Friday, September 29, 2023

物部茂卿的琴廢故事篇 及[幽蘭]翻譯 [The Circumstances Regarding the Abandonment of the Qin ] & Yolan Translation


物部茂卿 (もののべう もけい) Monobe Mokei 即 荻生徂徠 (おぎゅう そらい) Ogyū Sorai (1666–1728) 寫於享保七年壬寅(1722)四月二十八日

試著翻成中文

茂卿,生於東(京),足跡遍及關西及其他地方,卻不知曉堂上音樂家的秘傳。 僅僅學習和聆聽了一兩次的樂曲技巧,所知有限。 品味異國之書,愚者之得,雖然在心中深思熟慮,卻常感到不如意,困擾之情多矣。即使在這個世界中,期望像揚州鶴一樣完美無缺的事物,也是困難重重。精通音樂的人對文字感到陌生,精通文字的人卻不喜好音樂. 即便喜好,亦與學術傳統相悖。在後世的說法中感到困惑,如果不回歸到古老的事物的話,則無法找到解決之道。即便在這太平百年之際,各行各業皆興盛之時,然琴藝之事鮮有人知,感到非常悲傷。 雖然有許多相違背的事情發生,然而留下了文字記錄, 成為有志之人的階梯,思考的指南, 粗淺地加以記載,最終贈予狛氏。


English translation

Mokei, born in the East, left traces in Kansai and other places. However, the secrets within the residence of the music master remain unknown. I, having only acquired a modest proficiency in music skills, derive joy from foreign books and have gained something, albeit as a novice. Despite harboring thoughts within, many things still perplex me. Nevertheless, in this world, achieving perfection is as challenging as the story of the crane in Yangzhou. Those skilled in music are often unfamiliar with characters, and those profound in characters may not appreciate music. Even if they do, they frequently clash with academic traditions. In the current confusion of the world, without returning to ancient ways, there seems to be no alternative. Now, with a century of peace passed, and though various disciplines flourish, there is no one addressing matters of the qin. It is disheartening, and conflicts abound. Nonetheless, recording it in a book may serve as a ladder for those with aspirations. In this spirit, I have dared to expand the record and present it to Mr. Komau.

Quoted from 『琴学大意抄』中的 [琴ノ廃レタル故ノ事 ] 篇 the chapter on[The Circumstances Regarding the Abandonment of the Qin ] from [Kingaku Taiishō]

Peiyou wrote in the mid autumn full moon day of 2023. (9/29/2023)
-----------------------------------------------------------
On Oct 18, 2023 Peiyou wrote:

I am very happy to receive the Chinese translation of the Japanese [Yolan] study by Mikiko Yamadera's Research on National Treasure [Jieshi Mode Yolan, The Fifth] from Amazon that I ordered two weeks ago. 

Today, I noticed something that requires further examination in relation to the Chinese translation. The Japanese phrase "この時にまさか原本が紛失して ゐたわけでもあるまい" from page 40 of Mikiko's book, should translate as "At this time, it's hardly likely that the original manuscript has been lost." It expresses skepticism or disbelief about the possibility of the original manuscript being lost at the current moment.  In Chinese it will be "此時原譜遺失的可能性幾乎不可能" but not 此時原譜很可能已經遺失 (At this time, it is likely that the original manuscript has been lost.)
* Qin friend Bill Mak says :前面的が表示逆接,然後又有わけ加上あるまい,所以我會理解為“不過原稿不一定是真的遺失了吧“


from page 52 of the Chinese translation book, 中文翻譯 徐樑 陶熠

from page 40 of Mikiko's book

from Wayashi ken 林謙三 [琴書三題] Pate 236-237 https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/toyoongakukenkyu1936/2/4/2_4_235/_pdf/-char/ja

  1. この時に (kono toki ni): "at this time" or "at this moment"
  2. まさか (masaka): "unlikely" or "hardly"
  3. 原本が (genpon ga): "original manuscript"
  4. 紛失して (fusshitsu shite): "lost" or "misplaced"
  5. ゐたわけでもあるまい (ita wake de mo aru mai): This part is an archaic or classical expression. In modern Japanese, it would be written as いたわけでもあるまい. This phrase expresses doubt or skepticism about the occurrence of an action or event.
from Chat GPT

My understanding is that the key point is "樂家好秘藏物也" that musicians like to hide valuable items for themselves, so it's unlikely that it was lost but rather intentionally hidden.



The Nature of Guqin Rhythm 古琴的節韻

 


Presented at the 2nd London International Guqin Conference 2023, organized by London Yolan Qin Society, in Aug 26, 2023.

Wednesday, September 20, 2023

西麓堂琴統 十則

The 45 hui positions on the qin (harmonics 諧波位) 節四十五 同者 十有四 得位者 三十有一


折紙求徽法 folding paper to find hui positions

 西麓堂琴統 卷一 中的

十則

琴有十則 節四十五 同者 十有四 得位者 三十有一

終於搞懂 (就是在講泛音位, 十三徽之外還有的泛音位)

此31個徽位 著實很有用

Footnote:

My WP qin, which is an imitation of the Tang dynasty Qin "Da Sheng Yi Yin," has a string length of 110cm.
According to XLTQT V1 " 十則 十而分之各得四寸五分"
110 divided by 10 is 11 cm, and
If 11cm = 4 cùn and 5 fēn = 4.5 inches, then 1 inch = 2.44cm.

Therefore, this measurement is closer to the units of measurement used during the Jin dynasty and Northern and Southern dynasties.

I have a feeling that the look of the qin we are playing now (with 13 hui dots) might invented not in Han dynasty but after Han and before Northern and Southern dynasties, probably during the Jin Dynasty (265-420). As of now, no 'qin hui' (琴徽), which could serve as harmonic nodal markers, has been found among the archaeological discoveries of musical artifacts from the Han Dynasty, including physical objects and images.

Please see https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/OwhgDEVqn1GCnoPKOo8bpQ , article in Chinese.
Debates on the Issue of Qin Hui (Chapter of New Interpretation) by Wu Yaohua: [New Explanation of the Character "徽 Hui"]

Also, a group of brick paintings depicting the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove" and Rong Qiqi, excavated from the Palace Mountain Grand Tomb in Xishanqiao, Nanjing, Jiangsu, dated around Southern Dynasties (420-589) shows two 5-stringed qin with hui dots.


The 'Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove' refers to seven prominent scholars during the Wei and Jin periods, while Rong Qiqi was a distinguished figure from the Spring and Autumn period. In the painting, Ji Kang is portrayed with a double-knotted hairstyle, gazing at a distance, and playing a five-stringed qin. Rong Qiqi, with flowing hair and long beard, is depicted in a contemplative pose also playing a five-stringed qin.


https://www.njmuseum.com/en/zoomPreview?id=465&n=0


https://www.njmuseum.com/en/collectionDetails?id=465




Wednesday, December 21, 2022

Teaching Chinese Calligraphy


 I am now teaching Chinese calligraphy online, and I will teach you systematically from Zhuanshu (Seal script) to Lishu (Clerical or Official script), Zhenshu (Regular script), Xingshu (Semi-cursive) and to Zhang Cao (Cursive script). If you are interested in learning Chinese calligraphy, please visit https://peiyouqin.com/calligraphy.html for more details. Thank you.


Monday, April 18, 2022

採真游 打譜 Dapu of Cai Zhen You

On 5/15/2022 NYQS dapu yaji 紐約琴社打譜雅集 I presented my dapu of CZY 採真游

Slides and 
Notes:

Slide1 : Following Jim's Daoist piece, I am going to talk about my dapu of another daoist piece, Cai Zhen You from XLTQT. I will briefly talk about the following topics. Motivation, About the title, The Epilogue of CZY from XLTQT, the tuning and mode, and how to perform. 

In the fall of 2006,when I went to TW to meet some qin friends, I heard a friend talking about this piece, saying it is a daoist piece. I was very curious so I decided to study it myself in early 2007.

Slide2: About the title: Cai Zhen You.
Cai means to pick, to select, to gather
Zhen means real, the genuine, natural property
You means purposeful traveling
So I decided to translate it as Travelling to Gather Truth

The composer is unknown, it could have been composed before the Ming dynasty
The name of Cǎi Zhēn Yóu could be taken from the book of Zhuang Zi, Section FOURTEEN - THE TURNING OF HEAVEN (see the next slide)

Slide3: from the quote of ZHuang Zi, I feel this phrase could help my understanding of the Cai Zhen You: "Free and easy, he rested in inaction; plain and simple,"

Slide 4: at the end of this piece in XLTQT, there is this footnote, and I also find this phrase could help my understanding of this piece:  "the mind of a hermit who was arrogant and stayed outside the world."

Slide 5: CZY is using standard tuning, and the mode is Jue Mode. You can tune your qin from the 1st to the 7th string as CDFGACD or 1 to 2 steps lower. For example, my silk string qin is tuned one step lower. In this tuning, I sing it as 2 3 5 6 7 2 3 in order to match the Jue Mode.

Slide 6: The decision of 2 3 5 6 7 2 3 was made recently after I recorded my playing and put in REAPER (Audio recording software) to generate a staff notation system for me to understand why it is in Jue Mode. Due to limited time, I will not spend too much time on this matter. But will just show this drawing of a scale that I think is the closest scale to CZY. I also analysed all the notes that have been used in each section. 3 (角) and 6 (羽) are used the most, then is the 7 (Ren Jue/Bian Gong)

Slide 7: To decide how to play, first I have to decide the phrasing, as this traditional notation does not give clear indication of phrasing. Then there are some parts that are not quite clear such as where to repeat.
This piece does not have complicated fingering.
So the rest is just to play it and to decide the rhythm and a few parts where I need to decide the pitches.

Slide 8: Here are the places I need to decide where to repeat. In section 4, which is the only section that has hui positions between dots where I need to be careful for pitch decisions.

Slide 9: Such as here 78 and 67...

Slide 10: This is also in section 4. There is a wang lai technique here. It can be played as 11212 or 11717, I decided to play it as 11717.
And this is the only #5 note in the entire piece.

Slide 11: This is the ending part of CZY. You can see the ending phrase starts with Ruen Jue (ti) and ends with Yu Jue (La Mi) together. My understanding of Jue Mode is that it is based on the Chinese circle of fifths system, the Jue was generated from Yu, and Jue generates Ruen Jue. They are like a mother to son to grandson relationship. So one might find these three notes used quite a lot in a Jue Mode piece, especially in the beginning or/and end of a phrase or/and a section and the final ending.

Slide 12: To decide the rhythm. I have no method but using my intuition. Now I will play CZY on a silk string qin.

The following 6 pages of staff notation are from my own study of the mode. I am not an expert of transcribing music into staff notation. The rhythm presented in these pages are just for reference, as my playing of this piece will not be exactly the same every time. 

Please listen to my playing on silk strings : https://youtu.be/WLfMxFm9TbI










Monday, August 23, 2021

西域之歌

I started to work on this music in the middle of June,  inspired by Akira Ifukube: Chant de la Sérinde (1997) for koto.  

Yves asked me if I can play like a conversation with the koto. I tried, but the result was not satisfactory for me. I also feel that qin should just play solo to bring out the natural character of the qin. Therefore, this 西域之歌 (Song of West Region) gradually came out. 

Two months later, now I think I can say that it is finished with my interpretation on the qin. I just have this funny feeling about how my brain is absorbing repeated playing and practicing and suddenly a phrase of creativity jumps out within my fingers, that is how I wrote down the ending section after a few tries in different directions. 

I basically took the first half of Ifukube's Chant de la Serinde for koto, and rearranged it on the qin. Koto has a different nature which can play a bunch of sequential notes in a rapid tempo, and both hands can create complicated chords. Qin has only 7 strings, therefore, I use sliding and crossing a few strings to create a sequential sound of notes. There are some cords but only in 2 notes at a time. Even so, I play some of the chords in a slightly separate timing to create two notes sequentially, which is a technique that I learned from the earliest surviving qin melody, Yolan from the 6th century.  This piece on the qin becomes simplified and I like to let each note linger.   To me, fewer notes but more subtle sounds are more mysterious and attractive. 



移植這首音樂到古琴上的過程是很愉悅的. 每一個音的取決都思考過一陣子. 是品嘗, 是醞釀. 最終該放在哪, 該輕還是該重. 指法該如何才能在不突兀, 不困難, 不太奇怪的手形之下完成適當的取音. 該忠實呈現原創者的音, 或加入自己的想像與創造. 再再都是一個走過當下的經驗. 也由衷讚嘆 Ifukybe 的優美創作. 

因為Yves的好奇心也引起我的好奇心. 到底原創者Akira Ifukube 對 Sérinde (西域) 是有著怎樣的幻想? 我對Sérinde 又是有怎樣的幻想. 老實說, 我一直沒有特別的感受, 直到最近塔利班佔領阿富汗首都喀布爾的新聞鋪天蓋地的席捲而來, 我才突然有了一些感觸. 

對於我, 這曲更多是充滿異國悲情. 在那個古來多征戰之地, 宗教文化造就某種對人類的影響, 是拯救還是偏頗與殘忍? 

甚至中國在漢唐時代的那些邊塞詩早已含蓄地道出悲愴與淒涼: 

《涼州詞》

王之渙(唐 )

黃河遠上白雲間,一片孤城萬仞山。
羌笛何須怨楊柳,春風不度玉門關。

王翰(唐 )

葡萄美酒夜光杯,欲飲琵琶馬上催。
醉臥沙場君莫笑,古來征戰幾人回!

古琴曲[胡笳十八拍],[龍朔操](舊名昭君怨), (特別一提, 它們都是"無射調", 也就是我的"西域之歌"決定所用的調) 訴說的漢女遠嫁匈奴的故事...

西域是個充滿著生離死別之地...

The process of translating this piece of music onto the guqin was very pleasant. The decision of each tone must be considered for a while. It is like tasting and brewing. Where should the note be placed? Should it be light or heavy? How can my fingerings be unobtrusive, and not too difficult and not too strange to complete the appropriate sound? Should it faithfully present the original creator’s voice, or add my own imagination and creation? Every single decision was an experience of going through the moment. I also sincerely admire Ifukube’s beautiful creations .

Yves’ curiosity also awakened my curiosity. What kind of fantasy did Akira Ifukube have regarding Sérinde? What kind of fantasy do I have about Sérinde? To be honest, I have not had any special feelings until recently when the news of the Taliban's occupation of Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, swept overwhelmingly, and I suddenly felt something in the music.

For me, this song is full of exotic sadness. In that place where there were many battles in ancient times. Different religions and cultures have created a certain influence on mankind. Is it salvation or prejudice and cruelty?

The frontier fortress poems of China in the Han and Tang Dynasties have already implicitly expressed sadness and desolation.

Guqin melodies [Hujia Shiba Pai], [Long Shuo Cao] (formerly known as Zhaojun Yuan), (In particular, they are all "Wuye tuning", which is the tuning I used in my "Song of the Western Regions" ), are the stories of Chinese women marrying the Xiongnu...

The Western Regions are a place parted in life and separated by death...
-----------------------------------------
From Yves' Facebook:
For the New York Guqin Society August 22nd, 2021 yaji ('elegant gathering'), I suggested to guqin interpret/teacher Peiyou Chang to transcribe Akira Ifukube's Chant de la Sérinde originally written for 25-string koto.
Intrigued by the name Sérinde and why a Japanese composer would use a French title for his 'musings' about Central Asia, I presented the results of my research in a Google Docs presentation (3).
1) Chant de la Sérinde, solo for 25-string koto, by composer Akira Ifukube; interpret Keiko Nosaka who commissioned the piece to Ifukube.
2) Chant de la Sérinde on Guqin, transcriped and interpreted by Peiyou Chang
3)Google Docs presentation: Yves Seban
---------------------------------------------
8/27/2021

Huáng zhōng / Wú Yè Mode's pieces in Shénqí Mìpǔ
神奇秘譜中黃鐘調(也就是無射調)的曲目:

Huángyún Qiusài (Yellow Cloud Autumn Frontier)

Big Hújiā,
"Jia" is a reed instrument,
"Hu" means non-Han nationalities living in the north and west of China in ancient times.


Dàyǎ, Great Elegant

黃鐘調(無射調) 在古琴曲裡使用到的主音仍以do, re, me, sol, la, 為主,但偶而會加入fa and si/ti.
西域之歌則用到了所有七音, 並多一個#sol (or 降la)

Wednesday, July 28, 2021