Ci lyrics are generally named after the original song. A well known example are the eight-line ci said to be "to the tune Endless Longing" (Chang Xiang Si³). These generally have the syllabic pattern 3,3.7.5 repeated once. Apparently Chang Xiang Si was originally a song, but long after the melody was lost the lyrics and therefore the syllabic structure remained.

If for each syllable the original melody had one note of equal length (or a known length), this structure could give some clue about the rhythms of the original melody. In fact, though, there is no evidence to prove that this was the case.

Pairing lyrics and music

Ming dynasty tablature pairs lyrics with qin melodies following a formula that in a way finesses the issue of rhythm: instead of aligning the lyrics to a note pattern, the qin tablature aligns them to the stroke indications within the tablature. Perhaps this is just a coincidence rather than intentional, but since qin tablature does not indicate rhythm, this pairing method finesses the issue of rhythm.

The system worked more or less as follows (there were inconsistencies). For pre-existing lyrics, qin tablature applied one right hand stroke for each Chinese character. Left hand plucks generally were also assigned a character, but here the method was not used systematically. For example, characters may or may not be applied to left hand slides.⁴ And there was much inconsistency in determining what was considered as a left hand pluck.⁵ In certain places or times there may have been rules about this, but at present such rules can not be determined.⁶

This method seems generally to have been followed for all qin songs prior to the modern period. Generally speaking the result is for qin songs to be very word-intensive.

This word to note method was also used in reverse: if tablature for the melody came first, then for each plucked note one character could be applied. Thus the fact that this method could serve to allow people to apply lyrics to melodies that were lost meant that it could also be used for melodies they had never heard: they only had to have copies of the tablature. This may well have been the case for the earliest surviving qin melodies with lyrics, in Zheyin Shizi Qinpu (<1491; see the commentary). Someone experienced in writing ci lyrics could easily adapt its method to the stroke numbers in old qin tablature.

As for actual ci, one might suspect that qin melodies would have been composed following ci patterns. The resulting melodies could then be applied to any poems following that pattern. As yet, however, I have found no evidence to corroborate a belief that this was actually done.

Some qin melodies that have the names of ci patterns (not all of them are songs) are listed below.⁷

1. Feng Ru Song (the surviving ci structure is different)
2. Zui Weng Yin (the surviving ci structure seems the same)

Qin songs with the name of ci patterns seem to have been most common in Japan. Examples include:

1. Qing Ping Yue (also in China, but different melody and lyrics)
2. Langtao Sha
3. Dongfeng Qi Zhuo Li
4. Fenghuang Taishang Yi Chui Xiao
5. Libie Nan
6. Yi Wangsun
7. Chang Xiang Si

1. 詞 ci; contrast with the 辭 ci of 楚辭 Chu Ci (Songs of Chu). Ci patterns are called 詞牌 ci pai. (Return)

2. I know of no published studies on this subject. (Return)

3. 長相思 Chang Xiang Si (42022.324 詞牌名). The surviving qin melody of this name, in Japanese handbooks such as Hewen Zhuyin Qinpu, uses lyrics by 馮延巳 Feng Yansi, subtitled 春閨 Chun Gui, that are in this pattern (3,3,7,5 repeated once). The music of the two verses is different. (Return)

4. Tthere are no right-hand slides. The right hand equivalent of a slide might be a run across several strings, such as in a 袞拂 gunfu. A gunfu could go from the 7th string to the 1st and back, a total of 13 or 14 notes played in rapid succession. These together are generally assigned just one or two (one for gun and one for fu) syllables. (Return)

5. For example, the left hand pluck 對起 dui qi was usually assigned one character, but the <1491 handbook (again see the commentary generally attached to it two meaningless syllables such as 的那 de na. And multiple stroke techniques such as 搯撮三聲 taocuo sansheng could be assigned a widely varying number of characters. (Return)

6. In tablature for the period I have studied, i.e., until the end of Ming dynasty, left hand plucks generally are assigned characters but slides generally are not. However, both of the two surviving examples from before the Song dynasty, Gu Yuan and Huang Ying Yin are syllabic settings, with the former adding characters to slides, and the latter having no slides. (Return)

7. The most convenient way I have found so far of finding other poems that use these ci forms is to go the to McGill/Harvard-Yenching Ming Qing Women's Writings website - I don't know of a comparable site for all writings that include male writers. To do the search, go to the search page, then under Section II "Browse a List" select "Poem Title" and then type in the ci pattern name, e.g., feng ru song (quotation marks are not necessary and it does not seem to be case sensitive, but it seems to be important that each syllable be written as a separate word. (Return)

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