Song Yu was a well-known poet in the state of Chu during the third century BCE. He is commonly said to be a nephew of Qu Yuan, but no reliable biographical information is available. Several poems in the Chu Ci are attributed to him. The set called Jiu Bian begins as follows (Hawkes' translation⁵),

In his preface David Hawkes says Jiu Bian begins as a

As the original preface to the qin melody makes clear, it follows the same ideas as the Chu Ci.

Laments on autumn were to become a common theme in Chinese poetry.⁶

 
Original afterword ⁷

1. Sad is the autumn air (I.02)
2. I have left home and traveled far (II.03)
3. I only lament the chills of autumn (III.02)
4. Heaven's flooding brings autumn rain (IV.17)
5. Phoenixes soar high in the sky (V.10)
6. Frost, dew and grief mix as they descend together (VI.01)
7. In old age I am alone and homeless (VIII.16)
8. I fear the fields have become full of weeds (X.10)
   (harmonics) I let my wandering soul soar into the clouds (XI.02)

 
Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1. Song Yu Mourns Autumn (宋玉悲秋 Song Yu Bei Qiu)
7230.63 has only 宋玉 Song Yu, with details about him. The bei in the title might also be translated as "gets emotional about" - for this understanding of 悲 bei see also under Mozi Bei Ge as well as an article by Ronald Egan showing that bei can refer not just to the common meaning of sadness, but to the emotion one is feeling when something is so beautiful it brings tears to the eyes.
(Return)

2. Qiliang Mode (涼調 Qiliang Diao)
For qiliang tuning, from standard tuning raise the 2nd and 5th strings. Further details are discussed under Shenpin Qiliang Yi.
(Return)

3. Tracing Song Yu Bei Qiu
Zha Guide 22/196/-- lists it in seven handbooks, but the latter six are unrelated melodies using standard tuning; the present melody can be found only here in 1549.

Standard Tuning Song Yu Bei Qiu
Zha Guide 22/196/-- presents the six standard tuning melodies with this title these together with the one from 1549 using qiliang tuning, but these are musically unrelated. Listed separately is a zhi mode melody called Bei Qiu which is related to the standard tuning Song Yu Bei Qiu, but comes earlier, having been published in 1634 (IX/329) and 1677 (XII/424). The former says it is "又曰秋閨 also called Qiu Gui (but no relation to Qiu Gui Yuan), the latter says 鄭正叔譜 the tablature was written by Zheng Zhengpu. Otherwise there is no commentary with these two or with the six standard tuning Song Yu Bei Qiu, which were published from 1689 (XIV/265) to 1876.
(Return)

4. Nine Changes (九辨 Jiu Bian)
This poem from Chu Ci is translated as Nine Changes by David Hawkes (see Songs of the South, pp.207-219). Hawkes says Nine Arguments or Nine Disputes might seem a better translation; he chose Nine Changes as a title "borrowed from legend; and in the legend Jiu Bian has the sense of musical changes or 'modes'." Another translation is Nine Apologies (see Xu Yuanzhong, Poetry of the South; Changsha, Hunan Publishing Co., 1992). The original did not have sections indicated. Hawkes divides it into eleven, "following mainly the rhymes, the sense and my own intuition". Other editions may break it into nine or ten sections.
(Return)

5. David Hawkes, Songs of the South, Penguin, p.209.
(Return)

6. For another qin setting of an autumn lament see Qiusheng Fu.
(Return)

7. Original afterword
"楚宋玉負才放志，不協於時，感秋氣而有悲哉之嘆。後人因被之於徽軫。"
(Return)

8. Original section titles
Not yet online, but see the Bai Yunli illustrations as well as the footnote below.
(Return)

9. Aligning the section titles with Song Yu's poem
The poem/line reference numbers used here are based on the Penguin translation Songs of the South by David Hawkes. The illustrations by 白雲立 Bai Yunli are based on a set of nine by the scholar artist 門應兆 Men Yingzhao (active during 1736-1795). Men's illustrations were originally published in 欽定補繪蕭雲從離騷全圖 Qinting Bu hui Xiao Yuncong Li Sao Quantu, The Imperially Ordered Complete Illustrations of Li Sao Supplementing the Sketches by Xiao Yuncong. Re-published in 1935 in the Shanghai edition of 四庫全書 Siku Quanshu, it has nine illustrations by Xiao Yuncong (1596-1673) of 九歌 Jiu Ge, 54 of 天問 Tian Wen, plus one combining 卜居 Bu Ju and 漁父 Yu Fu. The supplementary illustrations, by Men Yingzhao are 32 of 離騷 Li Sao, nine of 九章 Jiu Zhang, five of 遠遊 Yuan You, 13 of 招魂 Zhao Hun, seven of 大招 Da Zhao and nine of 九辨 Jiu Bian.

The original Chinese lines selected as titles are:

1. 悲哉秋之為氣也 (I.02)
2. 去鄉離家兮徠遠客 (II.03)
3. 竊獨悲此廩秋 (III.02)
4. 皇天淫溢而秋霖 (IV.17)
5. 鳳愈飄翔而高舉 (V.10)
6. 霜露慘悽而交下 (VI.01)
7. 老嵺廓而無處 (VIII.16)
8. 恐田野之蕪穢 (X.10)
   (泛音) 放遊志乎雲中 (XI.02)
   (Return)

Return to