Moshang Sang

The qin song Mulberry Lane (Moshang Sang) tells of a beautiful young woman named Luofu (Lofu)⁴ proudly rejecting the advances of a local official, at the same time boasting of the virtues of her own husband. These anonymous lyrics, said to date from the Han dynasty,⁵ identify Luofu only as a woman of the Qin clan; however, various commentaries have added that she lived in the Warring States kingdom of Zhao, specifically its capital city Handan,⁶ now in southern Henan province.

The lyrics were included in several early collections including Yutai Xinyong⁷ and Yuefu Shiji;⁸ there are several existing translations. As a qin melody it survives in only three handbooks: the present one (1597), an identical one dated 1611 and an unrelated one dated 1618.⁹

The original lyrics inspired a large number of later re-writings; many of these are included in Yuefu Shiji. Summing up the importance of this story, Joseph Roe Allen, III, wrote,¹⁰

The story of Lo-fu occupies a central position in the triad of pre-Tang poetic heroines,¹¹ women who are not merely the objects of male attention and the projection of male desires, but who have an identity and a story of their own. They are not only feminine, but also feminist: not simply lyrical objects, but also narrative protagonists.

Allen's article also mentions the association of the mulberry tree with female sexual or erotic behaviour in pre-Qin dynasty literature, and discusses how in later versions of the poem conservative Confucian influences play down or deny this association; they have Luofu, who is perhaps not even outdoors, act more demurely towards the suitor.

Yuefu Shiji introduces this poem with several commentaries.¹² The one from Gujin Zhu seems to concern either an expanded version of the story told in the poem, or a related but somewhat different story. There Luofu, who is married to a nobleman, is approached by the King of Zhao. To reject his advances the girl plays this melody on her zheng zither (elsewhere said to be a melody for se). On the other hand, some modern commentary suggests that in these lyrics Luofu is just using a standard formula in responding light-heardedly to flirtation, and is perhaps making it up when she says that, although she is just a teenager, her husband is a powerful man in his 40s.¹³

A similar or perhaps related story concerning a man named Qiuhu is connected to a melody called Qiuhu Xing.¹⁴

Original Preface
None¹⁵

Melody and Lyrics ¹⁶
Arranged into seven sections; the music is set to these lyrics according to the traditional pairing method for qin songs. Translation is from Anne Birrell.

陌上桑 (Moshang Sang) Mulberry Lane

（第一段）
日出東南隅，照我秦氏樓， Sunrise at the southeast corner shines on our Qin clan house.
秦氏有好女，自名為羅敷。 The Qin clan has a fair daughter, she is called Luofu.
羅敷喜蠶桑，采桑城南隅。 Luofu is good at silkworm mulberry, she picks mulberry at the wall's south corner.
青絲為籠系，桂枝為籠鉤。 Green silk is her basket strap, cassia her basket and pole.
頭上倭墮髻，耳中明月珠。 On her head a twisting-fall hairdo, at her ears bright moon pearls.
（第二段）
緗綺為下裙，紫綺為上襦。 Green silk is her lower skirt, purple silk is her upper shirt.
行者見羅敷，下擔捋鬍鬚， Passersby see Luofu, drop their load, stroke their beard.
少年見羅敷，脫帽著帩頭。 Young men see Luofu, take off caps, put on headbands.
耕者忘其耕，鋤者忘其鋤。 The ploughman forgets his plough, the hoer forgets his hoe.
來歸相怨怒，但坐觀羅敷。 They come home cross and happy - all from seeing Luofu.
（第三段）
使君從南來，五馬立踟躕。 A prefect from the south is here, his five horses stand pawing the ground.
使君遣吏往，問是誰家姝？ The prefect sends his servant forward to ask, "Whose is the pretty girl?"
秦氏有好女，自名為羅敷。 "The Qin clan has a fair daughter, her name is Luofu."
羅敷年幾何？二十尚不足， "Luofu, how old is she?" - "Not yet quite twenty,
十五頗有餘。 a bit more than fifteen."
（第四段）
使君謝羅敷，寧可共載不？ The prefect invites Luofu, "Wouldn't you like a ride with me?"
羅敷前置辭，使君一何愚。 Luofu steps forward and refuses: "You are so silly, Prefect!
使君自有婦，羅婦自有夫。 You have your own wife, Prefect, Luofu has her own husband!
（第五段：泛音） (This section is in harmonics)
東方千餘騎，夫婿居上頭。 In the east more than a thousand horsemen, my husband is in the lead.
何用識夫婿，白馬從驪駒。 How would you recognize my husband? His white horse follows black colts,
（第六段）
青絲系馬尾，黃金絡馬頭， green silk plaits his horse's tail. Yellow gold braids his horse's head.
腰中鹿盧劍，可值千萬餘。 At his waist a lulu dagger - worth more than ten million cash.
十五府小史，二十朝大夫， 'At fifteen he was a country clerk, at twenty a court official,
三十侍中郎，四十專城居。 at thirty a chancellor, at forty lord of his own city.'
（第七段）
為人洁白皙，鬑鬑頗有鬚。 As a man he has a pure white complexion, bushy whiskers on both cheeks.
盈盈公府步，冉冉府中趨。 Majestic he steps into his office, dignified he strides to the courtroom,
坐中數千人，皆言夫婿殊。 where several thousand in audience all say my husband has no rival!"
（尾聲：泛音） (Coda: played in harmonics)
坐中數千人，皆言夫婿殊。 where several thousand in audience all say my husband has no rival!"

Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1. Mulberry Lane (陌上桑 Moshang Sang) references
See further below, especially under Yuefu Shiji. There are translations and extensive commentary with:

Joseph Roe Allen, III, "From Saint to Singing Girl: The Rewriting of the Lo-Fu Narrative in Chinese Literati Poetry." Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, 48.2 (1988), 321 - 361.
Anne Birrell, Yutai Xinyong (Jade Terrace, pp. 40 - 2), available online
Jui-Long Su, Shi Poetry: Music Bureau Poems (Yue Fu), in Zong-Qi Cai (ed.), How to Read Chinese Poetry; New York: Columbia Uniuversity Press, 2008, pp. 97-100

The latter says this is "the most anthologized and the best known yuefu poem among Chinese readers".
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2. Shang mode (商調 shang diao)
For more on shang mode see Shenpin Shang Yi.
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3. Statue of Luofu at Handan
Copied from internet. I am not sure of its exact location in Handan.
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4. 羅敷 Luofu
Sources such as those quoted in Yuefu Shiji say she was a woman of the 秦氏 Qin clan living in 邯鄲 Handan (see next), then capital of 趙 Zhao.
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5. Origin of the lyrics
Allen, who refers to the present lyrics as "the model poem" for all the later versions, says (p. 324) the lyrics "may date from as early as the time of Emperor Wu of the Han (reign 141-87 B.C.). Later (pp. 330-331) he says that in their surviving form they had doubtlessly been "subjected to conservative revisions by a literate hand, but in form and content the Han poem still remains sympathetic to the popular tradition."
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6. Handan 邯鄲
Handan (Wiki) is said to have been the capital city of the state of Zhao (趙, Wiki) during the Warring States period. On the northwest side of the modern city, now in southernmost Hebei province, there is a 古石龍景區 Old Stone Dragon Scenic Area, perhaps the area from which several related online photos have been taken (they say only "石龍景區 Stone Dragon Scenic Area"), including a stone engraving of a Luofu poem, a covered walkway, a pond and a recently erected statue. The city also claims connections to Lu Dongbin and Lin Xiangru.
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7. Luofu in Yutai Xinyong
The poem is at the beginning of Yutai Xinyong, where it is the first of six 古樂府詩 Old Yuefu Poems; it is sometimes called Sunrise at the Southeast Corner (from the opening line). Anne Birrell's translation, Penguin edition pp. 40-42 and also available online, is copied below. On p.358 Birrell gives further biographical details of Luofu ("Ch'in Lofu"), adding that Luofu is also mentioned in passing in one other Yutai Xinyong poem (see p. 64).
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8. Luofu in Yuefu Shiji
YFSJ Folio 28 has the lyrics used here in the first of its 43 poems on this theme (p. 410); see further below.
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9. Tracing 陌上桑 Moshang Sang
Zha, Guide 28/222/428 lists three settings of Moshang Sang. These are:

1597: the earliest known setting (lyrics as in YFSJ 410-1); VII/45
1611: identical melody and lyrics; VIII/53
1618: QQJC VIII/292; unrelated music (3 sections) and lyrics (in, respectively, 9, 7 and 8 couplets of 5+5); VIII/292
- the introduction is short: 是曲余擬古樂作。然詞婉拒嚴，聽白茅可息厭矣.
"This melody I created in imitation of the old Yuefu. As for the lyrics, they...." (? come from somewhere else).
- the lyrics begin 高樓阿誰女，長子氏為秦。小字喚羅敷，閫閣佩蘭紉....; I have not been able to trace them.
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10. Significance of the Luofu story
On p. 327 of his essay, Joseph Allen cites an article by Jean-Pierre Diény that traces the association of the mulberry tree with female sexual or erotic behaviour in pre-Qin dynasty literature. Allen also connects these poems with the story of the Chaste Wife of Qiu Hu, which he translates (pp. 347-8) from Lienü Zhuan; in that story the suitor is in fact the girl's husband, who left right after their wedding and on his return years later, not recognizing her, tries to seduce her.
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11. "Triad of pre-Tang poetic heroines"
This triad consists of Luofu, Cai Wenji, and 蘭芝 Lan-zhi. Lanzhi's mother-in-law sends her home; she commits suicide when her parents try to force her to remarry, at which point her husband Jiao Zhongqing commits suicide. This is recounted in the poem 孔雀東南飛 Kongque Dongnan Fei (no known qin connection; translated online as "A Pair of Peacocks Southeast Fly", and in Birrell, p. 63ff, as An old poem written for Chiao Chung-ch'ing's wife, with a preface).
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12. Moshang Sang in Yuefu Shiji
YFSJ, Folio 28, pp. 410 - 423, has commentary from four sources, then 43 poems on the story of Luofu, but only the first one, said to be an anonymous Han dynasty ballad, is set for qin (see footnote above).

The YFSJ commentary (pp. 410) quotes:

Gujin Yuelu
Says Moshang Sang was a 歌瑟調 Melody for Singing with Se zither.
Cui Bao, Gujin Zhu
"Moshang Sang is a poem by a woman of the Qin family. The Qin family of Handan had a daughter called Luofu who was the wife of a noble of that area by the name of 王仁 Wang Ren. Wang Ren later was made household manager for the 趙王 King of Zhao. Luofu went out to pick mulberry leaves along the lane. The King of Zhao, having climbed a tower, saw her there and was very much taken by her. After he had been drinking he had a desire to seize her. Luofu then plucked her zheng and composed the song Moshang Sang in order to explain herself to him." (This translation is slightly revised from Allen, Lo-Fu Narrative, p. 326 fn. As Allen points out, this must refer to a different version of the poem.)
Yuefu Jieti
Gives a short outline of the theme.
Guo Maoqian himself?
Points out that there are different versions of the story, mentioning in particular the poems called 採桑 Cai Sang.

After this are the 43 poems:

11 poems called 陌上桑 Moshang Sang (the 1st, set for qin, 7th and 9th are translated in in Allen, pp. 325, 355 and 355/6)
14 poems called 採桑 Cai Sang (Picking Mulberries; the 4th, 10th and 12th are translated in Allen, pp. 337, 334f and 354)
2 poems called 豔歌行 Yan Ge Xing (Love Song; the first, by Fu Xuan, is translated in Allen, p. 327f)
3 poems called 羅敷行 Luofu Xing (Luofu's Song; the 2nd 7th and 11th are translated in Allen, pp. 335, 339 and 338)
13 poems called 日出東南隅行 Ri Chu Dongnan Yu Xing (Sunrise in the Southeast Corner).

The poems do not all mention Luofu by name.
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13. Further Commentary on Luofu
Varying interpretations are discussed in Jui-Long Su, pp. 97-100.
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14. Qiuhu Rambles (秋胡行 Qiuhu Xing)
Qiuhu Xing (25505.194) is a 樂府，相和歌 Yue Fu Matching Song. It does not survive as a qin melody, but as a title it can be seen in several old qin melody lists, including in QYYL, QSDQ Folio 12 and Folio 13 (#43), plus perhaps TYDQJ. These are all named for Qiuhu, a man who is sent away shortly after his marriage to 潔婦 Jiefu (sometimes confused with Luofu). When he returns he sees Jiefu picking mulberries by the street. Not recognizing her as his wife, he tries to seduce her.
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15. Commentary on the qin melody Moshang Sang
The only commentary accompanying tablature is that with 1618, which has an unrelated melody and different lyrics (see above). After this the Zha Guide 222-3 adds further commentary from elsewhere (古今注，樂府古題要解，通志，通考); this is somewhat different from that in YFSJ, p. 410.
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16. Original Chinese lyrics of Moshang Sang
In YFSJ these lyrics run together. It seems to be only in Luqi Xinsheng that they have been arranged into seven sections, as above. The sectioning is somewhat puzzling. In particular the first line of Section 2 seems to belong better at the end of Section 1. And Sections 5 to 7, in which Luofu sings of her husband, could easily be combined into one section.

The translation here, by Anne Birrell from her Yutai Xinyong [Jade Terrace], pp. 40 - 2, was copied from an online source).

At the end of the version in YFSJ is the statement that 友一曲，魏、晉樂所奏 these lyrics were played according to music of Wei and Jin.
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Return to the annotated handbook list or to the Guqin ToC.