Zhuang Zhenfeng (ca. 1624 - after 1667), style name Die'an, was from Sanshan, which is either Yangzhou or Nanjing. Apparently born in Yangzhou, while young he followed his father to Nanjing, becoming a well-known qin master there.³ His students included Jiang Xingchou, who later went to Japan and became the monk Shin-Etsu.⁴ Zhuang is best known through his qin handbook Qinxue Xinsheng, originally published in 1664 (details).⁵

Qinxue Xinsheng, in two folios, has 14 melodies. All but the third, the Buddhist chant Shitan Zhang, were his own compositions.⁶ Most notable of these are:

• Wuye Wu Qiufeng, still popular today
• Li Yun Chun Si, later published in Japan as Caotang Yin.⁷

Eight of the melodies have lyrics.

After saying Zhuang was from Yangzhou, the biography here says Zhuang was a good qin player particularly friend with and praised by Han Jiang, adding that he was good at selecting the right wood for making qins. The rest of it seems to be a quote from what it says is a preface by 毛稚黃 Mao Zhihuang, but I cannot find that preface in the QQJC copy of Qinxue Xinsheng. It seems to connect Zhuang and Han with Hangzhou, where Zhuang particularly enjoyed the scenery of West Lake.

 
Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1. Zhuang Zhenfeng references
莊臻鳳 Bio/611 and Zha Fuxi's preface (XII/p.I) say 字蝶菴 style name Die'an, from 三山（金陵） Sanshan (Nanjing), but 琴史續 Qinshi Xu #174 says he was "揚州人 a man of Yangzhou". Xu Jian (p.153), who gives his dates as ca. 1624 - after 1667, also says he was from Yangzhou, but that when he was young he followed his father to Nanjing. (Note that his near contemporary Zhang Dai also had the nickname Die'an.)
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3. The Qinshi Xu biography says he was good at selecting wood for qins, so perhaps he also made them, or supervised their making.
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4. Presumably this teaching took place in Nanjing, but I have not seen direct mention of this.
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5. 琴學心聲 Qin Xue Xinsheng (1664; XII.1 )
By Zhuang Zhenfeng (莊臻鳳 Bio/611) of Nanjing (金陵), teacher of Shin-Etsu
Its 2 folios have 14 melodies; 8 have lyrics. All but the Buddhist chant Shitan Zhang were Zhuang's own compositions, appearing here for the first time, including the popular Wuye Wu Qiufeng. Van Gulik, Lore, p.231, mentions the presence of his handbook in Japan.

Qin Xue Xinsheng Table of Contents

• Six prefaces (XII/3)
  By six different people: 袁一相 Yuan Yixiang
  嚴沆     Yan Hang
  查培繼 Zha Peiji
  鄭旭     Zheng Xu
  梁知先 Liang Zhixian
  莊臻鳳 Zhuang Zhenfeng himself
• Directions to the Reader (凡例 Fanli; XII/15)
  This is discussed in QSCB, Qing Dynasty, Qin essays (p.163)

• Table of Contents for Folio 1 (XII/17)

• 琴音之制 Creating Qin Melodies, by Zhuang Zhenfeng (XII/15)
  Then 61 further miscellaneous essays, charts, etc., ending with:
• 蝶庵琴聲十六法 16 Qin Sound Methods of Diean (Zhuang Zhenfeng, not Zhang Dai; XII/59)

• Table of Contents for Folio 2 (XII/62)
  Lists the 14 melodies, 8 with lyrics, each with a preface; of these (see Zha Guide 33-4):
      five are only here,
      four are only here and in Yiluxuan Qinpu (ca. 1802)
      one is the first of three
      one is the first of four
      one is the first of six
      one is the first of 23
      one was published earlier (and often later),
      #13 and #14 are in reverse order from here, with a note suggesting they may have been appended later

1. 太平奏 Taiping Zou (XII/65)
   10+1 sections; preface dated 1663; attributed revisions; lyrics (皇帝聖神....); only here
2. 禹鑿龍門 Yu Zuo Longmen (XII/70)
   12+1 sections; preface dated 1665; only here
3. 釋談章 Shitan Zhang (XII/73)
   Buddhist chant (南無佛陀也....); earliest was 1592; Zhuang Zhenfeng arranged the music; 10th of 51; attributed revisions
4. 梨雲春思 Li Yun Chun Si: Pear-White Clouds, Spring Thoughts (15403.xxx; 33/255/491; XII/78)
   10+1 sections; lyrics; first of 6; preface dated 1665; further details below
5. 瑤島問長生 Yaodao Wen Changsheng (XII/81)
   9+1 sections; lyrics (紅塵碧水....); only here and in ca. 1802
6. 早朝吟 Zaozhao Yin (XII/84)
   3 sections; lyrics (銀燭朝天....); only here
7. 空山磬 Kongshan Qing (XII/86)
   9 sections; first of four (others are 1702, ca. 1802 and 1876)
8. 修竹留風 Xiu Zhu Liu Feng (XII/89)
   16+1 sections; first of three (others are ca. 1802 and 1876 [XXI/185; calls it 修竹流風)
9. 臨河修禊 Lin He Xiuxi (XII/93)
   5 sections; lyrics from Wang Xizhi (永和九年....); see Xiuxi Yin; only here
10. 八公還童 Ba Gong Huan Tong (XII/96)
    10+1 sections; lyrics (遐哉穆滿....); only here and in ca. 1802
11. 雲中笙鶴 Yunzhong Shenghe (XII/101)
    24+1 sections; only here and in ca. 1802
12. 鈞天逸響 Jun Tian Yi Xiang (XII/107)
    10 sections; only here and in ca. 1802

    莊蝶菴琴學心聲跋 Epilogue by Zhuang Zhenfeng himself (XII/109)

    琴學心聲諧譜後序 Afterword to Qinxue Xinsheng Xiepu (1666; XII/110)

    琴學心聲跋 Epilogue to Qinxue Xinsheng (1664; XII/111)

    One appended folio

    范光文集古詩跋 Epilogue by Fan Guangwen about the old poems collected (1665; XII/1102)
    Shouldn't this be after p.164?

13. 栩栩曲 Xuxu Qu (XII/113)
    10 sections; no preface; lyrics (栩栩者蝶....) by 錢塘毛先舒稚黃氏譜詞; only here
14. 梧葉舞秋風 Wuye Wu Qiufeng (XII/116)
    清宮音 qinggong mode (5 6 1 2 3 5 6); first of 23 (but no later one is a copy of this); preface dated 1670

• Preface to Poems on Listening to Qin (聽琴詩序 Ting Qin Shi Xu; XII/118)
  By 楊雍建 Yang Yongjian, dated 1667
• 秋鴻序 A preface to (the 1425) Qiu Hong (XII/120)
  By Zhuang Zhenfeng
• Contents of Listening to the Qin (XII/120)
  1. First item is a 序 said to be 附自叙 but I cannot find it unless it was on XII/118
  2. After this are poems in 12 categories
     Begins with a 琴賦 Qin Rhapsody by 陸次雲 Lu Ciyun of Hangzhou (XII/121)
     Last category is 樂府 Yue Fu (XII/161)
  3. 跋 Epilogue (XII/???)
     Perhaps this begins with 湖上月夜聽琴酬莊蝶菴道翁 By (West?) Lake on a moonlit night listen to qin and toast the old Daoist Zhuang Die'an (XII/163), which say it 有跋 has an epilogue, but the marginal title indicates the Yuefu poems go right to the end (XII/164)
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6. New compositions by Zhuang Zhenfeng
The new melodies in Qinxue Xinsheng are generally marked "三山莊臻鳳蝶菴子製 Sanshan's Zhuang Zhenfeng, (style name) Die'an, made this himself."
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7. Pear-White Clouds, Spring Thoughts (梨雲春思 Li Yun Chun Si) (XII/78)
15403.xxx. The music for this melody, in 10+1 sections, had 莊臻鳳諧音 its sounds harmonized by Zhuang Zhenfeng, while the lyrics were "錢塘毛先舒稚黃氏校詞 revised by Hangzhou's Mao Xianshu young Mao family" (?); a postscript gives more details, suggesting Zhuang perhaps originally heard the melody from a friend and arranged it for qin. The lyrics begin, 輕暖破寒....(see more).

Zha Guide 33/255/491 lists Li Yun Chun Si in five handbooks, as follows:

1. Qinxue Xinsheng (1676; XII/78)
   Zha Guide says 原註：又名草堂闕 also called Caotang Que
2. Yiluxuan Qinpu (1802; XIX/230)
   "from 1676"
3. Erxiang Qinpu (1833; XXIII/151; this handbook also has Wuye Wu Qiufeng)
   Afterword says since 國初 there have been two composers 剡谿尹芝仙 Yin Ertao and Zhuang Zhenfeng, but whereas a number of Yin's pieces have been republished, not so with Zhuang.
4. Tianwenge Qinpu (1876; XXV/369)
   Seems to be same; source is given as 梅華庵 1833
5. Shuangqin Shuwu Qinpu Jicheng (1884; XXVII/345)
   Called simply 梨雲 Li Yun but Zhuang credited and the preface has something further on the transmission

Caotang Que (草堂闋 31629.173xxx; Grass Hall Closed), given by Zha as an alternate title in Qinxue Xinsheng, is mentioned in the preface to the melody (see XII/77, first line on bottom).

The 草堂吟 Caotang Yin published in Japan has as its lyrics the first four verses from here, but the music is different.
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