For more information also see Modality in Early Ming Qin Tablature.²

As with early shang mode melodies, SQMP melodies in zhi mode use standard tuning with the first string as gong (1, do). But whereas the shang mode melodies have gong as the main note and shang (re; open second string) as the main secondary note (along with 5 [zhi, so]), the zhi mode melodies have zhi (5 [so, open 4th string]) as the main note and shang (2 [re, open 2nd string]) as the secondary note.

Another characteristic shared by the shang and zhi modes is that the third interval up from the main tonal center (main note), while normally a whole-tones third, is sometimes flatted. Since in zhi mode the main note is 5 (so), the flatted note is 7 (ti), thus becoming 7^b.

Because of this the relative tuning of zhi mode melodies in SQMP could also be considered not as 1 2 4 5 6 1 2 but as 4 5 7 1 2 4 5 . This returns the occasionally flatted note to being mi (3).

SQMP has two modal preludes and three melodies in zhi mode

1. Shenpin Zhi Yi
2. Zhi Yi
3. Shan Ju Yin
4. Yu Hui Tushan
5. Qiao Ge

Five of the nine pieces from Zheyin Shizi Qinpu not in SQMP are in zhi mode:

1. Guan Ju,
2. Nanxun Ge,
3. Tiantai Yin,
4. Si Shun, and
5. Shi Xian.

Later Ming melodies grouped within this mode include the following (with earliest date of publication).

1. Hong Fei (1456
2. Chibi Fu (1511 ³)
3. Weibin Yin (1539)
4. Yan Guo Hengyang (1539)
5. Qingyun Ge (1549)
6. Huitong Yin, (1549)
7. Shishang Liu Quan, (1549)
8. Dongting Qiu Si, (1549)
9. Zuiyu Chang Wan, (1549)
10. Jingji Yin (1549)
11. Yu Ge (1549; standard tuning, unrelated to the Yu Ge in ruibin mode)
12. Long Gui Wandong (1549)
13. Shuangye Hong (1549)
14. Feng Bo Yin (1557)
15. Geng Shen Yin (1559)
16. Geng Ge (1559)

Note also that Yu Qiao Wen Da, originally grouped with shang melodies, is later said to be zhi. The later versions do in fact have characteristics of the zhi mode, though this requires considering the 3rd string as 1 do (see further comment).

It appears that a number of melodies in mid-Ming handbooks categorized as in zhi mode diverge from the common pattern of this mode as described above. For example, Nanxun Ge seems to have the open 1st string, played as do, as its main note. Shi Xian seems to fit into the traditional scale system if the tuning is treated not as 1 2 4 5 6 1 2 but as 5 6 1 2 3 5 6 .⁴

On the other hand, if the tuning for Weibin Yin is considered as 1 2 3 5 6 1 2 , with 5 as the main note, it turns out that the third above 5 is always played as 7^b, never changing to the whole-tones third. This makes the open fourth string sound not like 5 or 1, but like 6 (la). This in turn suggests that perhaps the tuning should be treated as 2 3 5 6 7 2 3 . If the tuning is treated in this way, then melody then will be found to have several occurrences of sharped 4, but overall it gives the feeling of a melody primarily in yu mode, but with tonal center sometimes shifting from 6 and 3 to 1 and 5.⁵

 
No original preface⁶

 
One section

(00.45) -- harmonics
(01.04) -- Modal prelude ends

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

 
Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1. 神品徵意; 10483.66 徵歌 quotes Li Bai; .78 徵聲 says 五音中之徵聲; but no mention of a zhidiao. Zhi, elsewhere usually pronounced zheng, has a great many meanings (summon, ask, clear, stop, surname, etc). (Return)

2. See also Qin Tunings, some theoretical concepts. (Return)

3. Taigu Yiyin groups melodies chronologically, not by mode. Determining mode thus comes from direct observation as well as by comparing versions included under modes in later handbooks. (Return)

4. If the tuning of Shi Xian is considered as 2 3 5 6 7 2 3 there are many F sharps in the transcription. (Return)

5. As outlined in a footnote to Weibin Yin, avoiding the most number of accidentals requires considering the tuning to be 5 6 1 2 3 5 6. Here 2 is the main note and 6 the secondary one. However, there are then numerous occurences of 4 (fa). With a similar transposing to 5 6 1 2 3 5 6 , Shi Xian also has 2 as the main note and 6 as the secondary.

Considering this tuning 5 6 1 2 3 5 6 in Western terms as G A C D E G A , one can compare Weibin Yin and Shi Xian as follows. The mode of Weibin Yin seems somewhat akin to a D minor mode (except that the B is usually not flatted), while that of Shi Xian more closely resembles A minor. Both start on the note A. In Weibin Yin it soon becomes apparent that A, as the dominant, is the secondary tonal center while the tonic D is the primary tonal center. In Shi Xian, however, it is clear that A is both the tonic and primary tonal center while the secondary tonal center is the sub-dominant, D. (Return)

6. Although SQMP modal preludes have no prefaces, those in Zheyin (which all have identical music) do. The preface to the zhi modal prelude in Zheyin is as follows,:

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