Ping Sha Luoyan

The first four surviving published versions are all called Yan Luo Pingsha. In 1634 it is a relatively unornamented melody in five sections. It is said to be in jiao mode, but for most of the melody the tonal center is the open 2nd or 7th string (la), giving it more the characteristic a yu mode melody. Several sections end on do, as does the whole melody. This is something not uncommon in early melodies. The complex modal nature of the piece perhaps also explains the different modal attributions in early versions.

Xu Jian writes about Pingsha Luoyan in his Qinshi Chubian, 7.A.. He discusses possible connections with Chen Zi'ang, Mao Minzhong, Tian Zhiweng and Zhu Quan (see Qiu Hong).

There are indeed several related surviving references to descending geese in earlier qin handbooks as section titles. The earliest is Settling on the Distant Sandbank (Yuan Luo Pingsha),⁷ the title of Section 15 of the 1425 version of Wild Geese in Autumn (Qiu Hong). Perhaps for this reason Wuzhizhai Qinpu (1722) wrote that Pingsha Luoyan was composed by Zhu Quan himself. Yuan Luo Pingsha is also the title of Section 10 of Geese Fly over Hengyang (Yan Guo Hengyang). However, neither of these two pieces seems to have any melodic connection to the piece entitled Pingsha Luo Yan.

Zhixinzhai Qinxue Lianyao (1739) is the earliest handbook with multiple versions; it has five. Each uses a different tuning, but all start with the same motif. The first, using lowered third string tuning, is attributed to the famous Song dynasty qin player Mao Minzhong, but the afterword does not explain the connection. Perhaps it is a reference to the common story that at the fall of the Song dynsty Mao went into self-imposed exile (like a goose), refusing to serve the Yuan conquerors.

Nevertheless, there seem to be no apparent melodic connections between Pingsha Luo Yan and any of the earlier melodies that concern geese. Quite likely the melody arose some time towards the end of the Ming dynasty and had achieved a variety of forms before it was written down.

Original preface:⁸

None here. The earliest one, in 1670, attributes the melody to Chen Zi'ang.

Music
Five sections (untitled) plus coda

Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1. Pingsha Luo Yan 平沙落雁 (IX/313)
9371.138 平沙落雁 first says it is one of the Eight Views of Xiao and Xiang, then identifies it as a qin melody of unkown origin that can be played on other instruments. Its earliest reference is to 高士奇，蓮山密記 an essay by the Qing dynasty writer Gao Shiqi. (As for 雁落平沙 42894.113 has only 雁落.)
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2. Jiao mode (角調 jiao diao)
Standard tuning 5 6 1 2 3 5 6 in some other modes is considered as 1 2 4 5 6 1 2. For further information on jiao mode see Shenpin Jiao Yi and Modality in Early Ming Qin Tablature.
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3. Kuian Qinpu illustration (QQJC XI/61)
To the right of the illustration is a name and seal saying 黃仕 Huang Shi (Mr. Huang; Wu Zhao's preface gives no further identification. Compare the illustration for Yan Guo Hengyang.
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4. See Alfreda Murck, The Subtle Art of Dissent, especially p. 74ff.
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5. Tracing Ping Sha Luo Yan
According to Zha's guide 32/245/477 the first five occurrences of the melody are:

1634; 5 sections; jiao yin; no commentary (IX/313)
1647; 5; zhi yin; no commentary (X/178)
1660; 6; yu yin; illustration but no commentary; omits most of the common opening harmonics (XI/61)
1670; 8; shang diao; attrib. Chen Zi'ang (XI/346)
1673; 4; zhiyu diao; no commentary; first to be called Pingsha Luo Yan (X/426)

This chronological listing of publication is not necessarily a chronological listing of the appearance of hand copied versions of the tablature, not to mention of the actual melodies themselves. For example, the 1647 and 1670 tablatures use the old style of indicating fingering (see next footnote) while the other three all use the new decimal style. See also the comment on 1673, particularly the fact that it contains the repertoire of Xu Hong, who died in 1650; one should thus consider the possibility that this version is as old as any or all of the previously published ones.
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6. Earliest published version: Guyin Zhengzong (QQJC, Vol. IX, p. 313)
No sources suggest Zhu Changfang, the Prince of Lu, composed this himself. However, because of his various qin activities one must consider this possibility. See, however, the previous footnote.

Note also that Guyin Zhengzong is the earliest surviving handbook to use the new decimal system to indicate finger positions. However, it is not consistent in applying this. A number of mistakes and inconsistencies in the present tablature suggest the piece perhaps was originally written in the old system, then transferred to the new. For example, the position 7.6 is sometimes written in the old manner 7 8, i.e., between 7 and 8, and sometimes written 7 ½; but 7 8 is also sometimes used for the position 7.9, which in the old system was written as 8.
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7. 遠落平沙 Yuan Luo Pingsha. 1549 has Scattering while settling on the sandbank (散落平沙 San Luo Pingsha).
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8. NFI
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