The title Ba Gong Cao can be found in three handbooks.2. All are settings to music of the same lyrics, which are included in Folio 58, #25 of the Yuefu Shiji.3 All introductions attribute it to the King of Huainan, Liu An4 (ca. 180 - 122 BCE).

Liu An was a grandson of the founder of the Han dynasty, Liu Bang. Huainan was one of the biggest kingdoms, extending south almost to Guangdong from its base in Shouchun on the Huai River in Anhui.5 Liu An was famous as a scholar and for his interest in alchemy, but he also became involved in political activities. According to historical records this led the emperor to condemn Liu An to death, so he committed suicide. According to tradition, he discovered and then ate an elixir of immortality. Tradition also says that, because of his combination of virtue and alchemical skills, the eight dukes descended to his court to assist him; he wrote this song to welcome them.

The Huainanzi, an important source of information on mythology, is by tradition attributed to him, though perhaps it was compiled by scholars at his court.

Liu An also has an entry in Zhu Changwen's Qin Biographies.6 Here it says that Liu An was a good qin player and student, and that the eight dukes were immortals who came to help him. It does not name them, but describes what skill each had. In the end he joined them as an immortal.

Proper names in the poem include Liangfu, a mountain near Tai Shan in Shangdong province;7 Yaoguang, a star in the Big Dipper; the North Star; and the Jade Maiden, a Daoist immortal, said have been one of the Qin emperor's palace ladies, who went to Hua Shan after the fall of that dynasty. Growing wings and feathers means becoming an immortal.

 
Original preface

Translation incomplete; does not give details of the eight dukes.

 
Music and lyrics: One section
Syllabic setting of the following lyrics, in the original8 structured (4+4) x 8.

 
Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1 1475.77 Bagong Cao: qin melody, also called Huainan Cao, quoting Qin Lun (Qin Treatise) and Gu Jin Yuelu (Old and New Music Records). For a translation of the lyrics for Huainan Cao as they appear in the Sou Shen Ji (搜神紀; they are almost identical to those here) see Kenneth J. Dewoskin and J.I.Crump, trans., In Search of the Supernatural: The Written Record, a translation of the Sou-Shen Chi; Stanford, Stanford U. Press, 1995. pp.5-6.
See also 1475.75 ba gong: guests of Huainanzi (it names them, and also has another entry for another eight dukes during the 晉 Jin period several centuries later. These two sets of "ba gong" were in turn supplanted by the ba xian ("eight immortals"), who have been popular from the Song dynasty to the present. And 1475.76 Bagong shan: mountain name. (Return)
2 See Zha Fuxi's index 13/144/250. The second, 1539, is identical; the third, 1585, alters the melody somewhat. The later Ba Gong Hai Tong (八公還童 Eight Dukes still young [?], see 34/256/497) is unrelated. (Return)
3 Yuefu Shiji, pp.851-2, gives Huainan Cao (Huainan Melody) as an alternate title. Otherwise, the preface in Taigu Yiyin simply elaborates on the one there. (Return)
4 淮南王劉安 Huainan Wang Liu An is #65 in Qin Shi. (Return)
5 Shouchun (壽春), today called Shouxian (壽縣), is a few miles west of the modern Huainan city, with Bagong Mountain in between. This was about 200 km southeast of the Liang court, then based in what is today 商丘 Shangqiu in Henan province. Liu An's half-cousin Liu Wu, King Xiao of Liang (梁孝王劉武; r. 168-144), was also known for supporting literary activities. Sima Xiangru (179-117) was at the Liang court until he lost his position upon the death of King Xiao. (Return)
6 See bio #65 in the Qin Shi (琴史) by Zhu Changwen (朱長文 1038-1098) (Return)
7 梁甫 15135.85 mountain; same as 梁父; a mountain in Shandong near Taishan;
   梁甫吟 Liangfu Melody is attributed to the famous general Zhuge Liang (181 - 234). (Return)
8 The Chinese lyrics begin: