Qin Shi Chubian 8  
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QSCB : Qing   / 網站目錄
Chapter Eight: Qing dynasty
Xu Jian, Introductory History of the Qin, pp. 151-171 1
第八章﹕清代
許健﹕琴史初編,第151-171頁

(Introduction)2

When the Qing soldiers came through the pass (near the northeastern end of the Great Wall) they took over the Ming rule of the Zhu family. During the Qing dynasty the ruling classes used the peasant uprising led by Li Zicheng as an excuse to continue carrying out their brutal activities in villages and towns. During the the early period of Qing Dynasty rule, anti-Qing struggles rose up and down all over the country, and many qin players also participated in this struggle in various ways. The art of guqin, which had a long national tradition, did not weaken due to the change of the ruling dynasty. Even in the early Qing Dynasty, a large number of guqin score collections were compiled and published.3

In the Qing Dynasty, with the recovery and development of the economy, the activities of qin players became more and more frequent. They taught disciples, looked for teachers and visited friends, wrote books and devised theories. Some cooperated with literati to create tablature and (for?) qin songs. Some who had inherited the tradition of Yushan School now founded new qin school, among which the influence of the Guangling School was the greatest. The Guangling School handbooks such as Wuzhizhai Qinpu (1722) and Ziyuantong Qinpu (1802) are still popular in modern times. Qin artists in the Qing Dynasty processed and developed many traditional masterpieces. At the same time, they also used traditional themes to create a number of well-received new works. On the basis of such rich practical experience, some qin specialists began to conduct a systematic and in-depth discussions on aesthetics and temperament. The theoretical achievements made significant progress compared with those of the Ming Dynasty.

 
Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1. QSCB, p. 151
(Return)

2. Translated by John Thompson
(Return)

3. This listing includes 94 handbooks from the 271 years of the Qing dynasty (1640-1911), from the 45th handbook (1647) to the #140th (1911, though much of that compendium was not published until 1931). This is just under one every three years (the Ming dynasty averaged just under six).
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