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FXXP / ToC / Feng Qiu Huang / More illustrations : #1 and #2

See transcriptions, hear recordings 看五線譜、聽錄音   /   首頁

27. Wenjun Melody - Shang mode:2 standard tuning (5 6 1 2 3 5 6) played as 1 2 4 5 6 1 2 )

文君操 1 Wenjun Cao Seduction at the east wall 3

There are a number of qin settings of these lyrics,

This story can be found in Shi Ji 117, the biography of the famous poet Sima Xiangru (179-113 BCE), from Chengdu in modern Sichuan province. It concerns the then-impoverished poet and Zhuo Wenjun (or Wen Jun), the widowed daughter of Zhuo Wangsun, a wealthy man of Linqiong, a town south of Chengdu.⁶ One day during a social event in the wealthy man's home Xiangru played the qin and sang some lyrics.⁷ Hearing this from the next room, Wenjun fell in love. The two eloped, living for a while in poverty at Sima Xiangru's home in Chengdu, but then returning to Qionglai, where Wenjun felt their relatives might help support them. They then opened a wineshop in Qionglai and ran that until her father finally forgave them and gave them money. They then bought a mansion in Chengdu and lived there until Sima Xiangru was summoned to the capital, Chang'an, where they lived the rest of their lives.⁸ The Shi Ji account seems to suggest they lived happily ever after.⁹

The earliest surviving version of a melody on this theme is the one here in Fengxuan Xianpin (1539). Although it has the title Wenjun Cao, later songs with these lyrics, always attributed to Sima Xiangru, are generally called Feng Qiu Huang (A Male Phoenix Searches for his Mate). Completely unrelated musically is the Feng Qiu Huang found in Xilutang Qintong (1549), which is in 10 sections, two with lyrics also attributed to Sima Xiangru.¹⁰

The next Feng Qiu Huang, in 1585, has a new melody but the same structure and almost the same lyrics as the one published in 1539. Both are different from the version played today in the Mei'an School, which can be traced to one first surviving in Yang Lun's Taigu Yiyin (<1609), where it has the title Wenjun Cao.

The lyrics accompanying the present melody, translated below, can be heard in the opera Story of the Western Wing, by Yuan dynasty dramatist Wang Shifu.¹¹ Here Scholar Zhang uses them to seduce Yingying (see illustration above and comments on Xi Xiang Ji). This story can be traced back to Yingying Zhuan, a Tang dynasty short story by Yuan Zhen (799-831),¹² where it is Yingying playing the qin. She at one stage mentions the Sima Xiangru story, but there are no relevant lyrics. A close approximation of these lyrics occurs in the earliest surviving complete zhugongdiao,¹³ called Xixiang Ji Zhugongdiao, dating from the 12th century. Although these lyrics are also attributed to Sima Xiangru, I don't know of any earlier occurrence than this.

 
Original preface

None

 
Music and Lyrics
Two sections (untitled). The lyrics are as follows,¹⁴

Return to the annotated handbook list or to the Guqin ToC.

 
Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1. 文君操 Wenjun Cao
13766.164 文君 Wen Jun has several people with this name, including Wen Wang as well as 卓文君 Zhuo Wenjun herself; .165 文君新寡 Wenjun Newly Widowed and .166 文君當壚 Wenjun in a Wine Shop give references from the biography of Sima Xiangru in Shi Ji. Seng's list, most ancient section, includes a 文君弄 Wenjun Nong. For surviving qin versions see the chart below.
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2. For further information on shang mode see Shenpin Shang Yi and Modality in Early Ming Qin Tablature. (Further information on the recordings has been moved.)
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3. This illustration of the famous seduction scene from 西廂記 Xi Xiang Ji is from 張國標 Zhang Guobiao, ed., 徽派版畫藝術 Art of Woodcut of the Huizhou School, 安徽省美術出版社 Anhui Publishing House, 1995, p.117 ("西廂五本:崔鶯鶯夜聽琴")
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4. Zha Fuxi's Guide has two entries, 15/161/353 (Wenjun Cao) and 22/196/- (Feng Qiu Huang; the latter includes only the lengthy melody published in 1549. The former has the short melodies called both Wenjun Cao and Feng Qiu Huang. There are some variations in the present lyrics, particularly in the various codas. There are more details in the Appendix
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5. In addition to the use of these lyrics for the opera Xixiang Ji, there are operas that tell the story directly, including oned called Feng Qiu Huang. See LXS.
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6. 卓王孫 Zhuo Wangsun; 臨邛 Linqiong, about 50 km southwest of Chengdu, is today called 邛崍 Qionglai (see more details).
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7. The Shi Ji story says Sima Xiangru "以琴心挑之 used the qin to express his emotions." As a result 琴心 qinxin (lit., "qin heart") has come to mean "express deep emotions on the qin" or perhaps "express profound emotions, as one can best do on the qin". The Shi Ji story does not include any lyrics, of which there are now two completely different versions. There are also many different music settings, but all melodies and lyrics tend to be attributed to Sima Xiangru himself.
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8. Shi Ji adds to the story as given here that when Zhuo Wangsun reconciled with his daughter he gave the couple 100 servants, 1,000,000 in cash plus everything he had already given her for her previous dowry; they then set up very comfortably at a mansion in Chengdu. Later Sima Xiangru was called to Chang An, where he became a palace attendant. His Shi Ji biography also tells of his writing the fu Sir Fantasy, which it includes; his assisting the emperor on matters relating to Shu and Ba (including indigenous nationalities in Sichuan); being dismissed after accusations of accepting bribes, then later reinstated; stuttering and having diabetes; admonishing the emperor on his hunting practices; writing a fu called The Mighty One (included); after after death leaving behind a manuscript dealing with imperial sacrices (also included).
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9. YFSJ p.599 has a White Hair Intonation (白頭吟 Baitou Yin). The story behind it is that when Wenjun's hair was turning gray Sima Xiangru was going to leave Wenjun for a younger woman, but he changed his mind after Wenjun wrote Baitou Yin reminding him of the pledges they had made to each other.
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10. The lyrics of that version can be found in 樂府詩集 Yuefu Shiji, 琴曲歌詞 Qin Song Lyrics, p.881. They begin, "鳳兮鳳兮歸古鄉，遨遊四海求其凰 Feng xi, Feng xi, gui gu xiang, aoyou sihai qiu qi huang... (This male phoenix has returned to his old home, after roaming the four seas looking for a mate...." The lyrics found here can quite likely be traced to a Song dynasty publication, but I haven't seen anything which gives a reasonable expectation of finding an earlier source.
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11. Story of the Western Wing
西廂記 Xixiang Ji, by 王實甫 Wang Shifu. For this passage see page 272 of the translation by West and Idema, The Moon and the Zither, University of California Press, 1991.
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12. 鶯鶯傳 Yingying Zhuan, by 元稹 Yuan Zhen.
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13. 諸宮調 zhugong diao, a type of narrative tale
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14. The original lyrics of Wenjun Cao are as follows:

15. Such lyrics can also be found in the lyrics of other melodies. See see appendix below for variations within the present lyrics.
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Appendix
Chart Tracing 文君操 Wenjun Cao / Feng Qiu Huang

Chinese Title     (date; location)	Commentary, including: # of sections; L=lyrics?, mode (see also Zha guide 15/161/353 and 22/196/--)
1. 風宣玄品     (1539; II.1, p.147)	1 (L, two verses [有美人兮，見之不忘...] + coda [想人生會少離多]); shang (1245612); called 文君操 Wenjun Cao; this melody is found only here (ref. transcription and recordings)
2. 西麓堂琴統     (1549; III.1, p.262)	10 (3 & 8 L); 4561235; this melody only here; it is the only melody using Yuefu Shiji lyrics (鳳兮鳳兮歸古鄉，翱遊四海求其凰...);
3. 重脩真傳琴譜     (1585; IV.3, p.465)	1 (L, two verses as 1539 but no coda; 張 ® 將; 微 ® 衷; omit 得 ) yu mode; 5612356; versions of this melody occur in 1596 and 1618
4. 文會堂琴譜     (1596; VI.3, p.197)	almost same as 1585
5. 真傳正宗琴譜     (1589/1609; VII.2, p.111)	2 (L, two verses (lyrics as 1585) + new coda [琴挑鳳得凰，題橋志氣昂，千古性名揚]); zhi yin (5612356); versions of this melody also in 1802, (other zhi yin?) and 1931
6. 陽春堂琴譜     (1611; VII.4, p.453)	identical to <1609
7. 理性元雅     (1618; VIII.3, p.248)	1 (L, two verses); yu mode; related to 1585
8. 自遠堂琴譜     (1802; XVII.2, p.522)	1 (L, two verses plus coda); zhi mode; related to <1609
9. 峰抱樓琴譜     (1825)	1 (L, two verses); zhi mode
10. 琴學軔端     (1828)	3 (L; standard two verses plus a new one); called 文鳳求凰 Wen Feng Qiu Huang;
11. 張鞠田琴譜     (1844)	? (L); jiao diao, zhi yin; includes gongche pu
12. 希韶閣琴譜     (1878)	? (L?); zhi yin;
13. 雙琴書屋琴譜集成     (1884)	1 (L, two verses);
14. 琴學初津     (1894)	1 (L, two verses plus coda); shang yin;
15. 梅庵琴譜     (1931)	1 (L, two verses); 1 2 3 5 6 1 2, and no coda, but still melodically related to <1609 (open 3rd string played only once)
16. 研易習琴齋琴譜     (1961; III,#3)	1 (L, two verses); like 1931