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Buxuxian Qinpu
Qin Handbook of the Strolling-in-Emptiness Immortal 1		 步虛僊琴譜
ca. 1556

Preface
by Zha Fuxi2
from Qinqu Jicheng, Vol. 3
Beijing, Zhonghua Shuju Chuban Faxing,3 1982

(This handbook), in the collection of the Music Research Department of the Art Research Institute,4 is a Ming print; an incomplete edition with only Folios Five and Six, altogether 15 pieces. (The complete edition has 53 pieces, none with lyrics.5)

According what is recorded in Yuguzhai Kao Cunqinpu, 6 this book was compiled in 1556 by Gu Yijiang,7 the whole book having nine folios. The Catalogue of the Naikaku Bunko (Library of the Cabinet) in Japan records the same information.8

 
Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1 16621.81 步虛人 a Daoist. .82-.84 have other Daoist terms. (Return)

2 查阜西 Zha Fuxi, edited by 吳鉊 Wu Zhao (Return)

3 北京，中華書局出版發行 (Return)

4 文化部藝術研究院音樂研究所; still there? (Return)

5 The National Libary in Taiwan has a complete edition. See its Table of Contents. (Return)

6 Yuguzhai Qinpu is dated 1855. Are they the same? (Return)

7 Gu Yijiang 顧挹江
I have not found any biographical references for Gu, whose name means "Mr. Gu Who-bails-out-the-river". From the prefaces it seems that he was in the Jiangnan area, between Nanjing and Suzhou. (Return)

8 R. H. Van Gulik, Lore of the Chinese Lute (Tokyo, Tuttle, 1940), "Chinese Literature on the Lute," p. 184, lists a Buxutang Qinpu, also compiled by Gu Yijiang in nine folios. It also has prefaces and an afterword by the same four people who wrote prefaces for the edition in Taiwan. They are:

  1. 孫承恩 Sun Cheng'en (dated 1551; Bio/789: 1485 - 1565, from 松江 Songjiang, between Suzhou and Shanghai;
     noted calligrapher and painter; see also 明詩綜 Mingshizong, ch.74),
  2. 王挺 Wang Ting (undated; prob. not Bio/111: end of Ming, early Qing)
  3. 陳中州，號亢愓子 Chen Zhongzhou, nickname Kangtizi (1559; Bio/1365, from 青田 Qingtian, upriver from Wenzhou in S.E. Zhejiang)
  4. 王應侲 Wang Yingzhen (afterword; undated?; Bio/xxx but VG says Mingshizong, ch.51).

Van Gulik adds,

"This handbook, too (previous entry is Shen Qi Mi Pu), is a fine specimen of Ming printing. Though rare, it is sometimes found in Chinese catalogues. Its contents are remarkable because of their originality: a great number of well-known tunes are given, but all were revised by the compiler, who considerably improved (sic.) their musical value. The book bears an outspoken Taoist character."

In contrast to this, the other handbooks published around this time all seem to be copying earlier editions. See the comparative chart. (Return)

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