Huangzhong, the Yellow Bell, is the first the Twelve Tones. In other Ming dynasty handbooks Yellow Bell Mode is usually the name used for the tuning 1 3 5 6 1 2 3 (slacken 1st string, tighten 5th; see in Shen Qi Mi Pu, where pieces in this tuning are grouped under Wuyi mode: Shenpin Wuyi Yi). It is also used for 1 2 3 5 6 1 2 (lower the 3rd string, see Huangzhong Yi, #99 in Xilutang Qintong). The reason it is used here for a melody in standard tuning is not clear.

It is also not clear why the mode wuyi (also the name of the 10th bell) is associated with huangzhong, but this may have some relevance here, as wuyi is associated with the ninth month (see chart), and the lyrics for this melody are a poem called Ninth Month.

Although the author or title of the lyrics here are not identified, they are virtually identical to the poem Ninth Month by Li He, one of his 13 Songs of the Twelve Months. The poems are included in Yuefu Shiji Chapter 82.⁴

Further commentary not yet available.

 
Original preface 5

None.

 
Music 6
One Section with lyrics throughout. The setting follows the syllabic structure ([7+7] x 4) of the lyrics

 
Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1. Huangzhong Diao 黃鐘調
48904.1330 xx
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2. Tuning and Mode
Shenpin Wuyi Yi has comment on huangzhong and wuyi modes, but the melody here uses standard tuning and the main tonal center is do, secondarily so, mostly pentatonic but with a few added fa and flatted ti.
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3. Image
No appropriate image yet found.
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4. 九月 Ninth Month by 李賀 Li He
Yuefu Shiji, Chapter 82, calls the set 十二月樂辭十三首 13 Songs of the 12 Months, adding that the full title was 河南府試十二月樂辭並閏月 13 Songs of the Twelve Months plus the Intercalary Month (Poems Written for the Henan Provincial Examinations). The differences in the present version are noted below. (Return)

5. Original lyrics
The lyrics in Chinese are as follows:

Here is the poem by Li He as found in YFSJ:

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