This title has been very popular, appearing in 48 surviving handbooks from 1425 to 1961.³ However, only the first five (plus two related versions with other titles) to 1585 are musically related to the melody played here.⁴ The other 41 evolved from an Oulu Wang Ji (Seabirds [trust those with] No Ulterior Motives) first published in 1620 into the version still played today, still usually called Oulu Wangji.⁵ Xilutang Qintong (1549) has the old version but also calls it Oulu Wangji. The other two titles for surviving versions of the old melody are Teng Liu Yin⁶ (Melody of Teng Liu, deity of snow), and Jin Shan Yin⁷ (Completed Skills Intonation).

The reputed composer Liu Zhifang,⁸ from Tiantai in Zhejiang province, is also credited with a piece called Wujiang Yin. He was a student of Guo Chuwang and thus one of the qin players in the Zhejiang School of the Southern Song Dynasty, which flourished in Hangzhou during the 12th and 13th centuries. Yang Zan, who collected a large number of qin pieces in his now-lost Rosy Cloud Cave Handbook, was particularly impressed when he heard Guo's pieces in the shang mode.⁹

There are no other recordings of any of the early versions of this theme.¹⁰

 
Original Preface¹¹

The Emaciated Immortal says

this piece was written in the Song dynasty by Mr. Liu Zhifang of Tiantai. Some say its meaning follows that of Liezi's story about the Old Man of the Sea, who had no ulterior motives, and so birds didn't fly (away from him). The fingers are used to achieve this. Perhaps it has the same flavor as sitting down and forgetting meanings.

 
Music
Two sections (Titles from Chongxiu Zhenchuan Qinpu ¹²)

(00.00) 1. The ulterior motives stop
(00.51) 2. Sitting in tranquility
(01.58) -- harmonics
(02.11) -- Melody ends

Return to the Shen Qi Mi Pu ToC or to the Guqin ToC.

 
Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1 10543.54 忘機，心無紛競，淡焉漠焉，謂之忘機 ; calm and detached, quotes poem by Li Bai. (Return)

2 Standard tuning is also considered as 5 6 1 2 3 5 6. For further information on shang mode see Shenpin Shang Yi and Modality in Early Ming Qin Tablature. (Return)

3 See Zha Guide, three entries:

There is no version in 1491. The lyrics from 1585 can be made to fit the 1425 version (Section 1, badly; Section 2, easily), so perhaps the original edition of 1491 included it. (Return)

4 These four plus the three related melodies mentioned below are in handbooks dated:

1. 1425
2. 1539
3. 1549 (Ou Lu Wang Ji)
4. 1551 (Teng Liu Yin)
5. 1557 (Teng Liu Yin)
6. 1561 (Jin Shan Yin)
7. 1585
   (Return)

5 鷗鷺忘機 Ou Lu Wang Ji, modern version
The Ou Lu Wang Ji (48240.41 qin melody title; quotes story from Liezi, Yellow Emperor, translated in A. C. Graham, pp.45/6) played today is connected to the same story, but is musically unrelated to the Wang Ji here in SQMP and in handbooks dated 1539 (Wang Ji), 1549 (Ou Lu Wang Ji, 1552 (Teng Liu Yin) and 1585 (Wang Ji). The earliest surviving publication of a new version dates from 1620. It is quite different from the present one (missing, for example, the opening glissandos), but it is clearly related to it. (Return)

6 滕六吟 Teng Liu Yin (Intonation of Teng Liu, deity of snow)
18466.2 Teng Liu 滕六﹕雪神名。見古書《幽怪錄》。 This version of Wang Ji survives only in 太音傳習 Taiyin Chuanxi (1551) and Taiyin Buyi (1557), where it is used as a prelude to Bai Xue (White Snow). An old story book called Youguai Lu (9411.59xx uncanny, spooky) tells of a deer who knows a notorious hunter is after him, so he prays to the diety of snow. The next day there is heavy wind and snow so the hunter does not come out. (Return)

7 盡善吟 Jin Shan Yin (Intonation of the Perfectly Good)
23556.36 盡善 jin shan refers to .37 盡善盡美 (perfectly beautiful and perfectly good), quoting Lun Yu, 八佾 Bayi/25 (D. C. Lau, p. 27). In that passage Confucius uses these terms to describe the Shao music of Emperor Shun. This version of Wang Ji survives only in Qinpu Zhengchuan (1561), where it is used as a prelude to Xiaoshao Jiucheng Fenghuang Laiyi. (Return)

8 2270.xxx 劉志方 Liu Zhifang, from 天台 Tian Tai, near the coast about 150 km southeast of Hangzhou, is discussed in Xu Jian p.89: 郭楚望; 楊瓚; 紫霞洞譜十三卷; 毛敏仲; 吳江吟. Xu Jian gives as reference a 胡長孺，紫外譜琴序. (Return)

9 See further information on this in Shen Qi Mi Pu: A General Introduction. (Return)

10 Mine is included in my Shen Qi Mi Pu recordings. There are at least seven recordings available of the modern version. (Return)

11 For the original text see 忘機. (Return)

12 For the original titles see 忘機. (Return)