stole the elixir of immortality which had been given to her husband, Hou Yi 后羿 the Archer). She then had to flew up to the moon to escape his wrath.
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Appendix: Chart Tracing Guanghuan You/Qingdu Yin
Based mainly on Zha Fuxi's Guide, 3/36/48

琴譜     (year; QQJC Vol/page)	Further information (QQJC = 琴曲集成 Qinqu Jicheng; QF = 琴府 Qin Fu)
1.  神奇秘譜       (1425; I/121)	9; gong mode; commentary but no attribution
浙音釋字琴譜        (<1491; I/--)	(Lyrics of 1585 don't seem to fit 1425)
2. 風宣玄品       (1539; II/70)	8; gong mode; no preface; starts like 1425 but combines sections #5 and #6 and has other changes
3. 梧岡琴譜       (1546; I/382)	"清都引 Qingdu Yin"; 10; gong mode; related to 1425 but quite different. Note at front says, "also called 廣寒遊 Guanghan You; by Mao Minzhong with revisions by Xu Tianmin and Xu Qiushan"
4a. 琴譜正傳       (1561; II/434)	"清都引 Qingdu Yin"; 10; identical to 1546 including attribution at front, but adds comment "Shenpin Gong melody" (it was placed with zhi mode pieces).
4b. 琴譜正傳       (1561; II/488)	10; no commentary; seems almost identical to its Qingdu Yin; preceded by 清虛吟 Qingxu Yin.
5. 西麓堂琴統       (1549; III/71)	11T; afterword; no attribution; more elaborate than 1425 (Compare 1425 sections 5-6 with 6-8 here
6. 步虛僊琴譜       (1556; fac/)	8T (see translation of titles); no commentary In this handbook it is preceded by a one section 清都引 Qingdu Yin
7. 太音傳習       (1552; IV/48)	9; preceded by Qingxu Yin, which has same preface as in 1557 (mentioning Tang emperor Minghuang), but GHY has the same preface as 1425; the music very similar
8. 太音補遺       (1557; III/320)	10; preceded by Qingxu Yin, which has same preface as 1552 (concerns Tang Minghuang), adding that it should be applied to GHY; music similar to 1425 but, e.g., breaks up 5 & 6 differently.
9.   重修真傳琴譜       (1585; IV/341)	9TL; intro tells Tang Minghuang story. The lyrics (they begin 晚免雲開，煙霞藹藹。素影動金波，清光涵碧海....) won't fit 1425; they are identical to those in 1620 below, though the music is different.
10. 琴書大全       (1590; V/473)	"清都引 Qingdu Yin"; 10; "also called 廣寒遊 Guanghan You; gong mode; almost same as 1546 but not identical. At end it adds one note then writes out the coda.
11. 陽春堂琴譜       (1611; VII/365)	9; quite similar to 1425 (Section 6 writes 7.9 for 8!)
12. 太音希聖       (1620; IX/132)	9TL; gong; titles as 1425; lyrics as 1585 but music different; preface longer and different from 1585 but still tells the Tang Minghuang story (Not in Zha's index)
13. 古音正宗       (1634; IX/278)	"also called 清都引 Qingdu Yin; 9T; section titles as 1425; no commentary
14. 徽言秘旨       (1647; X/50)	11; 宮音; followed by 清虛吟 Qingxu Yin; no commentary
15. 徽言秘旨訂       (1692; fac/folio 2)	Identical to 1647; again followed by Qingxu Yin
16. 友聲社琴譜       (early Qing; XI/197)	9L; "何校"; note at end says it originally had 13 sections but 4 were cut and "音調始覺不重複"
17. 裛露軒琴譜       (>1802; ?)	11; 宮音 "same as 1547"

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