Cai Shi Wunong (Five Melodies of Mr. Cai) is the name of a famous set of qin melodies from antiquity, attributed to Cai Yong (133-192). Originally the five melodies were said to be as follows:³

1. You Chun (Spring Travel)
2. Lu Shui (Green Water)
3. You Ju (Retired Life)
4. Zuo Chou (Sit in Sadness) and
5. Qiu Si (Autumn Thoughts)

However, in this form it does not survive. The only surviving tablatures are the ones here in Taigu Yiyin, in Fengxuan Xuanpin ⁴ (1539; identical to that in Taigu Yiyin) and in Xingzhuang Taiyin Xupu ⁵ (1559; same music but no lyrics).

Cai Yong was famous as a scholar whose work on ancient texts saved him several times during political crises at the end of the Han dynasty, as a drinker, and as a musician. He not only composed music but made instruments: one of the famous qin stories concerns the jiao wei (burned tail) qin which he is said to have made from wood that made a musical crackling sound while being used in a cooking stove. His Qin Cao is the earliest surviving list of qin melodies, introducing 50 of them by author and background, and he is also credited with having composed Chang Qing (Long Clarity). The story of his daughter's abduction by Central Asian nomads is told with the melody Da Hujia.

Yuefu Shiji, Folio 59, #2, contains a large number of poems on these titles.⁶ The prefaces in Yuefu Shiji quote four sources.

1. Qin Li says, Qin melodies include Caishi Wunong.

2. Qin Ji says, The Wunong are You Chun, Lu Shui, You Ju, Zuo Chou, and Qiu Si; they are in gong mode.

3. Qin Shu (or ?) says, (Cai) Yong was by nature calm and serene, with an elegant fondness for the qin. Shortly after 150 CE he went to Qingxi to visit Mr. Guigu. The mountains where he lived had five melodies....

4. Qin Yi says, The emperor Sui Yangdi (r. 605 - 617) took Xi Kang's Four Melodies and Mr. Cai's Five Melodies and circulated them as Nine Melodies.

5. (Guo Maoqian adds?), Now it seems that recent authors have often used these themes to decree lyrics, and there is no returning to the original meanings. And so forth.

The preface in Taigu Yiyin, like the one in Yuefu Shiji, also mentions only Cai Yong (133-192) in its attributions, and also suggests he composed all five titles. Neither discusses why only three (four in Yuefu Shiji) of the five are included, or the relationship between the lyrics and the music.

 
Original preface

According to Qin Li (Qin History) there is a Cai Shi Wunong written by Cai Yong. The five pieces are You Chun (Spring Travel), Lu Shui (Green Water), You Ju (Retired Life), Zuo Chou (Sit in Sadness) and Qiu Si (Autumn Thoughts). The melodies are in the gong mode. Cai (Yong) elegantly loved the qin. Once when visiting (Mr.) Guigu.... (translation incomplete).

 
Music and lyrics: Five titled sections
A largely syllabic setting, following the structures of the lyrics

 
Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1 The preface, quoting ancient sources, says the melodies are in gong mode, which in the Ming dynasty seems to have the 3rd string as do, but the melody here seems to use the first string as do. (Return)

2 32581.xx; informed about 蔡邕 Cai Yong at 32581.126. (Return)

3 Original listing of the Five Melodies of Mr. Cai (based on Seng Juyue):

1. You Chun (遊春)
2. Lu Shui (淥水)
3. You Ju (幽居)
4. Zuo Chou (坐愁)
5. Qiu Si (秋思)

The Melody List by Seng Juyue also has a lengthy introduction:

4 See Qinqu Jicheng, II. p.94; it is included with gong mode pieces; there is no preface (see also Zha's Guide 13/142/249 (Return)

5 See Qinqu Jicheng, III. p.441; the preface is somewhat different. (Return)

6 Yuefu Shiji Lyrics for Caishi Wunong
Here is a complete list of the poems under this title in Folio 59, #2 of Yuefu Shiji (pp. 855 - 860). From the standard listing Yuefu Shiji skips #4, Zuo Chou; the Caishi Wunong in Taigu Yiyin skips both Zuo Chou and Qiu Si, taking as texts for its five melodies only 1.a., 1.b., 2.a., 2.b. and 3.

 
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