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Luqi Xinsheng
New Sounds of Green Silk 1		 綠綺新聲
1597
"Mr. Nanshan"
Lu Qi was the name of a famous qin; "new sounds" suggests that all the melodies here are new arrangements or, as with numbers 10, 12 and 13, new compositions. The five modal preludes and eight titled melodies, all with lyrics,2 are said to represent the tradition of the qin master Xu Shiqi.3 The contents were reproduced 14 years later in a book called Qin Shi (Qin Pleasures).4

The three new compositions are all repeated in Qin Shi (1611), but nowhere else.5

Table of Contents (with the opening lyrics of each melody):

  1. 宮意 Gong Yi (p. 9)
    "惠風膏雨沐花天，紫陌青門...."

  2. 商意 Shang Yi (p. 10)
    "秋風秋風秋風清，鴻雁來也...."

  3. 角意 Jiao Yi (p. 10)
    "東風吹拂輕揚，化日初長...."

  4. 徵意 Zhi Yi (p. 11)
    "綠綺高柳咽新蟬，南熏調入冰弦...."

  5. 羽意 Yu Yi (p. 11)
    "忘機泛泛水中鷗，海翁把釣常為偶...."

  6. 思賢操 Si Xian Cao (p. 12)
    "大哉顏回，得道大哉顏回...."
    Guide 15/155/310 思賢操 Si Xian Cao lists 23 titles, but also related are 13/140/243 (Ya Sheng Cao), 19/181/370 (Yi Yan Hui) and 29/226/431 (Fusheng Cao). Earliest is the     Ya Sheng Cao of 1511.

  7. 客窗夜話 Ke Chuang Yehua (p. 14)
    "羈情旅思，想那故國他鄉...."
    Guide 14/153/286; melody and lyrics related to     1511 and elsewhere

  8. 梅花三弄 Meihua Sannong (p. 18)
    "溪之灣，山之坳，滄浪月晚...."
    Guide 4/37/50; melody and lyrics are its own adaptation of those found elsewhere (from     1425)

  9. 猿鶴雙清 Yuan He Shuang Qing (p. 25)
    "猿鶴本非同氣，今為表裏...."
    Guide 14/151/268; melody and lyrics related to     1511 (Shuang Qing Zhuan) and elsewhere

  10. 胡笳十八拍 Hujia Shibapai (p. 31)
    "我生之初尚無為...."
    Guide 8/77/119 includes it with Da Hujia, but the melody and lyrics here are unrelated to those of earlier Hu Jia melodies; lyrics are those traditionally attributed to Cai Wenji herself.

  11. 欸乃歌 Ao Ai Ge (p. 38)
    "家註吳楚大江頭...."
    Guide 21/190/376; lyrics and melody are related to those of at least five melodies called Yu Ge (11/117/200), including the     earliest (<1491).

  12. 陌上桑 Moshang Sang (Mulberry Lane; p. 45)
    "日出東南隅...."
    Anonymous YFSJ lyrics (p. 410); Guide 28/222/428: only here, 1611 (identical) and 1618 (unrelated music and lyrics)

  13. 四思歌 Si Si Ge (Song of Four Laments; p. 47)
    "一思曰﹕我所思兮在太山...."
    Guide 28/--/430: only here and 1611; the lyrics are the poem Si Chou Shi by Zhang Heng.
 
Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1 綠綺新聲 Luqi Xinsheng
Luqi Xinsheng contains music as played by Xu Shiqi. QQJC, VII reproduces the handbook from a copy now in the Beijing Library. The handbook was included in 夷門廣牘 Yimen Guangdu (5977.42: 158 folios in 21 categories), compiled by 周履靖 Zhou Lüjing (Bio/1552: from 嘉興 Jiaxing in Zhejiang). Zhou was apparently a friend of Xu Shiqi: at the beginning of each of the three folios in Luqi Xinsheng is the comment that the writing was by Xu Shiqi (Zhongnanshan), while revisions were made by 梅墟周履靖 Zhou Lüjing (Meixu: 15223.xxx; Zhou also compiled a book called 梅墟雜皋 Meixu Zagao) and 夢溪吳學周 Wu Xuezhou (Mengxi: place or nickname). (Return)

2 The new pieces, 10, 12 and 13, all use famous poems for their lyrics. (Return)

3 徐時琪 Xu Shiqi (Bio/xxx)
Luqi Xinsheng begins with a picture of a man called 南山先生 Mr. Nanshan. However, within the book Xu Shiqi is also referred to as 終南山 Zhongnanshan. There is a Zhongnan Mountain in Shaanxi province, but the modern preface to his book (QQJC VII, p. 1) suggests that Zhongnanshan might be intended to convey the meaning "completing Nanshan". Nanshan was the name of a famous Ming dynasty qin player, Xu Nanshan of Shaoxing. Xu Nanshan also applied lyrics to music. Unfortunately, the book itself has no information on Xu Shiqi. Perhaps there is something in the rest of Zhou Lüjing's 夷門廣牘 Yimen Guangdu? On this see the footnote above. (Return)

4 琴適 Qin Shi (Qin Pleasures; QQJC, VIII; 1611)
Qin Pleasures is the first section of a book whose full title is Four Leisure Time Pleasures (燕閒四適 Yanxian Si Shi). The four pleasures are in fact the Four Arts of the Chinese scholar: qin, chess, books and painting; QQJC, VIII/pp.3-5 has a complete table of contents. The whole book was edited by the Fujian scholar 孫丕顯 Sun Pixian (Bio/xxx). It apparently consists only of materials copied from other sources. The qin section begins with a variety of essays; it then copies the tablature in Luqi Xinsheng, adding at the end sketches of hand positions and fingerings, plus pictures of qins. Within the tablature section itself Qin Shi copies Luqi Xinsheng almost exactly, to the extent that when the earlier book has a mistake the latter one has the same mistake. There are, however, a few differences between the two. For example, Qin Shi omits any mention of Xu Shiqi, not to mention Zhou Lüjing and Wu Xuezhou. It pairs the lyrics to the melody as in Luqi Xinsheng, but it also puts the lyrics of each section at the front of that section. And the author of Si Si Ge is identified as Zhang Heng instead of Zhang Ping. (Return)

5 The lyrics for two of these new compositions, numbers 10 and 12, are all also in 1618, but with different music. (Return)

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