The introduction to Mei Shao Yue in Xilutang Qintong compares the beauty of the melody to the beauty of a line in Lin Bu's poem Small Plum Tree in my Mountain Garden.⁶ Sections 2 and 8 (of 10) have titles quoting the poem. The poem also serves as lyrics for a melody called Plum Blossoms, surviving in several Japanese handbooks.⁷ There are several published translations; the one by Red Pine is as follows,⁸

Chinese have long prized plum trees and their blossoms. They symbolize winter because blossoms can appear even while there is still snow on the ground; and purity because of these white blossoms. One of the most famous guqin melodies is Meihua Sannong (Three Repetitions of the Tune Plum Blossom.)

Original Afterword ⁹

The Fleeing Immortal (Lin Bu) built a cottage on Orphan Mountain (in Hangzhou's West Lake). At night he intoned as he leaned out his small window and saw the moon struggling to get free of the clouds. As a result we have this melody. It has beautiful sounds, like the phrases "scattered shadows" and "subtle scent" (from Lin Bu's poem).

 
Music
10 Sections, two titled¹⁰

00.00 1.
00.51   2. Scattered shadows, subtle scent
01.23   3.
02.04   4.
02.51   5.
03.30   6.
03.54   7.
04.31   8. Falling lightly on clear water
05.22   9.
05.55 10.
06.35     closing harmonics
06.48     end (playing time: just under 7 minutes)

 
Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1. Meishao Yue References
15223.xxx; 4/1048 梅梢 "above the plum tree" quotes three poems, of which the first two mention the moon:

2. For more on 商調 shang mode see Shenpin Shang Yi. See also Modality in Early Ming Qin Tablature
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3. The Poet Lin Bu Wandering in the Moonlight
This painting, by 杜堇 Du Jin (), is #1954.583 in Cleveland Museum of Art. Other paintings on this theme, and thus of particular relevance to this melody include:

1. Honolulu Academy of Arts, 馬遠 Ma Yuan (active 1190-1230), A Gentleman in his Garden.
   Comments on the painting suggest that "perhaps it is Lin Bu looking at the plum trees".
2. Shanghai Museum, 杜堇 Du Jin, 梅下橫琴圖 Playing the Qin Underneath a Plum Tree.

See also the Berkeley Museum of Art, Ma Yuan, Plum Tree and Ducks by a Stream

Plum trees and plum blossoms are a common theme or motif in traditional Chinese painting. One of the most famous qin melodies is called Three repetitions of "Plum Blossom".
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4. Zha Guide 19/184/--
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5. Lin Bu (967-1028)
14856.234 "林逋 From Qiantang (Hangzhou), literary name 君復 Junfu (no mention of a hao or of 逋仙 Bu Xian, lit., 'fleeing immortal', using the 'bu' of 'Lin Bu', meaning 'flee'). In tranquility loving ancient things, he did not seek fame or fortune, instead becoming a recluse on West Lake's 孤山 Gu Shan (Orphan Mountain). For 20 years he remained there without needing to go into the city. He was skilled at calligraphy and painting, and expert with his poetry." Translations of Lin Bu's poems are included in several anthologies.
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6. It was included in what was perhaps the most famous early anthology of poetry since the Book of Songs and the Songs of Chu, the 千家詩 Poems of 1,000 Masters, a collection of 224 poems by about 100 masters of the Tang and Song dynasties.
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7. This Japanese Mei Hua has no musical relation to Meihua Sannong. See ca. 1676 (QQJC XII/199) and 1709 (QQJC XII/258).
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8. Original lyrics of 山園小梅 Shan Yuan Xiao Mei, by Lin Bu
The translation above was included with permission. See Red Pine (trans.), Poems of the Masters; Port Townsend, Copper Canyon Press, 2003, p.453. The original poem is on p.452, as follows,

9. The original Chinese text for the preface is not yet online.
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10. Section timings follow my recording. (Return)

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