Heruo Bi¹ (544 - 607) was a Sui dynasty general with literary talent. He played a leading part in the rise of the Sui and its defeat of Chen, but he and his family were later executed.

The preface to Liangxiao Yin in Tianwenge Qinpu (1876) says Heruo Bi wrote it. This attribution, found with none of the other versions of that melody, is perhaps due to an earlier attribution to Heruo Bi of a melody called Qingye Yin, the title of which has the same meaning (Peaceful Evening Prelude). However, there is no melodic connection between the surviving versions of the two.

Qingye Yin is one of "10 Short Melodies for Qin" which several sources attribute to Heruo Bi. The 10 melodies are:

1. 不博金 Bu Bo Jin (石博金 Shi Bo Jin?); later called 楚澤涵秋 Chu Ze Han Qiu
2. 不換玉 Bu Huan Yu; later called 塞門積雪 Sai Men Ji Xue
3. 峽泛吟 Xia Fan Yin (泛峽吟 Fan Xia Yin?)
4. 越溪吟 Yue Xi Yin
5. 越江吟 Yue Jiang Yin
6. 孤猿吟 Gu Yuan Yin (孤憤吟 Gu Feng Yin?)
7. 清夜吟 Qingye Yin
8. 葉下聞蟬 Yexia Wen Chan
9. 三清 San Qing
10. 失名 (the name is lost)

Xu Jian's Outline History of the Qin uses the alternate versions given above in his discussion of Heruo Bi in the chapter on Sui and Tang dynasty qin specialists.²

Heruo is also mentioned in several articles included in QSDQ:

1. Folio 11, #20 (IV.223) has a list of "10 Short Melodies for Qin" attributed to him, with commentary.

2. Folio 16, #60 (IV.367) has some further comments.

 
Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1 賀若弼 Heruo Bi (Bio/1812; 37569.52). See also Arthur Wright, The Sui Dynasty, pp.142-148 and 168. (Return)

2 QSCB, Chapter 5. A. (p.53) (Return)

3 (Return)

4 (Return)

 
Return to Biographies, or to the Guqin ToC.