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46. Melody of Longshuo -- the North
- Huangzhong mode:2 1 3 5 6 1 2 3 ) Old name Zhaojun Yuan (Zhaojun's Lament) |
龍朔操
1
Longshuo Cao 昭君出塞圖 Zhaojun entering the desert 3 |
Longshuo Cao, along with Zhaojun Yuan and Zhaojun Chu Sai, was a popular qin melody title from the Tang though the Ming dynasties.4 It concerns a very famous Chinese story of which Zhu Quan gives only the bare bones.5 Wang Zhaojun was the most beautiful of several hundred women selected by minister and court painter Mao Yanshou for the seraglio of Emperor Han Yuan Di (r. 48 - 32 BC). However, the emperor had so many concubines he never saw many of them in person, only portraits by Mao Yanshou. Because she refused to bribe Mao he disfigured her portrait and Zhaojun was sent to live in the Cold Palace, where she never met the sovereign. Eventually, however, she was selected as wife by a Central Asian Xiongnu prince. Only then did the Emperor see her and learn the truth. He fell immediately in love and had Mao executed, but it he couldn't cancel the marriage as he needed the alliance with the Xiongnu. Like Cai Wenji, who two centuries later was married to a Turkic prince (see Xiao Hujia and Da Hujia), Zhaojun raised a family on the steppes; but unlike Wenji, who eventually returned to China, Zhaojun died in the foreign land.
The popularity of this theme is underscored by the variety of titles under which it appears. For qin melodies these include
In addition, there were a number of other earlier (lost) and later qin melodies along this theme.11
As for melodies outside the qin repertoire (including drama), many of these and other titles can also be found.12
As for versions with lyrics, the one dated <1491 has the same melody as here but newly created lyrics throughout;13 similar lyrics are paired to the version published in 1530. On the other hand, the version dated 1511 has a related melody written to fit completely different lyrics: from the Yuefu Shiji, attributed to seven different people.14 And the version dated 1549 has lyrics for only one section.15
The huangzhong tuning apparently lost favor during the Ming dynasty. In addition, the melody generally avoids using the 1st string, making it rather comparable with ruibin mode. This probably explains why at the end of the 16th century the tuning for Huangyun Qiusai changed to ruibin, though the melody changed little. However, this melody is not to be found in handbooks after 1618.
Besides my own, there are also recordings by Chen Changlin and Cheng Gongliang of their own reconstructions from SQMP .
Original Preface16
The Emaciated Immortal says,
as for this piece, during the reign of Han Yuandi the Han dynasty was becoming strong. The Khan of the Xiongnu, fearing an attack (from Han), came in person for an audience with the Emperor, saying he would willingly become a son-in-law to help protect the border regions; so the Emperor presented him with Zhaojun. Although Zhaojun was the most beautiful woman (in the palace), she had not yet earned the rank of Han Palace Concubine. So she was betrothed to this nomad who stank of goats and fish. Upon this she hid her face and cried great tears. She restrained her despondency at going north, and endured the shame of fragrant and stinking flowers mixed together, and the lament of water and charcoal in the same stove. Her contemporaries sighed at beauty having such an evil fate. Thus a song for strings was written to give form to the grief.
(00.00) 1. Feeling despondent at having to depart from her lord,
rubbing her heart and sighing deeply;
(00.49) 2. Hiding tears at having to leave the palace,
and travel far from the Han Imperial City;
(01.31) 3. Married for friendly alliance with ugly nomads,
and thus protecting the Han Imperial House;
(02.24) 4. At leaving, tears fall from her eyes,
and no words can describe the grief;
(03.23) 5. Traveling a distance of 10,000 li,
the atmosphere is layered in darkness;
(04.06) 6. At night the nomad reed pipe (is heard),
bringing insurmountable grief;
(05.04) 7. Ming Fei (a nickname) sobs in agony,
while all the nomads sing. (Music same as 2, but "slow").
(05.49) 8. Every day facing the smell of fish and goats,
her sadness fills the border regions.
-- play the harmonics of this mode
-- Piece ends
Return to top
Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a
separate page)
1.
Longshuo Cao references
49812.295 has only 龍朔 ([dragon] north). See also Zha's Guide 7/73/113 and Xu Jian's Outline History, pp. 64-69.
(Return)
2. For Huangzhong or Wuyi mode, slacken 1st, tighten 5th strings each a half step. For more details on this mode see Shenpin Wuyi Yi. For more on modes in general see Modality in Early Ming Qin Tablature. (Return)
3.
Qiu Ying: Zhaojun entering the desert 仇英﹕昭君出塞圖
I found this image on several websites, but have not been able to find out where the original is. Another interesting depiction of this scene is 明妃出塞圖 Lady Mingfei Leaving the Country (excerpt), attributed to "宮素然 Gong Suran" (perhaps a female Daoist of the Jin dynasty, 1115 - 1234), in the 日本大阪市立美術館 Osaka Municipal Museum of Art.
(Return)
4.
Tracing Wang Zhaojun melodies
Zha's Guide separately lists Longshuo Cao (7/73/113) and Zhaojun Chu Sai (16/167/365); see Appendix below for further details. See another footnote below for pre-Ming listings. To sum up: qin melodies on this theme are very ancient, probably pre-Tang dynasty, and versions of the present melody survives in 15 handbooks from 1425 to 1618 under various titles. A different melody using these titles then survives in 11 handbooks from 1686 to 1910. The various titles are discussed in the footnotes below.
(Return)
5.
Wang Zhaojun story
Zhaojun is sometimes also separated into Zhao Jun. Her original name was Wang Qiang 王牆, also written 王檣 and 王嬙. Other characters in the story include the painter 毛延壽 Mao Yanshou and her Xiongnu prince husband, 呼韓邪 Hu Hanxie. A listing of sources for more information on the story and history behind it can be found in the Wikipedia entry.
(Return)
6.
Zhaojun Yuan 昭君怨
14172.41 昭君怨; 古樂府名；琴曲歌辭名；詞牌名
(Return)
7.
Zhaojun Yin 昭君引
14172.xxx
(Return)
8.
Zhaojun Chu Sai 昭君出塞
14172.39 昭君出塞，劇曲名，明陳與郊撰 opera name, by (Ming) Chen Yujiao
(Return)
9.
Mingfei Qu 明妃曲
14124.147-9 明妃曲；樂府名；if 明妃怨，樂府，琴曲歌辭名。
(Return)
10.
龍翔操 Longxiang Cao
49812.393 only 龍翔 Longxiang (dragon soaring; place name). Longxiang Cao is generally the title of the melody in the modern repertoire on the Zhaojun theme. In handbooks dated 1557,
1585 and
1618, Longxiang Cao had been used as the title (or alternate title) of the melody in wuyi tuning originally called
Longshuo Cao and Zhaojun Yuan. However, in 1689 (XIV/316) a new melody called Zhaojun Yuan was published using shangjiao mode (standard tuning). After this the old melody in wuyi tuning was no longer published, and in Ziyuantang Qinpu (1802) the new melody was given the title Longxiang Cao. This new melody appears in about 10 handbooks since 1689, after 1802 generally called Longxiang Cao, though there is often a note saying "also called Zhaojun Yuan".
There are recordings of Longxiang Cao by Gong Yi, Guan Pinghu, Li Fengyun, Liu Chuhua, Liu Shaochun, Zhang Ziqian and others. (Return)
11. The melody titles on the Wang Zhaojun theme in the pre-Ming melody lists examined here include:
12. See for example Han Gong Qiu (Yuan) (18531.161 漢宮秋[怨]), a Yuan qu apparently on this theme. A play of this title by 馬致遠 Ma Zhiyuan (ca. 1250 - ca. 1323) is translated in Liu Jung-En, Six Yuan Plays, Penguin Classics, 1972. The title also commonly refers to the story of another palace concubine, Ban Jieyu, who complains of rarely seeing the emperor (see 秋扇吟 Qiushan Yin, a poem and an alternate title of Han Gong Qiu). (Return)
13. The <1491 lyrics begin, 含恨出宮闈，撫心傷悲.... (Return)
14. The seven are 王嬙 Wang Zhaojun herself; 梁王叔英妻劉氏 Wang Shuying's wife nee Liu; 陳後王 the last ruler of the Chen dynasty; 白居易 Bai Juyi; ，張祐 Zhang Hu; 梁氏瓊 Liang Shiqiong; and 楊凌 Yang Ling. YFSJ also has other poems on this theme; for example, Folio 29 (pp.424-435) has a 王明君 Wang Mingjun and 王昭君 Wang Zhaojun with lyrics by a number of poets. (Return)
15. The version of Zhaojun Yuan in Xilutang Qintong (1549; III/232) is quite similar to that of Shen Qi Mi Pu for the first six sections. However, Section 7, which in SQMP repeats Section 2, is in XLTQT a rather plain new melody in harmonics accompanied by the lyrics below.
After this the closing in XLTQT (second half of Section 8, then Section 9) is rather similar to Section 8 of SQMP
(Return)
16. For the original Chinese preface see 龍朔操. (Return)
17. For the original Chinese subtitles see 龍朔操. (Return)
Return to the top
Abbreviations: QQJC: 琴曲集成 Qinqu Jicheng;
QF: 琴府 Qin Fu;
T (Section titles): 小標題; L (Lyrics): 歌詞
Appendix: Chart Tracing 龍朔操 Longshuo Cao
Also: 龍翔操 Longxiang Cao / 昭君怨 Zhaojun Yuan /
昭君出塞 Zhaojun Chu Sai
Based mainly on Zha Fuxi's Guide,
7/73/113 and 16/167/365 (Zhaojun Chu Sai)
LSC: Longshuo Cao; LXC: Longxiang Cao;
ZJY: Zhaojun Yuan; ZZCS: Zhaojun Chu Sai.
|
琴譜 Qin Handbook
(year; QQJC Vol/page) |
曲名
Title |
段數目
Sections |
解說詞
Further comments |
|
1. 神奇秘譜
(1425; I/147) |
LSC
|
8T
|
Huangzhong Diao (HZD); "old name Zhaojun Yuan"
|
|
2. 浙音釋字琴譜
(<1491; I/227) |
LSC
|
8TL
|
HZD; same as 1425
|
|
3. 謝琳太古遺音
(1511; I/280) |
ZJY
|
13L
|
HZD; sections are not numbered but the lyrics make the divisions clear (6 + 6 + 1)
|
|
4. 發明琴譜
(1530; I/341) |
ZJY
|
8L
|
HZD
|
|
5. 風宣玄品
(1539; II/350) |
ZJCS
|
7
|
HZD
|
|
6. 梧岡琴譜
(1546; I/426) |
ZJY
|
8
|
HZD
|
|
7. 琴譜正傳
(1561; II/462) |
ZJY
|
8
|
Identical to 1546
|
|
8. 西麓堂琴統
(1549; III/232) |
ZJY
|
9T
|
Yingzhong Diao, = HZD; "also called Mingfei Qu"
|
|
9. 步虛僊琴譜
(1556; #50) |
ZJY
|
8
|
Tuning not indicated; = 1425?
Not in QQJC III |
|
10. 太音傳習
(1553-62; IV/151) |
LSC
|
8+1
|
HZD; ToC lists title as ZJY
|
|
11. 太音補遺
(1557; III/383) |
LSC
|
8
|
HZD; ToC lists title as Longxiang Cao
|
|
12. 新刊正文對音捷要
(1573; --) |
ZJY
|
8T
|
Same as 1585?
|
|
13. 重修真傳琴譜
(1585; IV/483) |
ZJY
|
8TL
|
HZD; lyrics = 1530
|
|
14. 琴書大全
(1590; V/520) |
ZJYin
|
8
|
HZD; see also p.258ff for further commentary
|
|
15. 文會堂琴譜
(1596; VI/258) |
ZJY
|
4L
|
Ruibin tuning, but avoids first string and is still related to the above
|
|
33. 陽春堂琴經/譜
(1611; VII/466) |
ZJY
|
4L
|
Ruibin: see previous
|
|
17. 理性元雅
(1618; VIII/251) |
ZJY
|
8L
|
HZD: rel. to 1425; "also called Longxiang Cao", but Zhaojun story
|
|
18. 澄鑒堂琴譜
(1689; XIV/316) |
ZJY
|
10
|
Completely new melody; 商角音 shangjiao yin: standard tuning
|
|
19. 存古堂琴譜
(1726; ?) |
ZJY
|
10
|
商角音
|
|
20. 琴香堂琴譜
(1760; XVII/155) |
ZJY
|
10
|
商角音; quite like modern
|
|
21. 自遠堂琴譜
(1802; XVII/357) |
LXC
|
10
|
Same as 1689 but name changed and 宮調徵音 gong diao zhi yin
Guan Pinghu recorded this version |
|
22. 鄰鶴齋琴譜
(1830; ?) |
LSC
|
9
|
No further info but seems to be standard tuning
|
|
23. 行有恒堂錄存琴譜
(1840) |
ZJY
|
9
|
Standard tuning
|
|
24. 蕉庵琴譜
(1868/facsimile) |
LXC
|
10
|
徵音; "also called ZJY"
Liu Chuhua recording |
|
25. 天聞閣琴譜
(1876/copy) |
LXC
|
10
|
" = 1802"
|
|
26. 希韶閣琴譜
(1878) |
LXC
|
10
|
徵意
|
|
27. 枯木禪琴譜
(1893/facsimile) |
LXC
|
10
|
徵意; "also called ZJY"
|
|
28.a. 雅齋琴譜叢集
(?) |
ZZY
|
8
|
商角音; "based on 青箱齋本 "
|
|
28.a. 雅齋琴譜叢集
(?) |
LXC
|
11
|
no mode indication; "based on 益州譜"
|
Return to the top, to the Shen Qi Mi Pu ToC, or to the Guqin ToC.