Li Sao

Li Sao, a famous poem attributed to Qu Yuan (340?-278 BCE),² is also the title of what was one of the most popular qin pieces, found in 39 handbooks through 1946.³ With 18 sections (sometimes more), it is the longest Shen Qi Mi Pu piece to have been so commonly played. The variety of related forms in which it appears emphasizes its prevalence. None of the versions tries to set its words to music, but a number of them have lyrics with references to the poem, and the titles in the Shen Qi Mi Pu version refer in order to lines of the poem.

There are also a number of illustrated editions, perhaps the most complete being the Imperially Ordered Complete Illustrated Li Sao Augmenting Sketches by Xiao Yuncong,⁴ originally printed in the 17th and 18th centuries, later reprinted in the Siku Quanshu. I have a set of 18 illustrations in this style which match the 18 section titles of the Shen Qi Mi Pu melody.⁵

The poem, part of the ancient poetry anthology Chu Ci,⁶ describes a fanciful trip in the sky by a virtuous man slandered by opponents, failed by friends, and disappointed by his sovereign, whom he refers to as Ling Xiu, the Fair One⁷. His adventures include complaining to the mythical emperor Shun,⁸ unsuccessfully wooing the beautiful water spirit Fu Fei,⁹ hesitating to pursue "the beautiful daughter of Song",¹⁰ and consulting two famous shamans, Ling Fen and Wu Xian.¹¹ On the last line he speaks of "joining Peng Xian", usually interpreted as following the example of an upright Shang minister who committed suicide.¹² In real life Qu Yuan apparently drowned himself in the Miluo river, an event still commemorated by the Dragon Boat Festival.

According to Xu Jian,¹³ the earliest surviving record of a qin melody of this theme is the melody Fei Long,¹⁴ Flying Dragon, mentioned in Xi Kang's Qin Fu as a qin melody. He bases this claim on a phrase in Li Sao in which Qu Yuan says he has a flying dragon pulling his chariot.¹⁵ Fei Long is also listed amongst Han dynasty imperial household pieces, ¹⁶ and the phrase occurs in a Han ritual song.¹⁷

Early Tang sources list titles such as Qu Yuan Tan (Sigh of Qu Yuan ¹⁸), then in late Tang the qin player Chen Kangshi created a Li Sao, Nine Sections,¹⁹ based on the original poem. However, the ancient transmission of Li Sao is not sufficiently documented to indicate whether either of the two versions to which Zhu Quan refers is melodically related to Chen's creation.

Later qin melody titles concerning Qu Yuan include Zepan Yin, Qu Yuan, Qu Yuan Wen Du, Diao Qu Yuan (only in 1547), Quzi Tian Wen, and Sao Shou Wen Tian.²⁰

There are recordings of Shen Qi Mi Pu's Li Sao by Guan Pinghu and Wu Wenguang. Mei Yueqiang has recorded the Ziyuantang Qinpu version, and Liang Mingyue has recorded his own composition on this theme.

Original Preface

The Emaciated Immortal says

there are two qin melodies called Li Sao, one of 18 sections written by Qu Yuan himself, and one of 11 sections written by later people in memory of (Qu Yuan).

The Li Sao Jing²¹ says,

Qu Yuan's original given name was Ping. He had the same family name as that of the Chu ruling family, and he served under King Huai of Chu as the Sanlu Dafu, whose duty was to manage the affairs of the Sanlu -- the three (Chu) royal clans, Zhao, Qu and Jing. Qu Yuan organized the records of its members, supervising the good and virtuous ones, so as to set a good example for all national officials. When he entered (the palace) he would examine and discuss policy with the king, and make decisions; when he went out he would inspect the lower rank officials, deal with the nobles, and carry out policies; the king valued Qu as if he were a close relative. Later he was slandered, and the king distanced himself from Qu Yuan, their intimacy declining daily. Qu, troubled and confused, didn't know who was accusing him, so he wrote Li Sao.

For the olden days he portrays the rule of the three emperors Tang (Yao), Yu (Shun) (and Xia Yu); for latter days he portrays the disorders of Jie (last ruler of the Xia), Zhou (last ruler of the Shang), (Lord) Yi and (Strongman) Jiao.²² Qu hoped his sovereign would realize the truth and return to the Correct Way and they could be together again.

At this time the state of Qin sent (their advisor) Zhang Yi on a treacherous mission to trap (King Huai) into having a meeting at Wu Guan. Qu Yuan advised the king not to go, but he didn't listen and set off. As a result he was coerced into submission and died while captive in Qin, (his son) King Xiang coming to power. Again slanderous words were used and Qu Yuan was transferred to Jiangnan.

Qu Yuan also wrote Jiu Ge, Tian Wen, Yuan You, Yu Fu²³ and other such poems, hoping thus to make know his ideals in order to enlighten his sovereign; but in the end he was not understood. He could not bear seeing his own country fall into a dangerous collapse, so he expanded this onto the qin in order to make his pronouncements to heaven and earth.

Music
18 sections (numbers in brackets refer to corresponding lines of poem -- see Hawkes' translation)

(00.00) 01. Preface
(00.42) 02. Ling Jun (Qu Yuan) lays out his family origins (1-8)
(01.42) 03. He points to heaven as a witness (43)
(02.06) 04. (The king) makes a promise, then goes back on his word (45-46)
(02.21) 05. (Qu Yuan) sighs long and sheds tears (77)
(02.40) 06. The Fair One (i.e., the king) is neglectful (85)
(03.02) 07. (Qu Yuan) turns his chariot and stops (thinking of going back) (106-107)
(03.44) 08. N　Xu (Qu Yuan's sister?) admonishes him (129-130)
(04.12) 09. (Qu) goes to Emperor Shun and makes a statement (144)
(04.36) 10. (On his dragon-driven chariot, Qu) rides the wind up to heaven (184)
(05.14) 11. He goes to (the good water spirit) Fu Fei and makes a pledge (221-222)
(05.48) 12. He is unable to decide (whether to visit the beautiful Jian Di) (241)
(06.40) 13. (The shaman) Ling Fen makes his (auspicious) prediction (277)
(07.00) 14. (The shaman) Wu Xian gives his opinion (279 & 285-300)
(07.22) 15. Fine jade ornaments are all hidden (by the common crowd) (301-302)
(07.53) 16. Orchids and irises cannot reveal their fragrance (307)
(08.24) 17. He roams off to get far away (340)
(09.09) 18. He looks down (in sadness) on his native place (366)
(10.07) --- play harmonics of the modal prelude
(10.21) --- Piece ends

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

Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1. 43079.186 離騷 quotes accounts in Shi Ji and Wang Yi's Li Sao Jing (see Zhu Quan's original preface) (Return)

2. #56 Marshbank Melody has further information on Qu Yuan, who was nicknamed 靈均 Ling Jun (see Section 2). (Return)

3. See Zha Guide 9/90/139 (Return)

4. Qinding Buhui Xiao Yuncong Li Sao Quantu 欽定補繪蕭雲從離騷全圖 (Return)

5. By Bai Yunli of Hangzhou. See Scenes illustrating melodies from the Chu Ci. (Return)

6. Translated by David Hawkes as The Songs of the South (Penguin Classics, 1985). Li Sao begins on page 67. (Return)

7. 靈修 or 靈脩 (both Ling Xiu literally, the Farsighted Spirit; see Hawkes, p.84 (Return)

8. See the title to Section 9; on line 144 the poem calls him 重華 Chonghua; it later makes reference both to 蒼梧 Cangwu (l.185) and 九嶷 Jiuyi Mountains (l.282), where Shun is said to have visited and been buried. (Return)

9. 虙妃 Fu Fei; see Hawkes, p.90 (Return)

10. 娀之佚女 Song zhi yi nü (l.236), was 簡狄 Jian Di, ancestress of the Shang kings; also said to have become consort of 高辛 Gao Xin. See Hawkes, p.91 (Return)

11. 靈氛 Ling Fen and 巫咸 Wu Xian; see Hawkes p. 92 (Return)

12. See Hawkes p.84f. Some commentators have said that 彭咸 Peng Xian refers to two shamans, Wu Peng and Wu Xian, so that Qu Yuan (who perhaps was a shaman himself) was intending to join other shamans. (Return)

13. Qinshi Chubian, Chapter 5 (p.72). (Return)

14. 飛龍 Fei Long (Flying Dragon; also 飛龍篇 Fei Long Pian)
44974.274 does not mention the Qin Fu reference (translated in Van Gulik, Hsi K'ang and his Poetical Essay on the Lute, p.110). 274/3 mentions Li Sao (see next footnote), while .279 飛龍篇 Fei Long Pian references YFSJ (Folio 64, p. 926), a poem by Cao Zhi that also suggests riding a dragon as an immortal. See footnotes below regarding this term in qin melody titles. (Return)

15. 為余駕飛龍兮 Flying dragons pulled my chariot
See David Hawke's translation line 337 (Return)

16. Van Gulik, Hsi K'ang, p. 110, says "Fei-lung is mentioned in the Han-shu 漢書 as a tune of the fang-chung-yueh 房中樂, music played in the Imperial seraglio." See also the melody titles Fei Long Pian and Fei Long Yin. (Return)

17. David Knechtges, tr., Rhapsody on the Zither, in Wen Xuan, Vol. 3, p.296, says this "could refer to the Han ritual song in which the phrase 'flying dragon' occurs. See Han Shu 22.1048." Is this reference the same as Van Gulik's in the previous footnote? (Return)

18. 屈原嘆 Qu Yuan Tan (Sigh of Qu Yuan)
7845.xxx; included in You Lan manuscript Melody List (Return)

19. 陳康士，離騷，九拍。 Mentioned in 新唐書，藝文志。See also the biography of Chen Kangshi (called 陳康 Chen Kang) in Qin Shi (琴史) #131 (Folio 4), and the information on Chen Kangshi and his contemporaries in Historical Notes on the Silk-String Zither. (Return)

20. 屈原問渡，吊屈原，屈子天問，搔首問天。 (Return)

21. The full quote is in 43079.186. 離騷經 Li Sao Jing is the title 王逸 Wang Yi gave the poem in his edition of Chu Ci, which is original surviving one, published in the 2nd c. CE. The first paragraph is a direct quote (except for "as if he were a close relative"). The following and penultimate paragraphs paraphrase Wang Yi's commentary. See also Hawkes, p.28ff. (Return)

22. Cf. Hawkes, p.88 concerning 羿 Yi (line 149) and 澆 Jiao (line 153). Yi, a descendent of the famous archer Hou Yi, usurped power from Xiang, a descendent (son?) of Qi, the founder of the Xia dynasty; Yi was in turn murdered by his wife in league with Han Zhuo. Jiao, a son of Han Zhuo, apparently took part, but was later killed in revenge by a son of the murdered ruler. (Return)

23. All included in the Chu Ci. (Return)

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