(A.) Qin personalities²

(Introduction)

The qin world during the Ming dynasty divided mainly into the Jiang³ and Zhe⁴ schools. At that time the Jiang school referred to the school of Liu Hong of Songjiang;⁵ it had no connection to the traditional Song dynasty school of "Jiangxi tablature".⁶ The Zhe school carried on the Southern Song tradition of Xu Tianmin. For example, the editor of Wugang Qinpu, Huang Xian, and the editor of Xingzhuang Taiyin Buyi, Xiao Luan, were both described as "Xumen Orthodox Tradition".⁷ (Zhu Houjiao's) prefatory comments to Fengxuan Xuanpin (1539),⁸ "Melodies transmitted to society are of two types, Zhe melodies of the Xu tradition and Jiang melodies of the Liu tradition", summarized the situation. However, as for the large or small influence, the two schools were not equal. The Zhe school published quite a few tablature collections, and passed the tradition on to quite a few disciples. But the Jiang tradition was much inferior. Liu Zhu⁹ in his Silkwood Essay¹⁰ introduced the actual situation: "Nowadays there are in practice three types of qin melodies, Jiang, Zhe and Min.¹¹ Those who practice the Min tradition number less than 1 or 2 percent; those who practice the Jiang tradition number perhaps 30 or 40 percent; those who practice the Zhe tradition number perhaps 60 or 70 percent. Based on looking at the two traditions, the Zhe melodies are better. The Jiang melody sounds are loaded with details, the Zhe melodies are more smooth and easy. Compared to Jiang melodies they seem more clear and far-reaching."

Qin schools in the latter part of the Ming dynasty also had their developments, giving rise to the Yushan school, Shaoxing school, Jiang school, and so forth. The implications of the Jiang school of this period compared to those of the Songjiang school before the Jiaqing period (1522 - 67) were different; (this latter Jiang school) relied on a few qin players who added lyrics for accompanying songs, such as Huang Longshan, Yang Biaozheng, Yang Lun, and so forth. These people carried out most of their activities in the area of the lower Yangzi river and Nanjing, hence the name.¹² Their publications were not just a few, but their accomplishments were not very high.¹³

The Ming dynasty also had a few qin experts who were skilled at making qins, and within the artisan class there now emerged people who also excelled at playing qin. The latter period of the Ming dynasty there were also a number of qin experts who participated in movements opposing the Qing (Manchu) dynasty.¹⁴

(Continue: Xumen Zhe Tradition)

 
Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1. Translation by JT.
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2. Xu Jian, QSCB, pp. 122 - 123.
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3. Jiang tradition (江門 Jiang Men; also 江派 Jiang Pai, Jiang school)
Whereas the 浙 Zhe traditions are commonly said to have emphasized melody, the Jiang traditions are said to have emphasized lyrics. However, Xu Jian suggests the difference was actually one of style. He thus quotes Liu Zhu above saying, "The Jiang melody sounds are loaded with details, the Zhe melodies are more smooth and easy; compared to Jiang melodies they seem more clear and far-reaching." (See also under Qin song composers). Xu Jian identifies the Jiang tradition as coming from 劉鴻 Liu Hong, saying that he was from 松江 Songjiang (modern Zhejiang province, southwest of Shanghai); he adds only that it seems to have no direct connection to the 江西譜 Jiang Xi Pu (River-West Tablature) of the Song dynasty.
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4. Zhe tradition (浙門 Zhe Men; also 浙派 Zhe Pai, Zhe school)
This was apparently the dominant school in the early Ming dynasty; see the comparison above with the Zhe school, plus further comments under Xumen Orthodox Tradition. Two representative Ming dynasty handbooks of the Zhe school are discussed here: both have derogatory comments about the Jiang school.
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5. Liu Melodies (劉操 apparently from 劉鴻 Liu Hong)
Liu Hong, according to Xu Jian (see above) and Wu Wenguang (see his Ph.D. dissertation, "Wu Jinglue's Qin Music in its Context", p.31), was a qin player from Songjiang (宋江, now in Jiangsu province west of Shanghai). Articles by James Watt, and by 江兆申 Chiang Chao-shen in the National Palace Museum Bulletin Vol. VIII #3 (July/August 1973, p.6), also discuss a late 15th century qin master from Guangdong province with the same name (more below). Perhaps they are the same person, but adding to the confusion Bio/642 has what seems to be either the same or a second or a third 劉鴻 Liu Hong, style name 雲表 Yunbiao, from 江西泰和 Taihe in southwestern Jiangxi province. He lived by 七星坳 Seven Star Hollow (? ; there is a 七星岩 Seven Star Crags in Guangdong) and so called himself Mr. Seven Star. He passed the 舉人 juren exam in 1477 but went no higher, so he traveled around writing poetry and essays.

Liu Hong is connected with the Jiang school of qin play. This may suggest that the basic characteristic of his style was a focus on qin songs, though Xu Jian (see qin song composers) says this is not always with this school. In this regard one should point out that the earliest publication of the first surviving collection of qin songs, Taigu Yiyin, came in 1511. Several of its songs are also included in Fengxuan Xuanpin (1539), the preface to which (QQJC II, p.1) has a statement that there were then two types of melodies in the world, 浙操徐門 the Zhe melodies of the Xu school, and 江操劉門 the Jiang melodies of the Liu school.

Yang Jijing (楊季靜; ca. 1477 - after 1530), one of Liu Hong's students, was apparently once quite a famous qin player. The National Palace Museum Bulletin says the following about him, based largely on colophons on 南遊圖 "Southern Wandering", a painting by 唐寅 Tang Yin (1470-1523) in the Freer Gallery (see online image; the painting is also discussed in the article by James Watt; Romanization is here modified):

The Palace Museum article also discusses two other paintings of Yang Jijing: 琴士圖 "The Qin Master" (commonly mis-translated "The Lutanist", also by Tang Yin; and 文伯仁畫楊季靜小象 "Miniature Portrait of Yang Jijing by Wen Boren". Somewhat oddly, there seems to be no mention of either Liu Hong or Yang Jijing in existing qin biographies.
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6. 江西譜 Jiangxi Pu
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7. 徐門正傳 Xumen Zhengchuan, Xu Orthodox Tradition (also called 徐操 Xu Cao, Xu Melodies)
This style (see also Zhe tradition and Zhecao Xumen) is said to have been passed down from the great Song dynasty qin master 徐天民 Xu Tianmin. The preface by Chen Jing in Wugang Qinpu traces this style of music from Xu Tianmin to 徐秋山 Xu Qiushan and then 徐曉山 Xu Xiaoshan, perhaps leaving some gaps. Later in this section Qinshi Chubian mentions Xu Qiushan as a younger contemporary of Xu Tianmin. Xiao Luan, the compiler of Xingzhuang Taiyin Buyi (1557), says Xu Xiaoshan was one of his teachers.
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8. 世傳操有二，曰﹕浙操徐門，江操劉門
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9. 劉珠 Liu Zhu
Bio/xxx; his Silkwood Essay is discussed below. Xu Jian gives no hint about who Liu Zhu is, or when he might have written this essay, nor have I yet found any traces of it elsewhere.
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10. 絲桐篇 Sitong Pian
Literally, "essay about sitong" (28058.45: silk and wutong wood, a term meaning "qin"). Liu Zhu says Jiang melodies were 繁瑣 fansuo. "loaded down with trivial details". It is not at all clear what he meant. Xu Jiang writes that it is a common mistake to associate the Jiang school with qin songs (see qin song composers), but the people he mentions are all associated with qin songs. From my personal evaluation of the tablature for the songs in the handbooks attributed to the three people mentioned below, some of them are gems. Others seem overly simple. Many, in their effort to fit lyrics with melodies, seem much too word intensive, often unsingable. However, this might suggest that there was a big difference between the tablature as written and the music as played: I have not yet found any commentary describing exactly how the words should be sung along with the music to which they are paired. It might also mean that for some ideological reason some people just didn't appreciate that style, or they never heard the best players in that style. Qin songs seem to have been particularly popular with women. Was the Jiang school particularly associated with non-literati (e.g., merchant families aspiring to culture)? Also, the combination of instrumental melodies and qin songs in a handbook such as Yang Lun's Zhenchuan Zhengzong Qinpu suggests either that the differences between the two schools were often not so clearcut, or that the differences were more in the execution rather than in the written tablature.
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11. 閩 Min (Fujian); Yang Biaozheng was from Fujian, but he apparently moved to Nanjing.
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12. "Jiang" means "river", but it refers in particular to the Yangzi river. Note that two of the three people mentioned here were from other areas, but moved to Nanjing. It is not clear whether they brought their own styles with them or developed them in Nanjing.
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13. It is not clear on what basis Xu Jian makes this statement, other than his quote above from Liu Zhu and perhaps others.
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14. This is discussed further in QSCB, pp. 131-2.
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