"The Transcendent Venerable One" (Xianweng) is one of the nicknames for the famous Song dynasty recluse Chen Tuan ()³ who is said to have "de Dao", attained the Way. Another name in the song text, Xiyi, refers to a title bestowed on Chen Tuan in 984: Xiyi Xiansheng: Master of the Invisible and Inaudible.⁴ Chen Tuan is often connected with a series of related melodies clearly designed for beginners. These melodies all feature some of the most basic techniques in guqin play. Where they have lyrics these repeat the various names of Chen Tuan, adding that he attained the Way.

Some old handbooks suggest that unless one begins with simple melodies, one will never master the qin. My own teacher told me that the seemingly most simple pieces were the ones that required the greatest art.⁵ Xianweng Cao, one to two minutes long, begins and ends on the same two notes. This naturally allows one to play the melody over and over. Such repetition can be settling. It also allows the player to focus on the subtle tones that can be produced by a silk string qin when played well. This is the essence of qin play.⁶

There is no indication of how Chen Tuan became connected with this melody. His name is first mentioned in connection with the second surviving tablature of a melody called Caoman Yin (Strum Silk Prelude),⁷ published in 1557.⁸ The term Cao Man suggests that this is an essential beginner's melody, and there is a clear melodic relationship between that melody and the ones played today as Xianweng Cao.

Versions of Caoman Yin can be found in many early qin handbooks, under various titles.⁹ The earliest (1552) and some later ones are written in longhand tablature.¹⁰ They are almost always included with the essays at the beginning of the handbooks, rather than with the regular melodies. Perhaps this indicates they were considered only as introductory exercises (or as meditations).

The only old handbooks I have found mentioning Xianweng in the title are Diao Xianweng Ge in Qinxue Lianyao (1739)¹¹ and two versions of Xianweng Cao in Yinyinshi Qinpu (2000).¹² Of these, the one from 1739 seems to be in transition to the new version. The first version from 2000 is quite similar to the one I learned from my teacher, Sun Yü-ch'in, but it is missing two sections; the second one from 2000 contains some phrases from earlier versions.

Sun Yü-ch'in did not sing the lyrics when he taught Xianweng Cao, but I remember seeing them at that time. He did give me some tablature, but always said we should copy him, not look at tablature. The tablature of Xianweng Cao I have from Taiwan has number notation underneath but no lyrics. For my own transcription into staff notation I followed this version quite closely, adding the lyrics from memory, then later checking it with the version in Yinyinshi Qinpu.

Musically the first section of Xianweng Cao has unisons between open strings and strings stopped in the ninth position. The second section begins with unisons between open strings and strings stopped in the 10th position (or position 10.8 in the case of the third string); it ends with a recap of all these positions.

In my own version there is one significant note I change from the written version I found in Taiwan: on the 11th note I slide the thumb from the ninth position up to position 7.9 instead of the written 7.6. As a result, in the first section the melody becomes purely pentatonic (do re mi sol la) with the first string considered as do; the first note, an open seventh string, is re. In the second section the melody remains purely pentatonic if the third string is considered as do; the first note is still the open seventh string, but now it is considered to be la.¹³

Playing and viewing the melody this way gives a sense of how tonal centers can shift, particularly in the qin melodies as found in Ming and earlier tablature. For more on this, Google this site for "qin tunings".

 
Original Preface

None¹⁴

 
Melody and lyrics¹⁵
Two sections, untitled.

1. Xianweng, Xianweng, de Dao Xianweng,
   [De Dao weng, Chen Tuan Xianweng.
   De Dao Xianweng, de Dao Chen Tuan Xianweng].
   Chen Xiyi de Dao dena Xianweng, (Chen Xiyi attained the Dao of the Transcendent Immortal.)
   de Dao Xianweng, de Dao Chen Tuan Xianweng.

2. [Xianweng, Xianweng, de Dao Xianweng, de Dao Chen Tuan Xianweng.]
   Chen Xiyi de Dao dena Xianweng,
   de Dao Xianweng, de Dao Chen Tuan Xianweng.
   Xianweng, Xianweng, Xianweng, Xianweng, Xianweng,
   Xianweng, Xianweng, Xianweng, Xianweng.

 
Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1. 1=do, 2=re, etc.; in my transcription do is written as c, but the exact pitch depends on such things as the size and quality of the instrument and strings.
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2. Transcendent Venerable One
仙翁 xianweng: 391.xxx, but 1/1146 has general comments; no mention of Chen Tuan (same with 42618.1013, see next).
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3. Chen Tuan 陳摶 (906? - 989)
Some biographical details are given in a footnote under Caoman Yin
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4. Master of the Inaudible and Invisible 希夷先生 (Xiyi Xiansheng)
9025.26 希夷 xiyi: 無聲曰希，無色曰夷，為道之本體也。 Xi (希) is what cannot be heard; yi (夷) is what cannot be seen. The name thus refers to the basic structure of the Dao. It also suggests longevity, hence 希夷﹕靈芝也 a longevity plant, perhaps a phantasmagoric mushroom.
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5. The technique for settling down before playing is in some ways comparable to the old custom of Chinese calligraphers rubbing their own ink. To do this they add water to the inkstone, then rub with another stone. To get in the right mood they might at times spend a considerably longer time than necessary doing this before beginning to write.
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6. Mr. Sun actually said this in connection with the melody Xiang Fei Yuan, played today very much as it is written in Taigu Yiyin (1511). Taigu Yiyin has many simple songs. At that time there was apparently debate about singing style vs. purely instrumental style, but I haven't found specific details about this. One can imagine that the debate involved the relative value of a simple style vs. a complex one, but again I have not found the details.
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7. 操縵引 Caoman Yin. See the separate introduction to Caoman Yin, which can also be translated as Adjust the Strings Prelude
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8. In Xingzhuang Taiyin Buyi, attributed to 蕭鸞 Xiao Luan, who called himself 杏莊老人 the Old Man of Apricot Village. The preface in this 1557 version is even more specific in its suggestion that one must begin with such a melody.

9. Cao Man and other alternate titles
Zha Fuxi's index 39/--/552 操縵 Cao Man mentions only the version in the Japanese Toko Kinpu, giving 仙翁操 Xianweng Cao as an alternate name. I assume the fact that they are not included in the melody sections is the reason that he did not properly index them. I have found 15 versions up to 1751. Since the reproduction of old handbooks in Qinqu Jicheng goes only up to 1802 I have only been able to look at a few handbooks after that date. And because Zha's index looks only at the melody section, I can only say that if a version of this melody is included after 1802, it is still included with the introductions, not with the melodies.
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10. The earliest example of longhand tablature is Jieshidiao You Lan; the modern simplified tablature developed out of long hand tablature, apparently during the Tang dynasty. Although this fact may suggest great antiquity for this melody, it could also simply be a modern imitation of that style.
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11. 琴學練要 Qinxue Lianyao is not in Qinqu Jicheng, but in 1996 it was reprinted in Beijing in a facsimile edition. 調仙翁歌 Diao Xianweng Ge (Playing the Xianweng Song; see Folio I, p.23) begins like the end of the version I learned, then has some phrases from the earlier versions.
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12. 愔愔室琴譜 Yinyinshi Qinpu is the handbook of 蔡德允 Tsar Teh-yun (Cai Deyun). The first version there is quite like the one I learned; it has lyrics. The second has none, but it has some phrases from the earlier versions.
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13. This is not changed by the fact that in the transcription the first note of each section is written as "A".
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14. But see the preface to the 1557 version with Caoman Yin.
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15. Weng = venerable one; dena = "of that"; other words are explained above and elsewhere. The straight brackets [] indicate the part not included in Yinyinshi Qinpu.

The original Chinese lyrics are as follows,

1. 仙翁，仙翁，得道仙翁，
   [得道翁，陳摶仙翁。
   得道仙翁，得道陳摶仙翁。]
   陳希夷得道的那仙翁 ，
   得道仙翁，得道陳摶仙翁。

2. [仙翁，仙翁，得道仙翁，得道陳摶仙翁。]
   陳希夷得道的那仙翁 ，
   得道仙翁，得道陳摶仙翁。
   仙翁 ，仙翁 ，仙翁 ，仙翁 ，仙翁 ，
   仙翁 ，仙翁 ，仙翁 ，仙翁。
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