Stories of Qin Players in Ancient China - I

On 3/24/2019 the 3rd International On-line Guqin Yaji, Peiyou gave a brief talk of three stories of qin players in the Spring Autumn period.

Before the first dynasty of Imperial China, Qin, there were many feudal states, like small countries, and they constantly fought among those countries. In Chinese history, these unpeaceful periods were called the Spring Autumn period and the Warring States period. They were called the Spring Autumn period, for two reasons:

First,  according to the date of the year, and the order of the four seasons, the historical officials of the Lu State (where Confucius was from)  recorded the major events of the countries in the Spring and Autumn Period. Second, the ancient events occurred frequently in the spring and autumn seasons. Therefore, people generally call the chronicle "Spring and Autumn."

Here I have two maps to show some geographic concepts between China now and back then during the Spring Autumn Period. You can see the major two big rivers, the Yellow river in the north and the Yangzi River in the south, and those feudal states were located in the lower reaches of both rivers during the Spring Autumn period.

There is the Wu state, which is the yellow green color on the right side of the map, and that area was and still is the most rich land in China. The lineage of the qin school we are following, which is the "Wumen" (Gate of Wu) qin school, came from this Wu area. On the north side of the Wu state is the Lu state where Confucius and Shi Xiang, one of the qin players I will talk about, were from. On the left of the map is the Qin state which later became the Qin empire, after the First Emperor of Qin unified all the states.  Next to the Qin state is the Jin state, where another qin player I will talk about, Shi Kuang, was from.  And the qin player, Zhong Yi was from the Chu state.

The first qin player I will talk about is Zhong Yi who was a hereditary court musician from the Chu state, majoring in zither.  The Chu state was known for its distinct music and shamanistic rituals. In 1977, China unearthed a very important archaeological site, the Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng and found many musical instruments including the magnificent bronze bells. The location of the Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng is in a village called Sui which was in the Chu State. This find, gives us a sense that the Chu state music could have been developed to a high level.

The story about Zhong Yi is that back in his time, the Chu state was friendly to the Zheng State. The Jin State was not happy about that and caught the Duke Cheng of Zheng while the duke was visiting Jin. Jin then had their troops attack Zheng. The Zheng state sent a messenger for peace along with the Chu court musician Zhong Yi. The messenger was killed by Jin and Zhong Yi was kept as a prisoner. One day the Duke of Jin patrolled the military jail and saw Zhong Yi, and asked the warden: The tied prisoner wearing a southern hat, who is he? The warden answered: Chu prisoner dedicated by Zheng. The Duke of Jin requested the warden to untie Zhong Yi and let him come to the Duke’s office. When Zhong Yi was in the Duke’s office, he knelt down and bowed to the Duke a couple times. The Duke then asked Zhong Yi about his family, Zhong Yi answered that his family are musicians. Duke Jin asked: Can you perform music? Zhong Yi answered: Playing music is the mission from my ancestors, I dare not to do any other job. Duke Jin had someone bring Zhong Yi a zither and asked him to play. Zhong Yi played a southern melody. Duke Jin asked him more questions about the leader of Chu and Zhong Yi’s answers were praised by one of Duke Jin’s military leaders Fan Wenzi. Fan commended that Zhong Yi is a gentleman who respects his own leader and is loyal to his origins, is trustworthy, and suggested Duke Jin to let Zhong Yi go back to Chu to maintain a good relationship between Jin and Chu. Duke Jin released Zhong Yi. A couple years later, Chu and Jin formed an alliance.

The next qin player I will talk about is Shi Kuang, who was a blind court musician, active around 572-532 BC from the Jin State, He was good at Qin and Se playing, and so sensitive to music that he could recognize which bronze bell was not tuned correctly while the bell was being made. There is a story about a Chinese proverb, "light up a candle to brighten the way"... Duke Ping of Jin one day asked Shi Kuang: I am 70 years old now, and want to study new knowledge, am I too late? Shi Kuang answered: Why not light up the candle? Duke Ping said: Is there an official making a joke with his king? Shi Kuang said: How dare a blind official like me make fun of his king? I heard that when a young man likes to learn, that is like the light is shining from the morning sun; When a middle aged man likes to learn, that is like the sun light from the midday; When an aged man likes to learn, that is like lighting up a candle to shine his way, isn't that stronger than walking in the dark?" Duke Ping then said: Well said.

The story of Confucius learning the qin piece "Praise the King Wen of Zhou" came from the book, Family Sayings of Confucius 孔子家語 from the 3rd century. This story is actually to praise Confucius. The story is: When 10 days after Confucius learned the piece “Praise the King Wen of Zhou” from Shi Xiang, Shi Xiang suggested that he move on to learn a new piece. But Confucius said that he felt that he hadn’t mastered the playing technique and rhythm yet.  After a period of time, Shi Xiang said to Confucius that he thought Confucius had achieved the playing techniques and rhythm and that he could move on to a new piece. Confucius then said that he had not got the meaning of the piece yet. After a period of time, Shi Xiang said to Confucius that now he had learned the meaning of the piece, he could move on to a new piece. Confucius said that he still had not been able to picture the spirit of King Wen from the playing yet. After a period of time, Shi Xiang heard Confucius’ playing of Wen Wang Cao and said to him:

“your playing has qualities of respectful and solemnity with deep thought; pleasant with lofty prospects.”

Confucius then said: “ I have gained the characters of King Wen who is slender and tall, dark; broad as looking at the ocean; truly a king of four states. If he is not the King Wen, who could be qualified?”

Shi Xiang was very impressed and stood up to bow to Confucius, then said:  “you are really talking about the Wen Wang Cao here."

A wise man playing the qin not only with good skill but also knowing the meaning behind it. Shi Xiang’s learning of the guqin was only to know the melody. Confucius was really far more talented than Shi Xiang. The old way of teaching qin playing was to teach the melody first without teaching the meaning behind the melody, and to let the learners figure out the meaning themselves. This way the learner would understand more deeply and be able to achieve success.

爛柯行 Lan Ke Xing, A journey of a decayed axe handle

唐朝詩人孟郊〈爛柯山石橋〉：

仙界一日內，人間千載窮，
雙棋未遍局，萬物皆爲空。
樵客返歸路，斧柯爛從風，
唯餘石橋在，猶自凌丹紅。

此曲頗有仙意
 "柯" 為斧柄. 一樵夫入山, 見一老一少正在下棋, 便把手上的斧頭放下, 專心的 觀棋, 不久, 少的轉頭對樵夫說: 你是否該回家了. 樵夫轉身要拾起自己的斧頭, 發現斧柄已腐朽, 原本鋒利的斧頭也殘鏽了, 原來樵夫入了仙境. 仙界一日, 人間早已千年...

Ming Dynasty, Xu Wei [Lanke Tu] 徐渭《爛柯圖》

"Ke" is the handle of an axe. A woodcutter entered a mountain, saw an old man and a young man playing chess. The woodcutter put down his axe , and stood there watching the chess game. Not too long after, the young man turn to him and said: Should you go home now? The woodcutter turned to pick up his axe but realized that the axe handle was decayed and the sharp knife was rusted. The woodcutter was actually entered a fairyland... One day in the fairyland, the human world has been thousands of years...

2018/11/1
李祐心先生演奏 Peformed by Mr. Li Yoxin
聽完李祐心的演奏, 讓我也想打此曲. 找出清朝的德音堂琴譜, 此曲為尹芝仙作.

2019/2/24
停了一段時間, 今日再度拿出此曲來練習. 越發欣賞此曲作曲者之心思.
Today, I pick up this piece after a long suspend. I enjoy to follow through the notation again, step by step, realizing how the composer (尹爾韜 Yǐn'ěr Tāo, around 1600-1678) arranged his fingers and notes and make this piece very interesting.

2019/4/27
小鎖, 背鎖 = 三聲
短鎖 = 五聲
長鎖 = 七聲

2019/11/14
Record my playing on silk strings. I still feel some parts can be interpreted differently.



About the composer: Yin Ye (Yin Er'tao/ Yin Zhixian)

尹曄, 字爾韜。大約生活於1606-1685, 明末清初浙江山陰人，喜好山水，遍遊三吳、八閩、淮、楚、瀟、湘各地名勝。善彈琴，明崇禎年間崇禎帝延攬天下善琴者，尹為文震亨推薦, 因而任為武英殿中書舍人，帝喜尹之琴聲, 賜號芝仙。晚居蘇州。著有《徽言秘旨》. 其學生孫淦結合[徽言秘旨] 及[尹芝仙琴譜] 重刊[徽言秘旨訂], 收錄了多首尹的創作: 
夏峯歌
蘇門長嘯 
歸來曲
安樂窩歌
魯風
歸去來辭
1721年汪天榮匯輯名家琴譜刊刻而成的[德音堂琴譜] 亦收綠有尹爾韜創作的琴曲, 還包括"爛柯行" 及 "參同契"

Yin Ye 尹曄, lived around 1606-1685, his style name was  Er'tao 爾韜. The last emperor of the Ming dynasty, Chongzhen Emperor 崇祯, (Zhu Youjian 朱由檢 1611-1644) lured qin masters to work at the Wuying palace 武英殿 for him. Yin Er'tao was recommended by Wen Zhengheng 文震亨 who was a scholar and artist, working at the Wuying palace at that time. (Wen Zhengheng was a Ming dynasty scholar, painter, landscape garden designer, and great grandson of Wen Zhengming, a famous Ming dynasty painter.)

Chongzhen liked Yin's qin playing and compositions very much and bestowed the name "Zhixian" 芝仙. Zhi is a kind of rare herb. Xian means an immortal being.  In 1647, Yin published a qin handbook, Huiyan Mizhi 徽言秘旨, which has collected all the music he studied. In 1692, his student Sun Gan 孫淦 republished the Huiyan Mizhi Ding 徽言秘旨訂, which combined the Huiyan Mizhi and Yin Zhixian Qinpu 尹芝仙琴譜 including several of Yin's compositions. The following list of his compositions were composed after the fall of the Ming dynasty when he was living in seclusion on Sumen Mountain in Henan Province. These melodies convey his regrets and sorrow of losing his country, and was highly respected by many adherents of the Ming dynasty.

夏峯歌 Xia Feng Ge, Song of the Xiafeng (Xiafeng was a village in the Sumen mountain area. This Song has lyrics.)

蘇門長嘯 Sumen Changxiao, Long Roar of Sumen, (inspired by the story of Ruan Ji and Sun Deng who both lived during the Three Kingdom period of China.)

歸來曲 Gui Lai Qu, The Melody of Coming Home (with lyrics)

安樂窩歌 An Le Wuo Ge, Song of Comfortable Nest (with lyrics)

魯風 Lu Feng, Wind of Lu

歸去來辭 Gui Qu Lai Ci, Ode to Coming Away Home (based on Tao Yuanming's poem, with a different melody from other pieces of the same name)

Yin also composed Lan Ke Xing 爛柯行(A Journey of A Decayed Axe Handle), and Can Tong Qi 參同契 (The Kinship of the Three, in Accordance with the Book of Changes)

Yin learned the guqin in his early teen years with Wang Benwu 王本吾. Ming dynasty scholar Zhang Dai 张岱  also learned the guqin with Wang Benwu, and wrote an article [Shaoxing Qin School] 紹興琴派 which mentioned that Wang Benwu's qin style was described as "clean and smooth fingering technique with a little bit of unctuousness". Unctuous means: (of a person), excessively or ingratiatingly flattering; oily. "指法圓靜, 微帶油腔".  Zhang Dai also mentioned that compared to Yin Er'tao's qin playing with their teacher, Er'tao got 80 to 90 percent of Wang's skill but a little bit of "Yu", Yu can mean circuitousness or stubbornness. 爾韜得本吾之八九而微迂  . Zhang Dai also mentioned that he and Er'tao and another student played 4 qins together with their teacher, and the sound came out like from one qin. That shows they played exactly like their teacher. Zhang Dai's article inspired me to discuss a little bit more of the left hand ornamental vibratos of the piece, Lan Ke Xing composed by Yin Er'tao. I believe those vibratos can be the major reason to distinguish different styles and hope to get some closer sense of  what "unctuousness" might sound like.

The left hand ornamental vibratos:

Zhuang -- A quick and tight up and down, happening after the indicated string has been plucked

Huang -- Similar to Zhuang, but happening simultaneously while plucking the indicated string. This technique is the key to "unctuousness" I feel.

Resources:
Yan Xiaoxing -- Exam and Verify Historical Records of The Guqin Master Yin Er'tao (published in 2010 Wuhan Musical Conservatory Journal [Huang Zhong] first volume)
Yan's Sina Blog

Taking the Principles of Practicing Taichi to the qin playing

Playing qin is pretty much related to practicing Taichi (or Taijiquan). Here I attempted to translate the 10 principles of practicing Taichi to English. The Chinese part was taken from Zhengzi Taichiquan.

Many concept are not easy to translate due to my limited English skill. If anyone has better idea, please let me know. I'll be very appreciate it.

一、虛靈頂勁：頂勁者，頭容正直，神貫於頂也。不可用力，用力則項強血氣不能流通，須有虛靈自然之意。非有虛靈頂勁，則精神不能提

1,  Xū líng dǐng jìn : "Xu" means empty, humble, void or abstract, the opposite of solid, or concrete. "Ling" means spirit. "Ding Jin" means that the head is upright, so the spirit goes to the top. However, don't use force. Using force, the neck will become stiff and the blood circulation won't be smooth. Keep the idea of emptiness and nature. If there is no emptiness, then the spirit and energy cannot be raised.

二、含胸拔背：含胸者，胸略內涵，使氣沉於丹田也。胸忌挺出，挺出則氣擁於胸際，上重下輕，腳根易於浮起。拔背者，氣貼於背也。能含胸則自能拔背，能拔背則力能由背發，所向無敵也。

2, Hánxiōng bá bèi : Han Xiong means that the chest is a little bit sunk in, in order to let the energy go down to the Dantian. Make sure that the chest is not elongated and standing out. If the chest is elongated and out, the qi energy will all stay in the chest area, and that will cause a heavier top and lighter bottom, and the heels will become unstable. While the back should be a little bit pulled, in order to enable the force energy to come out from the back to protect the whole body to be invincible.

三、鬆腰：腰為一身主宰，能鬆腰後兩足有力，下盤穩固。虛實變化，皆由腰動。故曰命意源頭在腰際，有不得力，必於腰腿求之也。

3,   Sōng yāo, loosen waist:  Our waist dominates the whole body. If one can loosen the waist, then the two legs become stronger, and the lower part of the body becomes stable. All the changes of abstract and concrete are ruled by the action of the waist.  Therefore, the source of energy is at the waist. If there is no effective energy, one must be pursued from the waist and legs.

四、分虛實：太極拳以分虛實為第一義。如全身皆坐在右腿，則右腿為實，左腿為虛。全身坐在左腿，則左腿為實，右腿為虛。虛實能分，而後轉動輕靈，毫不用力。如不能分，則邁步重滯，自立不穩， 而易為人所牽動。

4,   Fēn xūshí,  distinguish the "abstract (emptiness)" and "concrete (solidness)": The most important principle of Taichiquan is the distinguishing of abstract and concrete. If the weight is on the right leg, then the right leg is the concrete one and the left leg is the abstract one, and vice versa.  After distinguishing the abstract and concrete, then the movement will become more easy without using any force. If one cannot distinguish the abstract and concrete, the steps will become heavy and stagnant, and standing will become unstable and easy to be pushed by others.

五、沉肩墜肘：沉肩者，肩鬆開下垂也。若不能鬆垂，兩肩端起，則氣亦隨之而上，全身皆不得力矣。墜肘者，肘往下鬆墜之意。肘若懸起，則肩不能沉，放人不遠，近於外家拳之斷勁矣。

5, Chén Jiān Zhuì Zhǒu, drop shoulders and elbows: Shoulders should be relaxed and sagging, otherwise the shoulders will be shrugging, and the qi energy will follow the shoulder up, which will cause the whole body not to have efficient energy.  While the elbows are also dropped, so shoulders won't shrug. This way the energy won't be easily broken by outside force.

六、用意不用力：太極拳論所云，全是用意不用力。練太極拳，全身鬆開，不使有絲毫之拙力以留滯於筋骨血脈之間，以自束縛，然後能輕靈變化，圓轉自如。或疑不用力，何以能長力？蓋人身之有經絡，如地之有溝洫。溝恤不塞而水行，筋絡不閉而氣通。如渾身僵勁充滿經絡，氣血停滯，轉動不靈，牽一髮而全身動矣。若不用力而用意，意之所屆，氣即至焉。如是氣血流注，日日貫輸，周流全身，無時停滯，長久練習，則其真正內勁，即太極拳論中所云，極柔軟然後能極堅剛也。太極拳功夫純熟之人，臂膊如棉裹鐵，分量極沉。練外家拳者，用力則顯有力，不用力時則甚輕浮，可見其力乃外勁浮面之勁也。外家拳之力最易引動，不足尚也。

6, Yòngyì bùyòng lì, using mind but not using force: All the theory that Taijiquan talks about is on the idea of using the mind but not using the force. Practicing Taijiquan, the whole body has to be loose, in order not to let any clumsy energy stay in between blood and vessels, muscles and bones to constrain oneself. Then one can move easily and freely. When there is no energy blockage, then the mind can guide the qi energy to wherever the intention is. After much practicing, blood and qi energy flows through the whole body without blockage, and one can gain the real inner force. As Taijiquan theory often says that after the extreme soft, is the extreme power. When you see a master of Taijiquan, his or her arms are like iron covered with cotton, full of inner force.

七、上下相隨：上下相隨者，即太極拳論中所云，其根在腳，發於腿，主宰於腰，形於手指，由腳而腿而腰，總須完整一氣也。手動腰動足動，眼神亦隨之動，如是方可謂上下相隨，有一不動，即散亂也。

7, shàngxià xiāng suí, up and down coordinate with each other: The root is at the feet, developed to the legs, ruled by the waist, formed to the fingers, all that has to achieve as a whole. Hand moves, waist moves, feet moves, and the eyes also follow the movement, then it is said the up and down are coordinated with each other. If there is one part not following the movement, that is scattered.

八、內外相合：太極所練在神，故云神為主帥，身為軀使。精袖能提得起自然舉動輕靈。架子不外虛實開合。所謂開者，不但手足開，心意亦與之俱開；所謂合者，不但手足合，心意亦與之俱合：能內外合為一氣，則渾然無間矣。

8, Nèiwài xianghé, inside and outside matched: Taiji practicing is focused on the spirit (or mind), so it is called that the spirit is the master, and the body is driven by the master. The forms are basically no more than "opening" and "combining",  "abstract" and "concrete". "Open" means not only the hands and legs are open, but the mind is open as well. "Combine" means not only the hands and legs are coordinated, the mind is also merged. Inside and outside are as a whole, without any space in between.


九、相連不斷：外家拳術，其勁乃後天之拙勁，故有起有止，有續有斷。舊力已斷，新力未生地時，最易為人所乘。太極拳用意不用力，自始至終，綿綿不斷，周而復始，循環無窮，原論所謂，如長江大河滔滔不絕。又曰，運勁如抽絲，皆言其貫串一氣也。

9, Xiānglián bùduàn, continuous connection without any break: If the force has any break, the old force cannot connect to the new force, that is the weakest time to let outside force to take advantage. Taijiquan does not use force but mind, from the beginning to the end, continuous, round and round, endless cycle. Just like the endless flow in the Long River. It is also like pulling a silk thread, which all mean the continuous energy.

十、動中求靜動靜合一：外家拳以跳擲為能，用盡氣力，故練習之後，無不氣喘者。太極拳以靜制動，雖動猶靜。故練架子愈慢愈好，慢者呼吸深長。氣沉丹田，自無血脈僨張 之弊。學者細心體會，庶可得其意焉。

10, Dòng zhōng qiú jìng dòngjìng hé yī, While moving, seeking the stillness; the moving and the stillness are as one:  Too much jumping up and down will use too much energy. Taijiquan is using the stillness to control the moving energy. The slower the better for practicing all movements. When it is slow, the breath will be long. The qi energy will sink to the Dantian, therefore there will be no problem caused by sudden excitement. The learner should carefully experience it, then one can understand the essential meaning.