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Art Illustrating Guqin Melodies / 18 Blasts of the Nomad Flute | 首頁 |
Illustrations for 18 Songs of a Nomad Flute
1
18 scenes to accompany Da Hujia (Nomad Reed Pipe, Long Version), copied by Bai Yunli 2 |
胡笳十八拍圖
白雲立 |
Just as there have been a number of qin melodies on the present theme, there have also been various fine art depictions. The earliest version of the present scroll dates from the Song dynasty. The Boston Museum of Fine Arts has what might be the Song original, but it consists of only several leaves. The New York Metropolitan Museum of Art has a complete scroll copied in the Ming dynasty. Several other museums also have copies. Each of the 18 scenes corresponds, in order, to a verse of the 18 verse poem written ca. 770 CE by Liu Shang telling the story of the abduction of Cai Wenji by Central Asian nomads at the end of the Han dynasty.3 The titles that accompany each illustration here are the titles of the qin melody Da Hujia. Because each title is also a line from the corresponding verse of the poem, the poem, the painting and the melody (as on my recording: see timings) match perfectly.
View Illustration 1 (also 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14 / 15 / 16 / 17 / 18 )
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Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)
1.
Hujia Shibapai: "18 Songs" or "18 Blasts of the Nomad Reed Pipe"
The scroll shown here is a hand copy made from an original in the Metropolitan Museum of New York, as published by them in Robert A. Rorex and Wen Fong, Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute, The Story of Lady Wen-Chi (New York, 1974). The book says that the Museum's copy was probably made in the 14th century from an original that had been done by painters in the court of Song emperor Gaozong (r. 1127 - 1163). At one time it was possible to view the Metropolitan scroll online, together with a translation by Wilt Idema and Beata Grant (as Eighteen Stanzas for the Barbarian Reed Pipe) of the accompanying poem by 劉商 Liu Shang. The Chinese title of the scroll is 胡笳十八拍 Hujia Shiba Pai.
Although the details of the scroll fit better with the melody called
Da Hujia, the title of the scroll, Hujia Shibapai, is most commonly associated with a related Qing dynasty qin melody of that title. As for the "pai" of "Hujia Shiba Pai", it generally means "rhythm" or "beats". For the scroll it is translated as "songs" because there are 18 verses or songs accompanying the scroll. For the melody it is here translated "blasts", suggesting the music of the "nomad flute" (hujia, which might also be translated as "barbarian reed pipe"). Note, however, that in its earliest known mention, at the end of each of the four sections of the ancient melody Jieshi Diao You Lan I refer to these sections as "movements", as
further discussed here.
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2.
Copying the Hujia scroll
白雲立 Bai Yunli lives in Hangzhou. His version of the scroll was based largely on the Metropolitan Museum of New York scroll mentioed in the previous footnote.
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3.
The poem 胡笳十八拍 Hujia Shibapai by 劉商 Liu Shang
The poem had before it a 胡笳曲序 Preface to the Hujia Melody; see details under YFSJ Hujia Shiba Pai.
The complete original text of this poem (translation of each verse is with the related picture) is as follows (compare the poem attributed to Cai Wenji herself):
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