This melody expresses happiness felt by the legendary Emperor Yao when a celestial comes to warn him about the dangers from flooding.⁴ There is then reference here not to Yao's immediate successor Shun, but to Shun's successor, Emperor Yu, famous for solving the problem of the floods. This story of a celestial warning Yao is not in the Shi Ji account of these emperors, but in several other ancient sources.⁵

According to these sources, as quoted in the qin lyrics section of the compilation Yuefu Shiji,⁶ the celestial being appears before Yao while he is conducting a sacrifice.⁷ In one of the sources Yao is said to have been playing a qin, so perhaps it was his playing that brought the celestial, who proceeds to tell Yao of the danger from floods. Yao then composes a song to commemorate this event. He also summons Yu to work in the palace; when the flood eventually comes it is Yu who clears channels and solves other related problems.

Other ancient sources say that whenever a qin piece expresses pleasure it is called a chang.⁸ Yao was happy to have seen the celestial, so he wrote a chang.

In addition to its inclusion in the qin melody section of the Yuefu Shiji, Shenren Chang is found in ancient lists of qin melody titles.⁹ Then later, others such as Xue Jixuan (1134 - 1173) also wrote poems with this title. However, its only surviving occurrence as a qin melody is in Xilutang Qintong (1549). Because Yao's successor Shun is reported to have played a five string qin, this piece ascribed to Yao appropriately uses only the lower five strings.

The afterword in Xilutang Qintong is an abbreviated version of the introductions to Shenren Chang in Yuefu Shiji, quoting the same two sources quoted there.

There are recordings of Shenren Chang by Dai Xiaolian, Ding Chengyun, Ding Yang, Gong Yi (with ensemble), Xu Junyao, and Zeng Chengwei.

Original preface:¹⁰
Adapted from Yuefu Shiji, see footnote.

 
Music
Eight sections (untitled)¹¹

00.00   1.
00.47   2.
01.21   3.
01.55   4.
02.31   5.
03.01   6.
03.31   7.
04.01   8.
04.36   end

 
Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1. Shen Ren Chang 神人暢 (QQJC II/226)
25211.4 Shen Ren Chang says "qin melody name", then quotes Yuefu Shiji; 25211.3 shenren does not add anything relevant.
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2. Linzhong Mode 林鐘調 (and Linzhong Modal Prelude 林鐘意)
For more on Ming dynasty modes see Modality in Early Ming Qin Tablature. However, as a mode title linzhong appears only here in 1549. Linzhong ("forest bell"; 14856.409 林鐘 refers to .381 林鍾, which discusses notes but not a melody) is the 8th of the 12 tones. As with Shenren Chang the main tonal centers are on 6 and 1, shifting to 1 and 5. It has at least two odd modal characteristics. As with Shenren Chang, there are many non-pentatonic tones, with both making important use of 7 (natural). But whereas Shenren Chang frequently and invariably uses 4 sharp, Linzhong Yi only has 4 natural.
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3. Note that TYDQJ has no image of a qin connected to Emperor Yao.
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4. Emperor Yao and his successors
唐堯 Tang Yao (r. 2358 - 2255; see in Wikipedia) is said to have passed over his unworthy son and granted the throne to 虞舜 Yu Shun in 2255 BCE. Shun in turn gave the throne to 大禹 Da Yu (Great Yu). The Shi Ji biographies are translated by Nienhauser in The Grand Scribe's Records, Volume I, p. 6ff. Yu is said to have worked for Yao and his successor Shun for many decades before finally succeeding the latter as first emperor of the Xia dynasty (2205-1766 BCE). For a later event in the life of Yu see the qin melody Yu Hui Tushan.

In Shi Ji, both Annals 1 and 2 (Nienhauser, op. cit., pp. 8 and 21) tell of Yao assembling the 群臣四嶽 "vassals and chiefs of the Four Sacred Mountains" to ask about solving the problem of floods. They recommend 鯀 Gun, who fails; it is Shun who eventually choses Yu.
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5. Such as Gu Jin Yuelu (Old and New Records about Music) and Qin Lun (Qin Essay), mentioned further below. 古今樂錄 Guqin Yuelu (3308.70 書名，一冊。陳，釋智匠選, the name of a book compiled by Shi Zhijiang of the Chen dynasty [557-589]) is apparently lost. 琴論 Qin Lun was by 謝莊 Xie Zhuang (421-466); see Van Gulik, Lore, p.104.
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6. Shenren Chang in Yuefu Shiji
    樂府詩集 Yuefu Shiji (Chinese edition, p. 824) has commentary and lyrics as follows:

Yuefu Shiji then has the lyrics, which it attributes to Tang Yao himself :

These lyrics have the structure 7+7+7+4+7+7+7 (Chinese not yet online); they are not used with the tablature here, and do not fit by the normal pairing method.
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7. No such sacrifice seems to be mentioned in Shi Ji.
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8. See for example 大周正樂 Correct Music of the Great Zhou Dynasty, "Whenever a qin melody is created as an ensemble piece, it is called chang. It speaks of the beauty of its Dao. Chang would never dare express self satisfaction. If it is successful, it helps to share things with others." Part of this is quoted in the biography of Yao in 朱長文，琴史 Zhu Changwen's History of the Qin (古之琴曲和樂而作者命之曰暢). The biography goes on to say that if it is a sad piece it is called a 操 cao.
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9. For example, it is the first entry in the Qin Yuan Yao Lü melody list and in that of Seng Ju Yue (Most Ancient).
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10. Original Chinese text not yet on line.
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11. Section timings are from my recording (listen).
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Return to the annotated handbook list or to the Guqin ToC.