The meeting was said to have taken place on Mount Tu in Kuaiji, the ancient name of a region near Shaoxing, southeast of Hangzhou, not far from the coast. Mount Tu was also said to have been the home of Yu's wife. While this is sometimes said to have been in Kuaiji, her birth place is more often associated with a Tushan in Anhui province.⁶

This is another melody attributed to the famous qin player Mao Minzhong, who flourished at the end of the Southern Song dynasty in Hangzhou, its capital. The Zheyin Shizi Qinpu version, which is related but quite different, is also attributed to Mao. Both prefaces say that the melody was created at the beginning of the Yuan dynasty (1280-1368) in protest against the barbarian Yuan government (see also #40 Qiao Ge).⁷

Using the title (Shangguo) Guanguang (Making a Tour of [the Great Country]⁸) for Yu Hui Tushan occurs in qin handbooks beginning in the middle of the 16th century. However, it quite possibly comes from a story told by Wang Feng (1319-1388) in the preface to his poem Hearing Qin Master Ye's Guanguang Cao. He here relates that Mao Minzhong, having gone to the new capital, Beijing, with the qin players Ye Lanpo and Xu Qiushan, died while preparing to play a piece of this title before Kublai Khan. Wang later heard Ye Lanpo's grandson play Guan Guang Cao, presumably the same melody.⁹

These titles survive in 37 handbooks to 1876.¹⁰ The Zheyin version adds lyrics and gives titles to each section. However, it has only 12 sections, so the titles used here are from the Xilutang Qintong version. The only other available recording of this title is of the Zheyin version (cf. My CD, Music Beyond Sound ).

In the Shen Qi Mi Pu Table of Contents there is a marginal note next to Yu Hui Tushan saying "Huitong Yin (Royal Gathering Prelude) was not selected". Huitong Yin later appears as a prelude to Yu Hui Tushan.¹¹

 
Original Preface¹²

The Emaciated Immortal says,

the composition of this piece was done by Mao Minzhong. Emperor Yu of the Xia dynasty succeeded to his rank after Emperor Shun bestowed it on him. Yu then traveled south where he inspected Mount Tu in Kuaiji. The prosperity of Yu and (his predecessor) Emperor Shun continued. (Yu then) called together all the nobles of his kingdom, and the myriad countries came paying homage with gifts of jade and silk. There has never been an atmosphere of grandeur greater than this. At the beginning of the barbarian Yuan dynasty this melody was thus written thinking back on the virtues of the Song dynasty, and its feelings are in this.

 
Music
14 sections (Titles¹³ are from Xilutang Qintong, 1525)

(00.00) 01. Imperial tour around the country
(00.55) 02. Crossing the (Yangzi) river
(01.40) 03. The yellow dragon carries the boat
(02.10) 04. The commission accords with the Way of Heaven
(02.32) 05. Royal stop at Mount Tu
(03.16) 06. Jade and cloth (as money) from the myriad territories
(03.47) 07. The princes arrive to request orders
(04.14) 08. Encouraging promotions and demotions
(04.42) 09. All the princes tremble with fright
(05.10) 10. Repairing the principles of government
(05.32) 11. Rulers and officials congratulate each other
(06.04) 12. Etiquette is clarified and problems are stopped
(06.38) 13. The jingling sound of jade ornaments
(07.23) 14. Assembled carriages turn around
(08.18) --- play harmonics of this mode
(08.33) --- Composition ends

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Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page) 夏禹

1. Yu Hui Tusham 禹會塗山)
25449.75 禹會村 Yuhui cun is a village in Anhui; 5429.5 塗山 Tushan identifies mountains in Anhui, Zhejiang and Sichuan. All claim association with the wife of Emperor Yu. Yu's native place is sometimes said to have been Sichuan. 5429.6 Tushan Ge (塗山歌) is attrib. to Yu of Xia 夏禹 when he married a woman of Tu.
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2. Zhi mode (徵調 Zhi diao)
For more on this mode see Shenpin Zhi Yi.
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3. Image
See details with this larger image.
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4. Book of History reference
William H. Nienhauser, ed., The Grand Scribe's Records, Vol. I. Taiwan, SMC Publishing House, 1996 (originally Indiana University Press, 1994). Pages 32 and 38.
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5. 會稽 Kuaiji (or Guiji, or Huiji)
The present reference seems to be either a place in Shaoxing or the region around Shaoxing. Today in Shaoxing there is a 禹廟 Yu Miao, part of what is today called the Mausoleum of Emperor Yu.

14636.156 mostly refers to this region, but mentions other places as well:

1. 會計也 Same as Huiji, giving its earliest reference 史記，夏記贊 Shi Ji Book 2, end: 或言禹會諸侯江南，計功而崩，因葬焉，命曰會稽。會稽者，會計也。Nienhauser, GSR, Vol. 1, p.38, translates this: "Some say Yu met the feudal lords south of the (Yangzi) to assess their merits and died there. Accordingly he was buried there. The place was named Kuaiji. 會稽 Kuaiji means 會計 'gather together to evaluate'."
2. 山名 name of a mountain (or hill) south of Qingdao in Shandong;
   another on the southeast side of 紹興 Shaoxing (this has the longest commentary).
3. 道名 the name of a road near Shaoxing; the reference is modern.
4. 郡名 the name of a commandery 秦置 established in Qin dynasty; it included parts of eastern Jiangsu and western Zhejiang, centered on 蘇州 Suzhou.
5. 縣名 the name of a county established in the Sui dynasty; in the Republican period the name was changed to Shaoxing.

5/791 會稽 says today this is pronounced "guiji"; it mentions a mountain or hill near Shaoxing and a commandery as above.
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6. There was no Kuaiji associated with Anhui province. Modern Shaoxing city maps show a small hill named Tushan (涂山, which seems to be the simplified version of 塗山); Anhui maps have this Tushan just outside the city of 懷遠 Huaiyuan. Kuaiji Mountains Park, south of Shaoxing, does not have a Tushan.
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7. Zheyin adds at the end, "Ah! The peace of people in former times transposed into the music of today. What to you think of that!" The versions of 1531 and 1539 have no commentary. 1546 and 1547 also have no commentary, but a subtitle says it is "also called Shangguo Guanguang". 1525, which calls it Guan Guang but adds that it is also called Yu Hui Tushan, has a short afterword telling the flood story. No surviving qin handbook mentions playing for Kublai Khan (see next footnote).
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8. 上國觀光; (Shang Guo Guanguang) 17.505; 上國 (shang guo 17.xxx; 觀光 (guanguang 35820.38) gives an old meaning concerned with doing rituals properly; nothing related to here.
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9. Playing the qin for Kublai Khan
This information is summarized in 許健 Xu Jian, 琴史初編 Qin Shi Chubian. 王逢 Wang Feng, 聽葉琴師觀光操 Hearing Qin Master Ye's Guanguang Cao, is included in 琴書大全 Qinshu Daquan Folio 19B (see QQJC Vol. V, p.438). 21295.1218 has three men named Wang Feng; one is Tang, one is early Sung, so this must be the third one (see also Zhongguo Lidai Renming Dacidian, p.125). 葉蘭坡 Ye Lanpo and 徐秋山 Xu Qiushan were well-known qin players.
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10. Tracing Yu Hui Tushan
See Zha Guide 6/60/89
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11. 會同引 Huitong Yin: Royal Gathering Prelude
14636.27 huitong gives quotes from Book of Songs #179, Lun Yu Book XI, but has nothing related to music. The earliest surviving qin version dates from 1525. Huitong Yin, three sections, appears later in at least six handbooks, often preceding Yu Hui Tushan.

The SQMP Table of Contents says "會同引不取" (Huitong Yin bu qu）. Huitong Yin (bu qu). It is unclear why it was not selected, and why its omission was especially noted.
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12. Original preface
For the original Chinese preface see 禹會塗山.
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13. The original Chinese titles are as follows:

01. 巡狩方岳
02. 自江而濟
03. 黃龍負舟
04. 奉若天道
05. 駐蹕塗山
06. 萬方玉帛
07. 述職請命
08. 勸賞黜陟
09. 諸侯震疊
10. 綱紀脩明
11. 君臣胥慶
12. 風清弊絕
13. 環珮鏗鏘
14. 屬車旋軫
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