Song Yu
Song Yu
- Qin Shi #44
|
宋玉 1
琴史 #44 2
Song Yu mourns 3
|
Song Yu (ca. 290 - ca. 223) is said to have been a nephew of
Qu Yuan, as well as his disciple, but nothing about Song Yu is certain.
A supposed conversation between Song Yu and King Wei of Chu is related by Liu Xiang in his Xin Xu. See Qinshu Daquan,
Folio 16, #33.
In a 賦 fu (Rhapsody) called Rhapsody on Persuasion (諷賦 Feng Fu) he is said to have written about
playing You Lan on the qin, but the attributation of the poem to Song Yu is not certain.4
See also Song Yu Bei Qiu and Yan Guo Hengyang.
The original Qin Shi essay begins as follows.
Song Yu was a man of Chu and a disciple of Qu Yuan. He was a good writer of rhapsodies (fu poems) that express great sadness and 曲 qu songs that extended lyrical commentary. 楚威王 King Wei of Chu once asked him (this story is also in Wen Xuan) who would not praise him, since he was such a good person. Song Yu said, Once there was a visitor who sang there in 郢 Ying (the capital of Chu). First he sang (the folk tune) 下里巴人 Xiali Baren, and thousands of people accompanied him. Then he sang 陽陵 Yang Ling and 采薇 Cai Wei and hundreds accompanied him. When he sang
Yang Chun and
Bai Xue dozens accompanied him, but when he sang 引商 Yin Shang and 刻角 Ke Jiao mixed with 流徵 Liu Zhi only a few accompanied him because the better the tune, the fewer will be those who appreciate it. What Song Yu says here is also applicable to the qin, as is proven elsewhere by the fact that Song Yu is said to have once taken up his qin and played the melodies 和竹 He Zhu and 積雪 Ji Xue. Also, the older the qin tune the easier it is to play it incorrectly....
Further details in preparation.
Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a
separate page)
1.
Song Yu 宋玉
7230.63
(Return)
2.
10 lines
(Return)
3.
Closeup of Image 1 from
Jiu Bian illustrations.
4.
Rhapsody on Persuasion (Feng Fu)
The original text is
楚襄王時，宋玉休歸。唐勒讒之於王曰：「玉為人身體容冶，口多微詞，出愛主人之女，入事大王，願王疏之。」玉休還，王謂玉曰：「玉為人身體容冶，口多微詞，出愛主人之女，入事寡人，不亦薄乎？」玉曰：「臣身體容冶，受之二親；口多微詞，聞之聖人。臣嘗出行，僕飢馬疲，正值主人門開，主人翁出，嫗又到市，獨有主人女在。女欲置臣，堂上太高，堂下太卑，乃更於蘭房之室，止臣其中。中有鳴琴焉，臣援而鼓之，為《幽蘭》《白雪》之曲。主人之女，翳承日之華，披翠雲之裘，更被白谷之單衫，垂珠步搖，來排臣戶曰：『上客無乃飢乎？』為臣炊雕胡之飯，烹露葵之羹，來勸臣食，以其翡翠之釵，掛臣冠纓，臣不忍仰視。為臣歌曰：『歲將暮兮日已寒，中心亂兮勿多言。』臣復援琴而鼓之，為《秋竹》《積雪》之曲，主人之女又為臣歌曰：『內怵惕兮徂床，橫自陳兮君之傍。君不御兮妾誰怨，日將至兮下黃泉。』玉曰：『吾寧殺人之父，孤人之子，誠不忍愛主人之女』。」王曰：「止止。寡人於此時，亦何能已也！」
The source is given as 古文苑.
(Return)
Return to QSCB,
or to the Guqin ToC.