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Chapter Six: Song and Yuan dynasties
1
Xu Jian, Introductory History of the Qin, p. 115-6 |
第六章﹕宋，元
許健，琴史初編，第115-6頁 |
|
6.C. Qin Essays 2 |
琴論
袁桷，琴述 |
Yuan Jue (1266 - 1327), nickname Qingrong Jushi, studied "Inner Chamber Tablature" (Gepu5) during childhood and later Zhe tablature (Zhe Pu6) from Xu Tianmin.7 His Qin Shu (Qin Narrative) introduces the evolution of types of qin pu during the Song dynasty, asserting that although during the reign of the Song dynasty's Emperor Taizong (r. 976 - 997), it had been officially ordained that "those unskilled in inner chamber tablature could not be daizhao",8 "nevertheless other tablature styles existed". Among them, River-West tablature (Jiang-xi Pu9) was more comprehensive than Ge Pu, and the melodies collected are more varied, so "poets and soldiers enjoyed it and it was popular among them. It is said that anything not included in it were not worthy of being named."10 Later Zhe Pu gained popularity and replaced the previous two.
Zhe Pu music is that of the Zixiadong Pu compiled by Yang Zan and others.11 Some thought that it lacked tradition but Yuan Jue disagreed. He asked Xu Tianmin about the origin of Zhe Pu and compared it to the tablature collected by Zhang Yan. He concluded that both came from the same origin, i.e. Han Tuozhou's ancient tablature passed down from his ancestors. So he was resentful that Yang Zan "hid the names of predecessors to claim credit himself by not specifying the origins of his tablatures". He also described, in Qin Shu, when Yang Zan sent someone to study Guo Chuwang's tablature from Liu Zhifang, providing historical information regarding the origin and formation of the Zhe school.
Qin Shu was an addition to and continuation of Zhu Changwen's Qin Shi. Zhu's history mainly took pre-Song historical information from history books, whereas Yuan Jue collected information regarding the spread of Song-dynasty qin melodies through actual investigation. He also recorded many key developments in qin tablature, which was more valuable to qin research.
Qin Shu was collected in Qingrong Jushi Ji.12 At the time, Yuan Jue wrote this essay as a gift to Huang Yiran. When he wrote it, he did not personally know Huang Yiran; it was only out of their common interest in the art of qin that he actively wrote regarding the development of qin tablature "to satisfy his curiosity in this life". Qingrong Jushi Ji also contained an essay dedicated to his student, Luo Dazhang, which discussed the northern Wanyan Furen Pu (see Wanyan Family Qin Tablature), also derived from the Song-dynasty Inner Chamber Tablature, and so forth.
(Continue with next, Cui Zundu, Qin Jian)
Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a
separate page)
1. Chapter 6 covers these dynasties (dates, capital city [modern name]):
2.
Initial translation by 金秋雨 Jin Qiuyu
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3.
Yuan Jue 袁桷
Yuan Jue, nicknamed Retired Scholar with an Honorable Manner (清容居士 Qingrong Jushi). His writings were compiled into a Qingrong Jushi Ji, mentioned further below.
(Return)
4.
Qin Narrative (琴述 Qin Shu
48904.xxx; see in Rao Zongyi, especially Section 2 (pp.83-4 or 570). The full title of this essay, included in Folio 44 of Qingrong Jushi Ji, is Qin Narrative, Presented to Huang Yiran (琴述，贈黄依然 Qin Shu, Zeng Huang Yiran; see also Chapter 6.A., p. 94). Folio 49, 題徐天民草書 Ti Xu Tianmin Caoshu apparently has further related information. The original text of Qin Shu is in the Appendix below. I have not yet seen the other article. Xu Jian has the following quotes, perhaps all from Folio 44.
5.
Gepu 閣譜 (Inner chamber tablature)
Gepu (42230.xxx) is also mentioned in Chapter 6b2 and discussed in Chapter 6a5. It is not yet clear to me to what extent this term refers to a collection of tablature, to a collection of melodies, or a style of qin play (see the description by Rao). During the Southern Song it was apparently preserved in the north as Wanyan family tablature.
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6.
Zhe Tablature 浙譜 Zhe Pu
Zhe Pu (178979.xxx; .17 浙派 Zhepai concerns Ming dynasty Hangzhou painters, poetry critics, or Qing dynasty Hangzhou seal carvers) might also be translated "Zhe music". The relationship between Zhe tablature and the
Zhe school of guqin is not clear. Its origins also do not seem to be clearly laid out. The discussion of Yang Zhun in Chapter 6a3 seems to be suggested that it originated in the mid 13th century, while the essay by Cheng Yujian in Chapter 6c7 seems to date it to at least a century or more earlier.
Zhe Tablature is generally contrasted with Jiang-xi Tablature, which in turn is contrasted with Inner Chamber Tablature. This seems to suggest that (at least in Southern Song Hangzhou) members of the Zhe and Jiang-xi schools were arguing for the validity of the particular tablature they were using. The Zhe school seems to have centered on the famous players in Hangzhou discussed in Chapter 6a3.
(Return)
7.
Concerning Xu Tianmin
Perhaps the information here about the famous qin player Xu Tianmin comes from Yuan Jue's essay
"Concerning the calligraphy of Xu Tianmin" (題徐天民草書 Ti Xu Tianmin Caoshu), apparently all or part of Qingrong Jushi Ji, Folio 49 (see
below). It is also said that Xu Tianmin 曾在天封塔下南湖袁氏家塾教19歲的袁桷學琴 taught the 19 year old Yuan Jue at the Tianfeng Pagoda (the one in Ningbo?)
(Return)
8.
Daizhao 待詔
Presumably Qin Daizhao; see references under
QSCB, Chapter 6a1.
(Return)
9.
River-West Tablature (Jiang Xi Pu 江西譜)
The word "pu" in the title literally means "tablature", but here the term also seems to be used to refer to the music itself. "Jiangxi" ("River-west", i.e., west along the Yangzi river) is the name of a province in central China, so here the same characters are Romanized "Jiang xi" or "Jiang-xi" to show that its meaning is not so specific: thus 17496.92 江西 is somewhat vague, saying 長江中流南岸之地，一作江右 the area along the south side of the middle Yangzi region, also called River-right (Jiang you 17496.71 does not specify the south side); in fact, it does roughly correspond to the area around Jiangxi province. The style of Jiang-xi pu was said to be in contrast to that of
Zhe pu (Zhepu) as well as of
Ge pu (Gepu).
According to Xu Jian in Chapter 6a5, regulations by the royal court (eventually) made gepu "even more separate from the masses, becoming something moribund, so that it was later replaced by the people's lively and vigorous Jiang-xi pu." He cites Folio 44 of Qin Shu by Yuan Jue.
Jiang-xi pu is apparently unrelated to what in the Ming dynasty was called 江派 Jiang school music (see Jiang Men).
(Return)
10.
騷人介士皆喜而爭慕之，謂不若是，不足以名琴也
(Return)
11.
Other compilers
See in particular those mentioned in Section 6a3.
(Return)
12.
Qingrong Jushi Ji 清容居士集五十卷
Discussed in greater detail under Yuan Jue
(also the footote).
(Return)
Appendix
袁桷：琴述，贈黄依然
Yue Jue, Qin Shu, Zeng Huang Yiran
Yuan Jue: Qin Narrative, presented to Huang Yiran
Chinese original was copied from www.shidianguji.com, which includes a translation into modern Chinese.
(English translation still in process.)
袁桷：琴述，贈黄依然
徃六十年，錢塘楊司農以雅琴名於時。有客三衢毛敏仲、嚴陵徐天民在門下，朝夕損益琴理，刪潤別爲一譜，以其所居曰「紫霞」名焉。
自渡江來，譜之可攷者曰閣譜，曰江西譜。閣譜由宋太宗時漸廢，至皇祐間復入秘閣。
今世所藏金石圖畫之精善，咸謂閣本，蓋皆昔時秘閣所庋。
而琴有閣譜，亦此義也。方閣譜行時，別譜存於世良多。
至大晟樂府證定，益以閣譜爲貴，別譜復不得入，其學寖絶。
紹興時，非入閣本者不得待詔，私相傳習，媚熟整雅，非有亡蹙僨遽之意，而兢兢然國小而弱，百餘年間，蓋可見矣。
曰江西者由閣而加詳焉，其聲繁以殺，其按抑也，皆別爲義例，秋風、巫峽之悲壯，蘭皋、洛浦之靚好，將和而愈怨，欲正而愈反，故凡騷人介士皆喜而爭慕之，謂不若是不足以名琴也。
方楊氏譜行時，二譜漸廢不用，或謂其聲與國亡相先後，又謂楊氏無所祖，尤不當習。
噫！楊司農匿前人以自彰，故所得譜皆不著本始，其爲今世所議無可言。
余嘗習司農譜，又數與徐天民還徃，知其聲非司農所能意創，間以問天民，時天民誇詡猶司農也，謾對焉，終不以悉，余益深疑之而莫以㩀，後悉得廣陵張氏譜而加校焉，則蔡氏五弄，司農號爲精加紬繹，皆張氏所載，獨楊氏隱抵不述耳。
今世琴調清商，號爲最多，郭茂倩記古樂府琴辭亦莫盛於清商，杜佑氏敘論雅樂，謂楚漢舊聲猶傳於琴家，蔡氏五弄，楚調四弄，至唐猶存，則今所謂五弄，非楊氏私製明甚，議者悉去之，不可也。
按：廣陵張氏，名巖，字肖翁，嘉㤗間爲參預，居霅時，嘗謂閣譜非雅聲，於韓忠獻家得古譜，復從互市密購，與韓相合，定爲十五卷，將鋟於梓，以預韓氏邊議罷去。
其客永嘉郭楚望獨得之，復別爲調曲，然大抵皆依蔡氏聲爲之者。
楚望死，復以授劉志芳，志芳之傳愈尊，而失其祖愈遠。
天民嘗言，楊司農與敏仲少年時亦習江西，一日敏仲由山中來，始弄楚望商調，司農驚且喜，復以金帛令天民受學志方。
故今紫霞獨言劉、郭，而不言廣陵張氏傳授，皆楊氏與其客自私之蔽。
越有徐理氏，與楊同時，有奧音玉譜一卷，以進律鑒琴統入官，其五弄與楊氏亦無異。
晚與楊交，楊亟重之，益知楚漢舊聲非楊氏所作。余來京師，見鼓琴者與紹興所尚微近，第重緩如寬厚長者，余不能以是説告之也。
黃君依然，豫章太史之裔，以琴游公卿，余未識之，而余之嗜琴，當有同者。
故書其源緒，以解夫今世之惑，而因以告之。
Return to the top or to
Song-Yuan in the Qinshi Chubian outline.
Yuan Jue: Qin Narrative, presented to Huang Yiran
Sixty years ago, Chief Minister Yang (Zuan) of Qiantang was renowned in his time for his refined mastery of the qin. Two of his "house guests" — Mao Minzhong of Sanqu and
Xu Tianmin of Yanling — were among his associates. Morning and evening they revised and refined principles of qin music, excising and polishing them into a separate handbook, which they named “Purple Clouds”
(Zixia) after the place where they resided.
Since the crossing of the river [i.e. crossing the Yangzi to found the Southern Song], the qin tablature that can be reliably examined is the
inner chamber tablature and the Jiangxi tablature. The Inner Chamber Tablature gradually fell into disuse beginning in the reign of
Emperor Song Taizong, but during the Huangyou era ( 1049–1053) it was once again entered into the Imperial Library.
In the present age, fine examples of bronzes, stone inscriptions, paintings, and calligraphy preserved in collections are all referred to as "Inner chamber editions" since they were formerly housed in the Imperial Library.
The existence of inner chamber tablature for the qin follows the same principle. When the inner chamber tablature was in circulation, much other tablature also remained in use among the people.
When the Great Court Music Bureau undertook its verification and standardization, the inner chamber tablature was valued even more highly, while other tablatures were no longer admitted. As a result, those traditions of learning gradually died out.
During the Shaoxing era, those whose music was not included in the inner chamber edition were not permitted to serve as court musicians. qin practice was therefore transmitted only privately, emphasizing smoothness, polish, order, and elegance. There was no sense of urgency born of national collapse; rather, musicians proceeded with anxious caution amid the weakness of a small state. The character of more than a hundred years may be seen in this.
The so-called Jiangxi tablatures elaborated upon the inner chamber tradition. Its sounds were dense and urgent; its pressing and damping techniques followed distinct principles. Its character evoked both the tragic grandeur of autumn winds and the Wu Gorge, and the graceful beauty of Orchid Banks and the Luo River. Seeking harmony, it became ever more plaintive; seeking correctness, ever more contrary. Thus poets and men of integrity delighted in it and vied to emulate it, claiming that anything less could not truly be called qin music.
When the Yang family's tablatures came into circulation, the two earlier types of tablature gradually fell into disuse. Some claimed that its sounds coincided ominously with the fall of the state; others said that Yang’s tablature lacked any legitimate lineage and was therefore especially unworthy of study.
Alas! Chief Minister Yang obscured his predecessors in order to elevate himself. Consequently, none of the tablatures he acquired recorded their original sources. That he should be criticized in his own age leaves nothing further to be said.
I once studied Chief Minister Yang’s tablatures and often associated with Xu Tianmin. I knew that these sounds could not have been conceived and created by Yang alone. When I occasionally questioned Tianmin, he boasted no less than Yang himself and responded evasively, never explaining matters fully. My doubts deepened, though I lacked proof. Later I obtained the complete tablatures of Zhang (Yan) of Guangling and collated them. There I found that the so-called “Five Pieces of the Cai tradition,” which Yang claimed to have refined and explicated, were all recorded with Zhang’s tablature; only Yang concealed this and refused to acknowledge it.
In the present age, qin pieces in the qingshang mode are said to be the most numerous. Guo Maoqian likewise records that among ancient Music Bureau qin lyrics, none surpass qingshang in abundance. Du You, in his discussion of court music, states that sounds from the Chu and Han periods were still transmitted among qin players, and that the Five Cai Pieces and the Four Chu Pieces survived into the Tang. Thus it is abundantly clear that what are now called the Five Pieces were not privately created by Yang. Those who argue for removing them entirely are mistaken.
Note: Zhang of Guangling, named Yan, style name Xiaoweng, served as Vice Councillor during the Jiatai era (1201 to 1204). While residing in Sha (near Huzhou in the Lake Tai area), he once declared that the inner chamber tablature did not represent refined sound. He obtained ancient tablatures from the household of Han Zhongxian (Han Qi, 1008-1075), and secretly acquired others through
private sale. Collating these with Han’s collection, he established a fifteen-volume edition and prepared it for printing, but was dismissed from office due to his involvement in Han’s frontier policy debates.
His associate Guo Chuwang of Yongjia alone obtained this material and further created additional modal pieces, though in essence they were all based on Cai-family sounds.
After Chuwang’s death, the transmission passed to
Liu Zhifang. While Liu’s lineage gained increasing prestige, it also grew ever more distant from its original source.
Tianmin once said that Chief Minister Yang and (Mao) Minzhong both studied the Jiangxi style in their youth. One day Minzhong returned from the mountains and began playing in Chuwang’s shang mode. Yang was startled and delighted, and then provided gold and silk so that Tianmin might study under Zhifang.
Thus the Zixia tradition today speaks only of Liu and Guo, and makes no mention of the transmission from Zhang of Guangling — an omission arising from the selfish concealment by Yang and his associates.
In Yue there was also one Xu Li, a contemporary of Yang, who possessed a single-volume handbook entitled Jade Handbook of Mysterious Sounds. He submitted it to the Office for Musical Regulation and Qin Classification, where it entered official collections. Its Five Pieces were no different from those of Yang.
Later he associated with Yang, who held him in high esteem, and thereby further understood that the old Chu-Han sounds were not Yang’s creations. When I later came to the capital, I observed qin players whose style closely resembled that favored in Shaoxing, emphasizing slow and weighty pacing, like a generous elder. I found myself unable to convey these views to them.
Master Huang Yiran, a descendant of (Huang Tingjian), the Grand Historian of Yuzhang (Nanchang), associates with high officials through his qin playing. Though I have not yet met him, I trust that our shared devotion to the qin is the same.
For this reason I have written out the origins and transmissions, to dispel the confusions of the present age, and thereby to inform him.