Zhuang Zhenfeng (17th c.), style name Die'an, was from Sanshan, which is either Yangzhou (QSX) or Nanjing (QQJC).² He is noted both as a composer of new melodies³ and as a teacher of Shin-Etsu.⁴

In 1664 he published Qinxue Xinsheng.⁵ Its two folios have 14 melodies. All but a Buddhist chant appear here for the first time, including Wuye Wu Qiufeng, still popular today, and Li Yun Chun Si, later published in Japan as Caotang Yin.⁴ Eight of the melodies have lyrics.

After saying Zhuang was from Yang Zhou, the biography here says Zhuang was a good qin player praised by Han Jiang, and that he was good at selecting good materials to make qins. The rest of it seems to be a quote from what it says is a preface by 毛稚黃 Mao Zhihuang, but I cannot find that preface in the QQJC copy of Qinxue Xinsheng. It seems to connect Zhuang and Han with Hangzhou, where Zhuang particularly enjoyed the scenery of West Lake.

 
Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1 莊臻鳳字蝶菴 Bio/611. XII/1 (p.I) says he was from 三山（金陵） Sanshan, i.e., Nanjing. See also Van Gulik, Lore, p.231. (Return)

2 The biography here says he was from 揚州 Yangzhou. (Return)

3 The new melodies are generally marked "三山莊臻鳳蝶菴子製 Sanshan's Zhuang Zhenfeng, (style name) Die'an, made this himself." (Return)

4 Where did the teaching take place? (Return)

5 Qinxue Xinsheng 琴學心聲 (1664; XII.1 )
By Zhuang Zhenfeng (莊臻鳳 Bio/611) of Nanjing (金陵), teacher of Shin-Etsu
Its 2 folios have 14 melodies; 8 have lyrics. All but a Buddhist chant appear here for the first time, including the popular Wuye Wu Qiufeng. The new melodies are generally marked "三山莊臻鳳蝶菴子製 Sanshan's Zhuang Zhenfeng, (style name) Die'an, made this himself."

Table of Contents

Six prefaces and one essay (XII/1)
The essay, 凡例 Fan Li, is discussed in QSCB, Qing Dynasty, Qin essays
1. 太平奏 Taiping Zou (XII/63)
   10+1 sections; lyrics (皇帝聖神....); only here
2. 禹鑿龍門 Yu Zuo Longmen (XII/68)
   12+1 sections; only here
3. 釋談章 Shitan Zhang (XII/71)
   Buddhist chant (南無佛陀也....); earliest was 1592
4. 梨雲春思 Li Yun Chun Si: Pear-White Clouds, Spring Thoughts (15403.xxx; 33/255/491; XII/76)
   10+1 sections; lyrics (輕暖破寒....) "revised by Mao Xianshu" (錢塘毛先舒稚黃氏校詞);
   Zha Guide 33/255/491: first of 6 (1664, 1802, 1833, 1876, and 1884)
   also called 草堂闋 Caotang Que (31629.173xxx; Grass Hall Closed); Caotang Yin (Japan) has first four verses but different music
5. 瑤島問長生 Yaodao Wen Changsheng (XII/79)
   9+1 sections; lyrics (紅塵碧水....); also in ca. 1802
6. 早朝吟 Zaozhao Yin (XII/82)
   3 sections; lyrics (銀燭朝天....); only here
7. 空山磬 Kongshan Qing (XII/84)
   9 sections; first of four
8. 修竹留風 Qiu Zhu Liu Feng(XII/87)
   16+1 sections; first of three
9. 臨河修禊 Lin He Xiuxi (XII/91)
   5 sections; lyrics from Wang Xizhi (永和九年....); see Xiuxi Yin; only here
10. 八公還童 Ba Gong Huan Tong (XII/94)
    10+1 sections; lyrics (遐哉穆滿....); also in ca. 1802
11. 雲中笙鶴 Yunzhong Shenghe (XII/99)
    24+1 sections; also in ca. 1802
12. 鈞天逸響 Jun Tian Yi Xiang (XII/105)
    10 sections; also in ca. 1802
13. 栩栩曲 Xuxu Qu (XII/111)
    10 sections; lyrics (栩栩者蝶....); only here
14. 梧葉舞秋風 Wuye Wu Qiufeng (XII/114)
    8+1 sections; Zha 34/257/--; first of 21 to 1899; modern recordings; see QSCB, Qing dynasty, Qin melodies
    The modern version is so similar to this earliest version that Wu Jinglue probably played it from this tablature
    (Return)

6 (Return)

 
Return to QSCB, or to the Guqin ToC.