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08. Mid Autumn Moon
- Shang mode,2 standard tuning: 5 6 1 2 3 5 6, but played as 1 2 4 5 6 1 2 |
中秋月
1
Zhongqiu Yue 1 See the enlargement 3 |
This title occurs for the first time in Songxianguan Qinpu (1614), then survives in three other handbooks, dated
1647
(repeated 1692),
1692 and
1722. The versions are all almost identical.
The year's fullest moon occurs at mid-autumn, the 15th day of the 8th lunar month. None of the handbooks has any commentary, so the origin of the melody and its connection with the mid-autumn moon are uncertain.
On the other hand, I can report that at 4 AM on the morning of the mid autumn festival of 2002 I played this melody below one of the fullest moons I have ever seen, on top of one of the peaks of Huang Shan (Yellow Mountain), and the experience was quite magical. The sky was perfectly clear and the night dead quiet except for the occasional soughing of the wind. Each note on the qin was sufficient on its own, so there was no hurry to play the next one.3
More inspiration for this melody comes from several poems by Su Dongpo called Mid-Autumn Moon.4
The melody is largely pentatonic, with fa also occurring in several passages, always after re.
Preface
None
Three sections
(00.00) 1. (harmonics)
(00.29) 2.
(01.15) 3.
(02.18) harmonics
(02.32) end
Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a
separate page)
1. 78.381 zhong qiu: mid-autumn. ZFX index 30/-/-. (Return)
2. For further information on shang mode see Shenpin Shang Yi and Modality in Early Ming Qin Tablature. (Return)
4. See Zha Guide 30/--/--. The handbooks are: (Return)
5. The experience on Huang Shan was a good example of the lesson to be learned from a story originally told in connection with the most famous qin master of antiquity, Bo Ya. (Return)
6. Translated and discussed in Michael A. Fuller, The Road to East Slope; Stanford U. Press, 1990; pp.237-8. In all there are four such poems written in 徐州 Xuzhou during the mid-autumn festivals of 1077 and 1078; several years earlier he also wrote one in 密州 Mizhou (eastern Shandong province).
The poem written in 1077 follows the (7+7) x 2 syllabic pattern of Wang Wei's famous Yang Guan poem originally called Weicheng Tune. My translation of Su Dongpo's poem, as follows, goes word for word:
Sunset's clouds gather together, flowing pure and cool.
The Milky Way, making no sound, circles the Jade Dish (the moon).
This life, this evening: it cannot always be so good.
The bright moon: next year, from what place will I see it?
Return to the annotated handbook list or to the Guqin ToC.