Wang Tong

As a youth Wang Tong was (see Giles) "such an ardent student that for six years he never took off his clothes." He proposed 12 "Plans to Secure the Empire", and when these were not accepted he retired to He Fen, the area between the Fen and Yellow rivers, about 150 km. northeast of Chang An, there teaching thousands of students. When Yang Su⁴ made him an offer of official employment, he proudly declined it. After his death his disciples canonized him Wenzhongzi.

Wang Tong is associated with the qin melodies Xing Tan and Gujiao Xing.

Qinshu Daquan, Folio 16, #30 has two extracts from what is written here (one is shorter and sometimes re-ordered).⁵

The original essay in Qin Shi begins as follows.⁶

Wen Zhongzi had the given name Tong and style name Zhongyan. As a youth he had an ardent desire to help people, and so (in 592 CE) he traveled west to Chang An to see the Sui emperor Wendi (r. 589 - 605) and propose 12 Plans to Secure Tranquility, but they were not able to use them.

(Then follows a scrambled version of Wang Tong's Kingly Way (王道 Wang Dao) as found in Qinshu Daquan, Folio 16, #30)
(When I was in Chang An,) 楊素 Yang Su, 蘇夔 Su Kui (son of Su Wei [Wiki]) and 李德林 Li Delin (Wiki) all invited visits with me and I spoke with them....

(It continues with a quote from Wang Tong's Ritual Music (禮樂 Li Yue); the quote is the same as in Qinshu Daquan, Folio 16, #30)
When I was traveling in Fenting I sat and played the qin....

(After this there is mention of a fisherman overhearing him playing Nan Feng (compare Nan Feng Cao) and exclaiming that it did not concern matters of the present day. Then later he is said to have created a 汾亭操 Fenting Cao (on some old melody lists and with a separate introduction), adding a comment that it can be compared to Confucius' Gui Shan (Gui Shan Cao?)....

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Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1. Wang Tong references
21295.1130/2 王通 says 龍門人，字仲淹....門人諡曰文中子 he was from Longmen (in 絳州 Jingzhou district, northeast of Chang'an), style name Zhongyan....his disciples called him Wenzhongzi after he died. It lists a number of writings attributed to him, but says only his 中說 Zhong Shuo survives. He is not in ICTCL or other standard literature sources, but see Giles.

Xu Jiang discusses him in Qinshi Chubian Chapter 5a. However, it is quite unlikely that there is truth to his claim that the surviving Ming dynasty tablature for the melody Gujiao Xing reflects a melody created (or even simply played) by Wang Tong.
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2. 22 lines
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3. Image
This image, originally from 三才圖會 Sancai Tuhui, was copied from 21295.1130/2
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4. Yang Su 楊素 (? - 606)
A military leader who helped establish the Sui dynasty (581-618) and was almost as powerful as the emperor himself (Wiki).
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5. In QQJC V, pp.355 - 358. See also Xu Jian's History, Chapter 5. A. (p.53), Giles, etc.
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6. Original Chinese text
Not yet online.
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