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10. Eighteen Blasts of the Nomad Flute
1
- Fugu Diao mode: 1 3 5 6 1 2 3 3 |
胡笳十八拍2
Hujia Shibapai |
There are a number of qin melodies on the theme of hujia (a term difficult to translate). All retell a version of the story of Cai Wenji abducted by Central Asian nomads. All use the same tuning and are generally played as purely instrumental melodies, and most are attributed to the famous Tang dynasty qin player Dong Tinglan. Today the best known of these seems to be the Hujia Shibapai instrumental melody apparently dating from 1689 and still played.5 However, there are other versions with different melodies, some related, some completely unrelated.
Only one version is clearly designed for singing, the one introduced here. Although called Hujia Shibapai, it is unrelated to any of the purely instrumental melodies of this name. Instead it is a long qin song first published in Luqi Xinsheng (1597).6 This 1597 version, republished in 1611, is sometimes attributed to the 1597 handbook's own author or compiler, Xu Shiqi, but the basis for this is unclear.7 The lyrics, a first person narration, are the ones attributed to Cai Wenji herself.8 Some of the later versions of Hujia Shibapai, although melodically unrelated to the song published in 1597 and 1611, mention or quote these Cai Wenji lyrics.9
The earliest surviving melodies that have in their title the name Hu Jia10 (nomad reed flute) are Xiao Hujia and Da Hujia. My interpretation of these is included in my Shen Qi Mi Pu CD set. One of the publications of Da Hujia had lyrics applied to it, but it is not really a qin song - the melody is the same as that of the 1425 version, with lyrics added for uncertain reasons.11
Although the 1597 Hujia Shibapai is the earliest known version of this story set to lyrics as an actual qin song, it is possible that there were others at that time.12 A number of opera scripts with related titles have survived.13
Although I have not yet heard of a complete performance of this 1597 version, clearly the basic melody has had quite some popularity, presumably through the transcription by Wang Di that was published in 1982.14 Some instrumental versions can be heard online (see further details). In addition, several Chinese friends have been able to sing for me the opening lyrics. However, they do not recall who arranged this version into an opera (or song cycle), or how complete it is.15
Some years ago I wrote out my own transcription of the 1597 version of Hujia Shibapai, but have not worked on it with a singer, so I consider my note values quite tentative.16 I did the transcription without consulting the one by Wang Di in her Qin Ge. Her transcription is said to come from 1611, but that edition is missing the first page; otherwise the tablature seems identical to the present one.
Original Preface
None here
Melody and Lyrics
Eighteen sections; the setting is largely syllabic
17
Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a
separate page)
1.
"18 Songs" vs. "18 Blasts"
The "pai" of "Hujia Shiba Pai" generally means "rhythm" or "beats". For the scroll it is translated as "songs" because there are 18 verses or songs accompanying the scroll. For the melody it is here translated "blasts", suggesting the music of the "nomad flute" (hujia, which might also be translated as "barbarian reed pipe"). Since the present 1589 version has lyrics, perhaps it would be better translated at "18 Songs of the Nomad Flute"; however, the later melodies called Hujia Shiba Pai generally have no lyrics.
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2.
18 Blasts of the Nomad Flute (胡笳十八拍 Hujia Shibapai)
30073.359 胡笳十八拍 tells the basic story then mentions various related poetic and musical texts. This title is more commonly associated with a Qing dynasty instrumental melody of this title.
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3.
Fugu Diao 復古調
For Fugu Diao lower the first string and raise the 5th string each one step. This tuning is also called Wuyi Diao, Huangzhong Diao, and other names.
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4.
As yet there is no available image.
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5.
Hujia Shibapai as played today
See under Da Hujia for information on recordings and transcriptions, for comments as to whether the modern version is reconstructed or handed down, and for speculation as to whether one is more likely today to hear Hujia Shibapai or Da Hujia.
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6.
Luqi Xinsheng has no information about where it was published.
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7.
Attribution of this Hujia to Xu Shiqi
At the beginning of the melody (see VII/31) there is the statement "written by Xu Shiqi", but this is also the first page of Folio 3 of Luqi Xinsheng, and so the attribution should be to the book, not to the melody. On the other hand, according to QSCB,
Chapter 7a4, Xu Shiqi was noted for creating qin melodies with lyrics.
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8.
Source of the Hujia Shibapai lyrics attributed to
Cai Wenji (蔡琰 Cai Yan)
According to Xu Jian, QSCB, Chapter 6b1-2, the first publication of this version of the poem is in the 楚辭後語 Afterword to the Songs of Chu, compiled by Zhu Xi (1130-1200). However, elsewhere it is said that the earliest known publication was in the 12th century Yuefu Shiji, Folio 59, #3 (pp. 860-865), where it is said to be the original, and that it was later imitated by Liu Shang (late 8th c.). However, the Liu Shang poem, also a first person narrative, is known to have had some popularity during the late Tang, so it could well be that the poem attributed to Cai Wenji herself was the imitation. See Idema and Grant, p. 121ff. It is translated there as well as in Chang and Saussy, pp.22-30.
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9.
Tracing the 1597 version of Hujia Shibapai
A chart under Da Hujia traces Hujia Shibapai together with Da Hujia. As mentioned there, it seems likely that the 1597 version survives only in 1597 and 1611. This conclusion is based on analyzing the versions that have Cai Wenji's lyrics, as follows.
Zha's guide has Cai Wenji's lyrics in the following handbooks:
I have not been able to examine all the 19th century handbooks, but based on the above it seems likely that all the melodies there are related to 1722.
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10.
Published qin melodies with Hu Jia in their title
Zha Guide includes only indices for
Da Hujia and
Xiao Hujia. Three other surviving titles are said to be variations of Da Hujia:
Shiba Pai,
Hu Jia and
Hujia Shibapai.
Although these are all said to be variants of Da Hujia, as mentioned above the Hujia Shibapai played today, though somewhat related, is actually quite a different piece; and the version sung to Cai Wenji's lyrics is a completely different melody.
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11.
The Da Hujia set to lyrics in
<1491 uses the same melody as in 1425, and the lyrics seem to be new and not naturally adaptable for singing.
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12.
Other qin songs on the Hujia story?
The Qin Shi Xu biography of Chen Shi says "今琴曲有胡笳十八拍詩所造也 present-day qin melodies include a Hujia Shibapai poem he wrote." There is some further information in Xu Jian's QSCB,
Chapter 7,
Qin Song Composers.
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13.
Traditional operas on the Hujia story
Traditional Chinese concern this story (see LXS) include Wenji Goes to the Desert (文姬入塞 Wenji Ru Sai) and Wenji Returns to Han (文姬歸漢 Wenji Gui Han). A modern opera by Bun-Ching Lam (Wenji: Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute, 2002) is mentioned elsewhere.
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14.
Transcription of Hujia Shibapai by 王迪 Wang Di
Wang Di's interpretation of this melody seems to be quite well-known: in particular I have heard people sing the first section from memory, or recognise it when they hear it. However, when asked they have not been able to say where it came from ("traditional"?), and I have not yet found the earliest performance based on Wang Di's transcription, nor do I know when Wang Di first did her transcription. I have seen three publications that include it:
In these transcriptions Wang Di has consistently changed non-pentatonic notes to make the music pentatonic. According to my study, most of these non-pentatonic notes are mi flats and do sharps. These occur with such consistency that they must have been intentional (see further comments, for example, under Shang mode and Wuyi mode).
The 1982 publication also has Wang Di's transcription of Sections 9 and 10 of the musically unrelated 1722 Hujia Shibapai; that 1722 volume appends Cai Wenji's lyrics after the tablature, so Wang had to pair them to the music according to her own method.
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15.
Opera version of the 1597 score
Perhaps 王迪 Wang Di herself (see above) was involved.
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16.
Transcription by John Thompson
My transcription, written in Encore, is 22 pages of staff notation (four lines to a page), with the original lyrics in Chinese characters, romanization (pinyin) and literal translation to English paired underneath the notes. In addition I hand wrote the original tablature underneath.
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17.
Hujia Shibapai as attributed to Cai Wenji: original lyrics
There are translations in Idema and Grant, p. 121ff; and in Chang and Saussy, pp.22-30. The original lyrics are as follows (compare the lyrics by Liu Shang):
戎羯逼我兮為室家，將我行兮向天涯。
雲山萬重兮歸路遐，疾風千里兮揚塵沙。
人多暴猛兮如虺蛇，控弦被甲兮為驕奢。
兩拍張絃兮絃欲絕，志摧心折兮自悲嗟。
Return to the annotated handbook list or to the Guqin ToC.