Zhu Changfang was a noted painter and calligrapher, also writing a book on chess. His importance to the qin is two-fold:

1. He compiled an important qin handbook, Guyin Zhengzong (1634);⁷ it has 50 melodies, the most famous of which is Yan Luo Pingsha. Wu Zhao's preface in QQJC/IX says the tablature seems to have come from imperial collections rather than belonging to a particular teacher or school. Note, however, that many melodies partially indicate finger positions using the new decimal system, particularly in higher positions. He may have composed several of the melodies himself.⁸
2. He made, or directed the making of, a large number of qins.⁹ He began this in Weihui, but apparently increased the output once he had arrived in Hangzhou (unless he had brought with him many instruments). These may have numbered in the hundreds - some even claim thousands - but most surviving "Luwang qins" look exactly alike and often have a rather bad sound. It is known that many are forgeries, but others seem to be of very high quality. Thus the provenance of many so-called Luwang qins is often uncertain.

Zhu Changfang's responsibilities as prince, as well as his sources of income, are not clear. He was the third son of (Zhu) Yiliu (1568 - 1614), known as Prince of Lu and Prince of Jian. By the end of the Ming dynasty there were many princes with little or no money or power, but presumably this was not the case for Zhu Yiliu, as he was the fourth son of the Longqing emperor (r. 1567 - 73) and a younger brother of the Wanli emperor (r. 1573-1620), who designated Yiliu as Prince of Lu in 1584, his princedom being Weihui district of Henan province. The mausoleum of Prince Lu below Fenghuang Mountain, 13 km north of Xinxiang in northern Henan province, is today a major local tourist site.¹⁰ As Zhu Yiliu's son and successor, Zhu Changfang was also known as Xiao Luwang, Younger Prince of Lu.

The Weihui district of Henan is very close to Lu'an district of Shanxi province, apparent home of Zhu Cheng, who had somewhat earlier compiled the Wuyin Qinpu (1579); Zhu Changfang's Guyin Zhengzong seems to have little in common with it. Most accounts seem to suggest that Zhu Changfang, having succeeded as Prince of Lu in Weihui in 1618, fought to save the Ming in the face of rebellions, then retired to Hangzhou. Other sources, however, suggest otherwise.¹¹

The biography in Qinshi Xu is as follows:¹²

Translation incomplete. In May 1646 he was apparently executed in Beijing for resisting the Qing (buried in Lu? 中文)

 
Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1. Sources for 潞王朱常淓 Zhu Changfang, Prince of Lu
Bio/571 begins, "朱常淓字中和，號敬一主人，又號敬一道人 Zhu Changfang, style name Zhonghe; nicknames Jingyi Zhuren and Jingyi Daoren." More details at Chinese Wiki and Chinese Baidu as well as an article published by the museum at his father's tomb. His later interest in Buddhism led him also to be called the Buddhist master of Lu (潞佛子 Lu Fozi). He apparently also wrote a book about chess. As for 潞 Lu 18839 has only .0, with no mention of the Prince of Lu (潞王 Lu Wang).

The only source mentioned in Qinshi Xu is Chunhu Manlu.
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2. Folio 2 #10 (overall #65) original title is 潞王常淓 Luwang Changfang; 5 lines.
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3. Luwang (Prince of Lu) Qin Illustration
This illustration comes from a website image that does not identify its source; see further comment below.
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4. 潞簡王翊鏐 Prince of Lu and Jian (Zhu) Yiliu (1568 - 1614)
Zhu Changfang's father, also referred to as Lujian Prince, died in 1615; his mausoleum is now a cultural heritage site in 新鄉 Xinxiang City, Henan (a story calls him King Lujian). His original title was apparently Prince of Lu (潞王 Luwang), with Prince of Jian (簡王 Jianwang) being his posthumous title. He was the fourth son of 穆宗 the Longqing emperor, r. 1567 - 73. It is not clear whether, like his son, he had an interest in the qin. Perhaps in this regard see under Qinshu Daquan.
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5. 闈輝府 Weihui district (闈輝府)
Modern maps show Weihui in 新鄉省 Xinxiang district of northeast Henan province, about 75 north northeast of 鄭州 Zhengzhou; on old maps this is next to 潞安府 Lu'an district of what is today Shanxi province (next footnote).
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6. 潞安府 Lu'an district of 陝西 Shanxi province
Modern maps have a 潞城 Lucheng a little over 100 km northwest of Weihui.
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7. Orthodox School of Ancient Sounds (Guyin Zhengzong 古音正宗) (1634; IX.3; Table of Contents below)
This handbook was compiled by (Prince) "潞國敬一道人 The honor one-ness Taoist of Lu", 朱常淓 Zhu Changfang, also famous for making qins. In 7 folios, it has 50 melodies, 5 with lyrics. Although as a prince Zhu Changfang apparently had old tablature that might have been copied here, I have not yet found any identical copies in the earlier versions of melodies included here. At least 14 melodies have their earliest known printing here (search for "earliest" and "only here" below), with several of these being new versions of old titles. Perhaps most notably it has the earliest tablature for Yan Luo Pingsha. And it is one of the first handbooks to use the new decimal system for some finger positions.
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8. Zhu Changfang: composer of melodies?
According to the Chinese Hudong site 朱常淓也善于琴曲创作，有《中和吟》、《宗雅操》、《养生操》、《悲秋》等作品 Zhu Changfang was good at composing qin melodies, his output including Zhonghe Yin, Zongya Cao, Yangsheng Cao, Bei Qiu and so forth. These are all melodies published for the first time in Guyin Zhengzong. It is not clear why this article attributes these to Zhu and not the others published here for the first time, in particular, Ping Sha Luo Yan.

9. Prince of Lu qins
Some are said to be Liezi style (q.v.), but most apparently have what is called the Confucian style (中和 zhonghe; q.v.). Many apparently have the same inscription as what is written in the illustration above. The one in the Metropolitan Museum of New York seems to be one of the better ones, but this is not always proof that it came from the actual shop of the Prince of Lu.
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10. Mausoleum of Prince Lu (潞王陵 Luwang Ling
Located 13km north of 新縣 Xinxiang in northern Henan Province. See external account (中文).
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11. Prince of Lu at the end of the Ming dynasty
Some external sources such as this one suggest differently (details to be added).
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12. Original text of biography (Qinshi Xu #65)
The original Chinese is,
"潞王常淓：潞王常淓自號敬一主人（道人?）。簡王翊鏐子，萬曆四十六年襲封後，以國亡寓杭州，清兵至常淓首先投誠，杭人德之，呼為潞佛子。常淓風尚高雅。善音律，制琴數百，編字列號，當時民間不可得。西湖文君彥（文彥君？文君琴？），做（仿？）其式斲之，遠不及也。"
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古音正宗 Guyin Zhengzong (1634)
目錄 Table of Contents

(Handbook of Zhu Changfang, as reprinted in Qinqu Jicheng, IX/241-280; see further above）

1. 中和吟 Zhonghe Yin (IX/266)
     gong mode; 7 Sections; lyrics; earliest
2. 宗雅操 Zongya Cao (IX/269)
     20 Sections; lyrics; only here
3. 高山 Gao Shan (IX/274)
     6; from 1425
4. 流水 Liu Shui (IX/276)
     8; from 1425
5. 廣漢遊 Guanghan You (IX/278)
     9; also called 清都引 Qingdu Yin; from 1425
6. 陽春 Yang Chun (IX/280)
     16; from 1425
7. 梅花 Mei Hua (IX/283)
     10; from 1425
8. 鷗鷺忘機 Oulu Wang Ji (IX/285)
     4; from 1520
9. 冲和吟 Chong He Yin (IX/286)
     3; from 1589
10. 圯橋三進履 Yi Qiao San Jin Lü (IX/287)
      7; from 1539
11. 漁樵問答 Yu Qiao Wenda (IX/289)
      shang mode; 6; also called 金門待漏 Jinmen Dai Lou; from 1559
12. 秋江夜泊 Qiujiang Yebo (IX/290)
      4; from 1425/1614
13. 風雷引 Feng Lei Yin (IX/291)
      10; from 1539
14. 清夜聞鐘 Qingye Wen Zhong (IX/293)
      14; earliest: unrelated to earlier ones from 1559
15. 扣角歌 Kou Jiao Ge (IX/296)
      10; from 1559
16. 風入松 Feng Ru Song (IX/298)
      8; earliest; no lyrics, and unrelated to other Feng Ru Song
17. 亞聖操 Yasheng Cao (IX/300)
      5; lyrics; from 1511
18. 懷古吟 <Huai Gu Yin (IX/302)
      4; from 1546 but see 1549
19. 靜觀吟 Jing Guan Yin (IX/303)
      3; from 1579
20. 墨子悲歌 Mozi Bei Ge (IX/304)
      11; from 1609
21. 釋談章 Shitan Zhang (IX/307)
      1; lyrics; from 1592
22. 陽關三疊 Yangguan Sandie (IX/311)
      3; lyrics; from 1530
23. 蘇武思君 Su Wu Si Jun (IX/312)
      4; earliest: unrelated to others
24. 雁落平沙 Yan Luo Pingsha (IX/313)
      "jiao mode" (no!?); 5; earliest of over 50
25. 列子御風行 Liezi Yu Feng Xing (IX/314)
      10; from 1425
26. 養生操 Yang Sheng Cao (IX/317)
      5; mode like #24; only here
27. 碧天秋思 Bitian Qiu Si (IX/318)
      9; earliest of 13; mode like #24; unrelated to Tianfeng Huan Pei
28. 蒼梧引 Cangwu Yin (IX/320)
      10; compare 1549
29. 子猷訪戴 Ziyou Fang Dai (IX/323)
      11; only here and 1549 (very different)
30. 禹會塗山 Yu Hui Tushan (IX/325)
      zhi mode; 14; also called 上國觀光 Shan Guo Guangguang; from 1425
31. 悲秋 Bei Qiu (IX/329)
      10; also called 秋閨 Qiu Gui ; earliest of 3 (unrelated to Song Yu Bei Qiu)
32. 樵歌 Qiao Ge (IX/332)
      12; from 1425
33. 關雎 Guan Ju (IX/334)
      9; from 1491
34. 山居吟 Shan Ju Yin (IX/336)
      5; from 1425
35. 雉朝飛 Zhi Zhao Fei (IX/337)
      yu mode; 12; from 1425
36. 滄海龍吟 Canghai Long Yin (IX/340)
      7; also called 滄江夜雨 Cangjiang Yeyu; from 1579
37. 鸞鳳吟 Luan Feng Yin (IX/342)
      3; earliest of two
38. 漢宮秋 Han Gong Qiu (IX/343)
      14; from 1589 (not 1549)
39. 大雅 Da Ya (IX/345)
      huangzhong mode; 10; from 1425
40. 秋鴻 Qiu Hong (IX/348)
      qingshang mode; 36; from 1425 (Preface)
41. 搗衣曲 Dao Yi Qu (IX/353)
      guxian mode; 12; from 1589
42. 羽化登仙 Yuhua Deng Xian (IX/356)
      shangjiao mode; 13; earliest of 18
43. 岳陽三醉 Yueyang San Zui (IX/359)
      20; earliest of 11
44. 莊周夢蝶 Zhuang Zhou Meng Die (IX/363)
      12; from 1425
45. 挾仙遊 Xia Xian You (IX/365)
      mangong mode; 12 (see under Baji You)
46. 獲麟 Huo Lin (IX/368)
      6; from 1425
47. 瀟湘水雲 Xiao Xiang Shui Yun (IX/370)
      ruibin mode; 10; from 1425
48. 大胡笳 Da Hujia (IX/372)
      wuyi mode; 18; from 1425
49. 廣陵真趣 Guangling Zhen Qu (IX/379)
      manshang mode; 1; earliest: only here, Zha Guide mistakenly says related to Guangling San (see next)
50. 廣陵散 Guangling San (IX/???)
      9; earliest; note later short versions of GLS in the chart under the musically unrelated 1425 Guangling San

朱常淓跋 Zhu Changfang afterword (IX/379-380)
    Begins, "盖人者兩儀之播氣...."

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