Lü Shuang Cao

11. Treading in the Frost
- Standard tuning: 5 6 1 2 3 5 6 played as 1 2 4 5 6 1 2

履霜操
Lü Shuang Cao ¹

After the mother of Yin Boqi died, his father Yin Jifu, a poet and leading military official in the service of King Xuan of Zhou² (r. 827-782), remarried. The second wife forced Jifu to send his son away.³ One day as Boqi was wandering in the cold mountains singing about having to tread in the frost the king, out hunting with Yin Jifu, heard him and said that it must be the voice of a filial son. Yin Jifu then wanted to reconcile with his son. Unfortunately the son, having just composed his lyrics, had already jumped into the river and drowned (another version says he had turned into a goatsucker). Because of this Yin Jifu killed his wife.

Taigu Yiyin sets this melody to lyrics by Han Yu (768-824) in the voice of Yin Boqi. Yuefu Shiji, Folio 57, #21 has the Han Yu lyrics, but begins with lyrics attributed to Yin Boqi himself. The Yuefu Shiji entry is as follows.

Qin Cao says,⁴

Lüshuang Cao was written by Yin Jifu's son Boqi. Boqi was faultless. When his stepmother slandered him he fled, gathering 芰荷 caltrops (?) to use as clothing and collecting 楟花 peartree blossoms for food. In the morning frost he was distressed and looking for a way out, so taking his qin and playing it he wrote this lament. When the melody ended, he jumped into the river and died.

The lyrics attributed to Yin Boqi are

履朝霜兮採晨寒，考不明其心兮聽讒言。
孤恩別離兮攜肺肝。何辜皇天兮遭斯愆，
痛歿不同兮恩有便，誰說顧兮知我冤。

The title Lü Shuang Cao is found in ancient sources, such as Cai Yong's Qin Cao.⁵ As a qin melody it survives in six handbooks from 1511 to 1802.⁶ All explanations concern this story, though the details vary.⁷ All are short settings of the lyrics by Han Yu in Yuefu Shiji, except the version in Xilutang Qintong (1549), which has 10 sections and no lyrics.

Original preface (translation not completed)

According to tradition, Lü Shuang Cao was written by Yin Jifu's son. Jifu's son was called Boqi. He was faultless, but his stepmother slandered him with the result that he was forced to leave. "The frost is bitterly cold; its determination so grievous." This is the person referred to in the stanza which goes, "Boqi complied with the order, and this respectful attitude was reported to the king." Later someone saddened by (Yin Boqi's) wretchedness made it into a poem.

Music and Lyrics: One section⁸
The setting is largely syllabic, following the structure of the lyrics ([4+4] x 10)

Father, your son is cold.
Mother, your son is hungry
Your son suffers from being beaten,
what can a son who is driven off do?
Your son resides in the wilderness,
using it for lodging and for dwelling.
All around there are no sounds of other people,
who can your son speak to?
When your son is cold, what can he wear?
When your son is hungry, what can he eat?
As your son travels in the wilderness,
frost is everywhere.
Mothers give birth to all sons,
and mothers feel compassion for them.
Alone without his mother's compassion;
the son would rather not be in misery.

Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1 7979.104 Yue Fu qin song. (Return)

2 周宣王 King Xuan of Zhou (r. 827 - 781)
A biography of the king's wife, Jiang Hou, is included in Lienü Zhuan. (Return)

3 There are other versions of this story. (Return)

4 The version in the Pingjin Guan edition of Qin Cao is much longer. (Return)

5 The Song dynasty's 僧居月 Seng Juyue (monk Ju Yue) listed it among the most ancient melodies. 蔡邕琴操 Cai Yong's Qin Cao does not survive directly. The version in 琴苑要彔 Qinyuan Yaolu (Yuan dynasty, Beijing reprint) tells the same story in different words, then adds the poem attributed to Yin Boqi himself. The one in 琴學叢書 Qinxue Congshu (1910; see Tong Kin-Woon's Qin Fu, pp.742-3) is much longer.(Return)

6 Zha Fuxi's index 13/135/242 has the surviving ones. They are dated 1511, 1539, 1549 (10 sections; see QQJC 3, p.130ff), 1585, 1618 (5 strings) and 1801 (=1585). (Return)

7 The Taigu Yiyin explanation is somewhat different from that in Yuefu Shiji. (Return)

8 The original lyrics are as follows:

父兮兒寒，母兮兒餓。
兒罪當笞，逐兒何為？
兒在中野，以宿以處。
四無人聲，誰與兒語？
兒寒何衣？兒餓何食？
兒行于野，履霜以足。
母生眾兒，有母憐之。
獨無母憐，兒寧不悲。 (Return)

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