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Art Illustrating Guqin Melodies Listen to my recording 聽錄音
Illustration for Zui Yu Chang Wan
(A Drunken Fisherman Sings in the Evening)
Painting by 金蔚 Jin Wei 1 		醉漁唱晚圖
 
In Front of Xisai Mountain 西塞山前      

The preface to this melody in Xilutang Qintong (1525) says it has a flavor as good as (that of Zhang Zhihe's famous 8th century poem which includes the lines) "In front of Xisai Mountain...peach blossoms flow in the water." The inscription on the painting quotes the entire poem,

In front of Xisai Mountain the white seagulls fly,
Peach blossoms flow in the water and the mandarin perch are fat.
In a blue bamboo hat and a green straw coat,
With slanting winds and fine rain, there is no need to return (to public office).

 

 

 
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Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1. 金蔚 Jin Wei
Jin Wei painted In Front of Xisai Mountain in June, 2001. We met just after he had heard me play; at the time he said he played very little. I told him about my interest in the connection between the themes of qin melodies and those of traditional paintings, mentioning this melody and its accompanying poem in particular. He gave me the painting the next time we met, saying he now planned to focus more on playing qin himself.

Jin Wei is also an excellent qin player. He has made at least one silk string qin recording, 響山集 Xiang Shan Ji. His qin school in Beijing, called 樂只堂琴館 Le Zhi Tang Qin Guan, has silk string qins there for use or to buy. Its location is Times International building in Chaoyang district 朝陽區曙光西里甲6號, 時間國際C座202室
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