Nanxun Ge
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Zheyin ToC   #2 on my CD   /   Five-string qin melodies   /   Song of Southern Winds 聽錄音 Listen to my recording with transcription / 首頁 
02. Song of Southern Breezes
- Zhi mode, standard tuning: 2 1 2 4 5 6 (1 2)
南薰歌 1
Nan Xun Ge  
  Emperor Shun statue in Cangwu 3        
This piece, attributed to the famous filial Emperor Shun (or Yu Shun, said to have lived 2317-2208 BC), uses only strings one to five. This follows on the ancient story, as found in the Records of the Grand Historian and quoted in the preface below, that Emperor Shun played a five string qin.4 According to this tradition, the sixth and seventh strings were added by Wen Wang and Wu Wang.

Many early handbooks have one or two such five-string melodies,5 and at least 19 up to 1840 had one titled either Nan Xun Ge (as here), Nan Feng Ge (Song of Southern Winds) or Nanfeng Chang (Rhapsody of Southern Winds).6 All three titles relate to the same story, but there are several different melodies used.

As for the present melody, for example, it seems to survive in print only here and in 1571, when Longhu Qinpu published it as Nan Xun; the two have almost identical lyrics and closely related melodies.7

Comforting southern breezes are by tradition contrasted with those of the north, which are killing and those of the west, which bring war; those of the east are nourishing. Many poems mention this, including one by the famous Tang poet Wang Wei. The lyrics here quote from some of these.8

 
Zheyin Shizi Qinpu preface9

The Beyond-Sounds Immortal says

as for this melody, it originated with Yu Shun and later people added to it. The Royal Ancestor's Handbook doesn't have this melody. According to what the Records of the Grand Historian says,

"Shun Played a five-string qin, sang a poem of the Southern Breezes, and all under heaven was regulated. "

A poem (Nanfeng Ge in Kongzi Jiayu),10 says,

"Winds from the south are temperate breezes,
They can be used to resolve my people's irritations.
Winds from the south are timely,
They can be used to make abundant my people's wealth."

Ah! This was a great society!

 
Music
Timings follow the recording on
my CD; 聽錄音 listen with my transcription.
Six titled sections, lyrics throughout.11

00.00   1. The southern (breezes) arrive in accord with the natural seasonal rhythm
00.00   2. Refreshing (breezes) come to the palace halls
01.34   3. (Everything on) heaven and earth (enjoys) virtue and grace
02.00   4. The common people can carry on their natural life cycles
02.24   5. Great prosperity resolves indignancies
02.46   6. (Shun) copies the old (style of Yao), making it current in his own day
03.17     Closing harmonics
03.41     End

 
Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1. References for Song of Southern Breezes (南薰歌 Nan Xun Ge; compare 南風 Nan Feng)
Regarding "breezes", 33051. 薰 Xun says "plant name" but then includes all the meanings of 熏 xun: fragrant, envelope in smoke, 風至貌 appearance of wind, warm, etc. Then 33051.20 薰風 says 和風也,一作熏風, quoting 史記,五帝紀 Shi Ji's "南風之薰兮...." If 薰風 is the same as 和風 gentle wind, then 南薰 can be translated as "southern breezes", in contrast to 南風 "southern winds". (南熏 2798.xxx.)

2798.750 南薰 gives no definition for 薰 xun, saying only that Nan Xun is a 詩歌名 poetic song name, then giveng several poetic references. Further details are also given in the introduction to Nanfeng Ge, which quotes lyrics published in 樂府詩集 Yuefu Shiji.)
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2. Tuning and mode
Only the first five strings are used. Standard tuning is also considered as 5 6 1 2 3 (5 6). For information about zhi mode see Shenpin Zhi Yi. For modes in general see Modality in Early Ming Qin Tablature.
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3. Emperor Shun statue in Cangwu
See scenery and closeup.
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4. Nan Feng Ge in Shi Ji
The full original passage connected to Nan Feng Ge, from Chapter 24 (樂書 Music Annals) of the Shi Ji (史記 Records of the Grand Historian), is quoted below. (See also 262.783; neither quote is precisely as here.) Nan Feng Ge in Taigu Yiyin does not have this passage, though an extract is quoted in the Yuefu Shiji introduction to its Nan Feng Ge lyrics. The attitude conveyed by the Shi Ji is that during orderly times people are happy and music is appropriate to them.

Whatever musical sounds originate in the human mind have their corresponding sounds connected to man in the cosmos; (the relationship is) like that of a shadow to its solid form, or an echo to the original sound. Thus in happy times heaven rewards people with wealth, while during bad times heaven gives them calamity. This is natural.

Thus, when Shun played the five string qin and sang the lyrics of Southern Breezes, the world was orderly....(Translation not completed. The rest of this passage constrasts the music of Shun with that of the corrupt 紂辛 Zhou Xin.)

凡音由於人心,天之與人有以相通。如景之象形,響之應聲。故為喜者天報之以福,為惡者天與之以殃。其自然者也。

故舜彈五絃之琴,歌南風之詩,而天下治。紂為朝歌北鄙之音,身死國亡。舜之道何弘也?紂之道何隘也?夫南風之詩者生長之音也,舜樂好之,樂與天地同意,得萬國之驩心,故天下治也。夫朝歌者不時也,北者敗也,鄙者陋也,紂樂好之,與萬國殊心,諸侯不附,百性不親,天下畔之,故身死國亡。

The Shi Ji passage then illustrates this with a story involving Shi Kuang.
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5. Qin melodies using only five strings
There is a list of these here.
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6. Melodies on a southern breeze or wind
The Zha Guide entries are:

These are analyzed in a footnote to Nan Feng Ge. Note that the Chinese does not indicate singular or plural.
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7. Tracing Nanxun Ge (tracing chart)
The Zha Guide 11/113/189 lists four entries entitled 南薰歌 Nan Xun Ge; to this must be added the version from Longhu Qinpu (1571), not included in the Guide. Of these five only <1491 and 1571 are versions of the present melody; the others are all related to the Nan Feng Ge of 1511.

Although the preface in 龍湖琴譜 Longhu Qinpu is shorter, its six titled sections are the same as 1491, its lyrics almost identical and its tablature very close. It was thus most likely either edited from the earlier handbook or the two were taken from a similar source. Longhu Qinpu itself was preserved in Taiwan and so not available to Zha Fuxi when he did his Guide. In order to publish it in his 琴府 Qin Fu Tong Kin-Woon handcopied it from a library there.
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8. Lyrics
See below. I have not yet traced the source of many of these Zheyin Shizi Qinpu lyrics.
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9. Original preface
For the original Chinese text of the preface see 南薰歌.
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10. 孔子家語 Kongzi Jiayu
This is a post-Han collection of stories. The four lines (two doubled lines) of the poem are very similar to the last four lines of the Yuefu Shiji lyrics as found at the end of Nan Feng Ge.
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11. Original section titles and lyrics
The Chinese section titles and lyrics are as follows (punctuation, from Zha Guide, does not always align with my understanding of the musical phrases),

1. 應候南來
濃陰轉綠槐,薰風拂拂,
一味南來。清和遍滿你那天垓,
煩襟於以消滌;
飄飄解溫,於以阜財。
化成你那天下,重名麗,正三台。
葛衣涼,輕透襟懷,贏得好懷開。

2. 涼生殿閣
好風狂,麒麟殿閣生微涼,
天廷引送御爐香,民物都眙蕩,
北窓髙臥,嘆傲你那羲皇。
仁恩溥博,化日舒長,淸微也遍萬方,薦幽涼。
斜穿窓,輕入戶,夢回簷馬的那叮噹。
悠悠君臣,千載際遇際遇,際遇明良。
禮樂振那綱常,百揆共那五典,
皇風淸穆,的那五弦琴一張。

3. 天地仁恩
動皇風,沖沖造化爭奇功。
欣欣草木盡敷榮,仁恩一視同。
四夷比屋,都歸在你那太和中。
南薰一曲,輕調絲桐。

4. 黎民化育
放驩兜,流共工,殛鯀的那竄三猶笛,
成世的那淸朝,
雨順風調。南薰一味飄飄,
三尺的那瑤琴輕調,輕調,輕調。

5. 阜財解慍 (泛音)
南來之風和煦兮,以觧吾民之慍兮。
虞廷噫兮,舜殿噫兮。
南來之風時兮,阜吾民之財兮。

6. 準古歸今
景星慶雲,臣和君唱。
大哉兮,帝堯兮,
民無能名,擬之天蕩蕩。
德洽你那民心,
歸今準古,覆載的那民心相尙,
(泛音)
歸今準古心相尙。
保民如傷,保民如傷,
要知萬古歌謠,聖明天子在上。

As can be seen from comments at the bottom of this .pdf file, copied from Zha Guide [713] 189, the three other handbooks with this title all have lyrics as in the melodically unrelated Nanfeng Ge of 1511. It says, specifically, that the first (dated 1585) are the same as those of the Nanfeng Ge of 1511, while the other two are the same as those in the 1585.
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Appendix: Chart Tracing 南薰歌 Nan Xun Ge
Further comment
above; based mainly on Zha Fuxi's Guide 11/113/189 and 12/125/235.

      琴譜
    (year; QQJC Vol/page)
Further information
(QQJC = 琴曲集成 Qinqu Jicheng; QF = 琴府 Qin Fu)
  1.  浙音釋字琴譜
      (<1491; I/206 [further])
6; 徵 zhi mode; standard tuning but only five strings; preface; section titles; lyrics
 
  2. 龍湖琴譜
      (1571; 琴府/280)
6; 徵 zhi mode; 5 strings; 南薰 Nan Xun. Preface shorter but its six section titles same as in 1491; lyrics almost identical and tablature very close.

     
For other melodies on this theme see under Nan Feng Ge
 

 

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