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The Qin in Popular Culture: Novels and Opera
1
For modern times see Guqin in film |
Boyi Kao and Daji 3 |
Novels and opera are not so far apart as some might assume. It has been said that what are here referred to as operas are actualy more like opera stories written as literature by people who perhaps at best imagined they might be performed. No music was provided, and apparently even at the time there were opera singers (and/or libretto writers) who said that these opera texts were not singable: the patterns of the "lyrics" simply didn't fit the tonal structures required for singing opera.4
Of course, it would be fascinating to hear how operas in ancient times might actually have looked and sounded. It is quite possible to imagine this for guqin because of its written tradition. For opera this seems much more difficult, but perhaps the best chance might be through examining certain Ming dynasty guqin scores. Some mention is made below and elsewhere of tablature that might possibly be related to opera melodies; see in particular the 1618 Feng Yun Hui Si Chao Yuan from the famous opera Pipa Ji. However, at present a proper study of the how the opera texts written below might have been sung, if at all, is beyond the scope of this page.
When it comes to qin actually being played in opera there is another problem. There have been many essays describing the silk string qin zither as an instrument solely for scholars and recluses, men of principle who exercised restraint. But how accurately did this represent the view of most educated Chinese? In the past, how did the literati interact with popular culture, and how was the qin depicted there?5 How did this change over time?6 And how has it been depicted in popular media, then as well as now?7
A perusal of existing qin melody titles shows that they do in fact most often deal with nature and the lofty and pure attitudes of qin players; and purists (some might say fundamentalists) even wrote that one shouldn't play the qin for merchants, courtesans, foreigners or other sorts of vulgar people.8 Certainly, they wrote, the instrument of the sages should not be associated with gain or romance, only with the Confucian desire to serve or the Daoist urge to remain aloof.9
On the other hand, it is important to note that depictions of the qin in popular culture often show the instrument in a somewhat different light. Novels and operas often mention the above attitudes towards the qin, but they also sometimes mock the pretence involved.11 They also temper these ideals with depictions of worldly activities. And the mention of qin is often confined to such stock phrases as "qin and books", qin and sword, and qin, chess, books and painting.
Relevant novels/stories and operas can be divided into two types, those which mention the qin, and those which have the same theme as qin melodies.12 A third category, opera melodies written in qin tablature, is to my knowledge as yet completely unstudied.
I. Novels and operas with significant reference to the qin (and/or specific qin melodies13):
Selective list, in rough chronological order, first novels then operas.
Novels:
(漁樵問答 Yu Qiao Wenda)
Note in particular my speculation comcerning the old phrase "君子和而不同".
Operas:
Tentatively added:
There are quite a few more novels and operas that can also be considered.14
II. Stories found in the repertoires of both qin and opera:
In addition, the
1833 commentary connecting Wild Geese on the Frontier
(塞上鴻 Saishang Hong) with kunqu suggests that this and hence perhaps other qin melodies may have been inspired by or even taken from opera. In this regard it could perhaps be useful to examine melody titles that have also been identified as qupai (opera tunes).17
III. Qin tablature for actual opera melodies?
However, a comment in QQJC suggests that there are several Qing dynasty handbooks to consider for this type of melody, including:
Today one can find opera melodies written out in Chinese number notation; this is a modern development from traditional systems such as the 工尺譜 gongche notation. Such traditional notation forms may date back as far as the Tang dynasty but the information they provide is quite skeletal. It was useful at the time, in particular providing a basis for improvisation, but is of limited use in trying to reconstruct an interrupted tradition.22
The question then to consider is whether the detail with which qin melodies were written down, when compared to the sketchy written indications of music in traditional libretti, might allow melodies actually written for guqin to help with the recovery of opera melodies. Such research should probably begin with melodies in the handbooks just listed. If one can compare these melodies with the same melodies in traditional opera handbooks that have the sketchy indications one can find for opera melodies, perhaps one can devise some guidelines to help reconstruct even more opera melodies. For earlier melodies one might then put special focus on melodies and commentary in qin handbooks that might seem specifically to have adapted opera melodies for guqin.
Comments by Zha Fuxi outlined in his article
Differentiating Qin Songs point out clearly some of the issues that would be involved in such an endeavor.
1.
The Qin in Popular Culture
Also worthy of study is the treatment of guqin in such modern media as
However, this website is more focused on classical times and so there is as yet no particular discussion of them here, though some of the stories are mentioned under Guqin in film.
3.
Image: Boyi Kao and Da Ji, from Fengshen Yanyi
4.
Were literary opera texts ever performed as opera?
5.
Literati and popular culture
The use of incense is discussed further
here.
6.
Changing attitudes towards guqin over time
7.
Guqin in modern media
8.
Restrictions on playing qin
9.
The qin ideology section has more on orthodox attitudes towards the qin.
11.
Satire on attitudes towards qin
12.
Opera titles often change or have variants. Only one title is included here.
13.
Specific qin melodies played or mentioned in novels and operas
See also the qupai below.
14.
Other novels and operas considered
Further novels:
There is also extensive mention of the qin in
Chapter 31 (online), as well as scattered references in other chapters.
Further operas: the first three, along with Story of the Western Chamber (西廂記 Xi Xiang Ji) above, are called the "四大名劇 Four Great Operas".
More specifically regarding the latter two operas, both concern 呂洞賓 Lü Dongbin (one of the Eight Immortals; see also under Ba Ji You). In the first opera, Lü, while on his way to the capital to take the exams, stops at an inn. While his millet cooks he has a dream in which he has a successful career but his wife cheats on him and he is about to be killed when he wakes up to find that the millet is not yet cooked. An immortal named Zhongli Quan (also written 鍾離權) explains the dream to Lü after which Lü, enlightened, also becomes an immortal.
In the latter opera Lü Dongbin is approached by a poor aspiring scholar named 盧生 Lu Sheng who complains about his difficult life. Lü lends a pillow to Lu, who then has a dream similar to the one Lü had had.
Meanwhile the illustration shown
here, called 漢鐘離度脫唐呂公 Han Zhongli Dutuo Tang Liu Gong (Zhongli [Quan] of the Han Released from Time Limitations [Meets] Master Lü of the Tang, is actually one of a
pair of illustrations specifically related to this story. It seems to be showing the Eight Immortals with Lü facing the other seven and Han Zhongli center front facing him. Behind him
Han Xiang is holding up a qin while Immortal Woman He (何仙姑 He Xiangu, Wiki) is holding her usual lotus flower.
Searching for more such references remains an ongoing process.
16.
Qu Pai (qupai) titles shared with qin melody titles
The ICTCL entry on qu seems to suggest an even stronger connection to opera. It says,
These 350 seem to be the so-called "qupai", though the ICTCL article does not specifically mention this term.
17.
Ming dynasty qin melody titles identified in
ZWDCD as qupai
This list was compiled by searching this site for 曲牌 or qupai, so it would have only yielded identified Yuan opera or opera tunes. Hence it does not include the titles listed above, which came later.
18.
Qin songs set for opera lyrics
19.
Qinxue Canbian (琴學參變; 1827?; QQJC XX/351-361; .pdf of original;
.pdf of modern commentary)
The preface in QQJC
(.pdf; by Zha Fuxi?) has three paragraphs; the first two mention five tone and seven tone scales, saying the latter have two "altered sounds" (變音 bianyin), i.e., half tones. Since the southern style of kunqu uses only five tones while the northern style adds the two "bianyin", the "參變 can bian" ("use bian?) of the title means the book has northern style kunqu melodies. In his third paragraph Zha says the handbook was copied by 錢一桂 Qian Yigui at the age of 74(?). He then seems to suggest there are examples from three operas, but the third title he gives is "詠花 Yong Hua", not "大紅袍 Da Hong Pao". It may be an alternate title. He also mentions here two other handbooks that have such melodies.
The items (melodies?) in the handbook are as follows (showing some or all of the lyrics):
(Further regarding the first item here, there was a song published in
Shuangqin Shuwu Qinpu Jicheng (1884) called 賞荷 Shang He, Appreciating Lotuses (see comment below, this original tablature [XXVII/349] and the
transcription by
Wang Di in her
Xian'ge Yayun). It has the following lyrics related to the Pipa Ji above:
However, the melody in 1884 (which as published in QQJC also does not seem to have any other opera-related melodies) is quite different (see also this comment).
Qinxue Canbian was not included in Zha's Guide and I am not clear on some of these titles. In addition, I have not yet yet confirmed the specifics of the opera connections.
20.
Zhang Jutian Qinpu (張鞠田琴譜; 1844; QQJC XXIII/209-340)
Zhang Jutian, from Zhaoyang (northeast of Yangzhou), was an artist as well as a qin player. There is further detail about him in QSCB
Chapter 9, p.172, entitled, "Zhang Jutian who dared to 'follow the inelegant'" (~1779 - ~1846). According to QSCB, some local songs had previously been adapted for qin (e.g., compare Cheng Xiong), but Zhang did it in a much larger way; he also added gongche notation (but no apparent note value indications). Later people who also made these sorts of settings included such players as Zhu Fengjie,
Zhang He and
Yang Shibai.
Zha Fuxi's preface to the handbook (attached .pdf) says "only the last 15 entries are traditional qin melodies. The rest, such as Yangguan Qu, Xie Ben, Ban Qiao Dao Qing, Tie Luo, Wu Gua Mei and Hua Gu from the 11 Kunqu melodies, come at the front...." All seem to have some sort of notation as well as the tablature. They are not strictly
paired in standard way.
A complete list of melodies in Zhang Jutian Qinpu is as follows. Note that at front there is a beginner's melody, then 11 pieces presumably with connection to opera (6 have been transcribed by Wang Di), then the last 14 melodies are traditional qin melodies):
(Traditional qin melodies:)
To my knowledge none of these melodies has been reconstructed from the tablature in thi20handbook.
22.
Recovering an interrupted tradition
Listed here are two articles by 徐芃 Xu Peng that have very interesting insights into the vocal styles of old Chinese songs. In them Prof. Xu discusses literary clues she has found about the styles in which late-Ming songs might have been sung.
Return to the top
or to the Guqin ToC
This opera includes a 張道南醉題青玉案; see top image)
Chronological listing; pre-Qing dynasty titles only
(LXS15
generally refers to these as qu or qupai16)
Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a
separate page)
For qin in popular art, see some preliminary comments under
Women and the qin. The page on Nanjing may also have useful references with regard to qin songs. Opera references are mostly to 崑曲 kunqu if only because there is much more literature on this opera than on other forms.
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The flavor of modern popular illustrations is usually very different from pre-modern illustrations (compare the old Boyi Kao). The above illustration accompanies Chapter 19 in the
1992 English edition of Fengshen Yanyi (thanks to David Keffer).
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The main complaint seems to have been that the "lyrics" did not have tonal patterns that could fit with opera melodies: perhaps the tendency of writers to show off literary skills was not helpful in writing arias that fitted in with the requirements of the sung repertoire of the time.
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R. H. Van Gulik (Lore, pp. 48-9) wrote the following about the reality of the rôle of the qin in Chinese society.
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James Watt's article The Qin and the Chinese Literati argues through analysis of paintings that from the Ming dynasty onward there was a shift from people naturally interacting with nature while playing the qin to people saying, "Look at me I am interacting with nature as I play the qin". This was perhaps connected to the rise of popular culture through commercial media such as printed books and popular opera.
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The focus of this page is qin references in classical times. For some more modern references see some Wikipedia pages, such as
answers.com and schools. The latter mentions a Cantonese feature film for which I wrote and played qin music, House of the Lute (1979). (2010 update: someone seems to have removed that mention. My own page on House of the Lute has a relevant appendix called Guqin in Film.)
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Certain handbooks list sets of rules for when and where not to play qin. Complementing these rules about for whom one should not play are the statements in the first three paragraphs of Zhu Quan's Shen Qi Mi Pu preface saying who should not be playing (but who were at that time). The modern reader then must decide: How many people actually followed these rules? Was Zhu Quan accurate? Perhaps this is simply evidence of the qin's broader role in society. In this regard it is interesting to note illustrations 35 and 36 in Van Gulik's Lore of the Chinese Lute (between pp.224 and 225). In one someone is playing a qin facing a woman (geisha?) playing a sanxian three string banjo. In the other some merchants are playing qin, sanxian, sheng mouth organ and xiao end-blown flute.
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Specific references to be added, but they include in particular the mention of qin in The Plum in the Golden Vase (Jin Ping Mei,
below).
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In opera the reality is that "played" means an actor pretends to play the melody; the music heard is probably unrelated. The melody titles include:
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In preparing this topic I have come across a number of works that mention qin but for which either the mention is not significant enough to warrant a separate page, or I have not yet found significant enough such information. Examples include:
This novel, attributed to 施耐庵 Shi Naian (ca. 1296—1372), today has 120 chapters but many scholars argue that Shi can be credited only with the first 70 or perhaps 100 of these, the rest having been added later. This online 120 chapter version mentions qin one time each in Chapters 2, 13, 38, 45, 53, 75, 85, 91, 97 and 108, and twice in Chapter 114. Generally they refer to it only as a symbol of culture, not to someone actually playing.
The main connection to the qin in this 14th century novel attributed to 羅貫中 Lo Guanzhong is through through its character
Zhuge Liang, mentioned historically as an important qin master. In this regard, the most relevant qin connection is in the famous story of the Ruse of the Empty City, later made into an opera. This and other references are mentioned here.
This is one of several titles of a
novel that several times mentions Han Xiang, one of the Eight Immortals, playing a qin. The Chinese text of the novel can be found
online, but I have not seen an illustrated version. The
illustration showing Han Xiang holding a qin is actually from the opera about Lü Dongbin mentioned next.
By 方汝浩 Fang Ruhao; 40 Chapters
This historical novel (at least in the first part) tells how a Buddhist monk and three of his disciples helped Yang Zhen found the Sui dynasty in 581 CE.
第33回 Chapter 33 (of 40). In Chapter 33
(online) a scene begins with 張善相 Zhang Shangxiang playing Zhi Zhao Fei, a piece in 羽調 yu mode. Three more pieces are then played and author has the qin retuned before each; this is apparently the author's mistake because, in fact, although each is in a different mode, only the last one actually requires re-tuning. The last three pieces are as follows.
10 section titles; first nine same as in >1505, but adds a 10th section (雎鳩和樂)
13 section titles
(1539, etc.)
36 section titles; very similar to
1425
By 李漁 Li Yu (1610—1680; see comment)
The qin does not feature prominently here, but a film version shows the lead female playing qin so it is featured on a
separate page.
The qin is mentioned only twice and does not feature prominently in the play itself. However, there are several qin melodies that may tentatively be connected, including
Guanghan You, and see under Xuanzong.
Here the qin itself does not seem to feature at all in the play ("琴書 qin and books" are mentioned in Sections 9 and 11).
Attributed to 馬致遠 Ma Zhiyuan (c. 1250–1321, Wiki) and others. Ma also wrote a play called Han Gong Qiu.
By 湯顯祖 Tang Xianzu (1550-1616;
Wiki. His most famous play, as mentioned just above, was The Peony Pavilion. The 正名 proper title of Handan Dream is said to be 邯鄲道省悟黃粱夢 Handan Dao Xingwu Huangliang Meng (On the Handan Road Awakening from a Yellow Millet Dream), but it is also known as 邯鄲記 Handan Ji, and 邯鄲記夢 Handan Ji Meng as well as 邯鄲夢 Handan Meng.
(LXS, p.281). This seems to be a further take on the Yellow Millet Dream.
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The Wikipedia entry on qupai defines it as a,
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There is no particular information suggesting any melodic connection between the following qin melody titles and the qupai with the same titles, but no one has studied this topic so it cannot be stated that there is no connection. Relevant qupai titles include:
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There may be others I have not found. Note, however, the comment in the first paragraph above about performers' complaints that the text of opera novels rarely was appropriate for actual opera singing.
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The connection of this handbook to opera is emphasized by the fact that the lyrics here are not paired in the standard way: fewer characters!
See 琵琶記·琴訴荷池 (Pipa Ji)
"閒庭槐陰轉，深院荷香滿，簾垂清晝永，怎消遣。"
"強對南薰奏虞絃，只覺指下餘音不似前，那些個流水共高山，只見滿眼風波惡，似離別，當年懐水仙
，一別家鄉杳，思歸淚暗彈。" (compare below)
"一別家鄉杳，思歸淚暗彈。"
"危絃已斷，新絃不慣...."
"光陰迅速如飛電，好良宵可惜漸闌，拚取歡娛歌笑喧。"
or: 仙緣側弄 Xian Yuan Ce Nong； 仙緣 Xian Yuan (391.xxx); related to
"仙圓 Xian Yuan" and "邯鄲記 Handan Ji"
Zha referred to this as "詠花 Yong Hua", an anonymous 19th c. Kunqu
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pdfs: original, pp.217-260;
transcriptions, pp.153-180;
modern commentary
Transcriptions, marked "Wang Di", are from her
Xian'ge Yayun.
和絃 He Xian (a beginner's melody; XXIII/215)
)
Several sections: functions like Caoman Yin, but rather different and no lyrics
"逞軍容出塞榮華，這其間有喝不倒的灞陵橋跨...." (5 sections in all)
"蝴蝶呵，恁粉版花衣勝剪裁。蜂兒呵，...." (1 section)
"恨權臣協謀樹黨，專朝政顚覆朝綱...." (1 section)
"楓葉蘆花並客舟，煙波江上使人愁。...." (6 unnumbered sections)
"怕春去春偏去，怕春去春偏去，...." (1 section)
"綠沉沉蒼苔，黃霜霜敗草，見此兩般鋪積堦前...." (1 section)
"碧雲天，黃花地，西風緊，北雁南飛...." (1 section)
"春色嬌麗融和艷陽天，景物飄飄美增妍...." (1 section)
"身背着花鼓，手提着鑼，夫妻恩愛...." (7 unnumbered sections)
(No lyrics)
(No lyrics)
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This handbook actually seems to have only one relevant piece: Shang He (XXVII/349; further comment); this assumes that the "雙琴書屋黃笛樓" mentioned by Zha actually refers to 雙琴書屋琴譜集成.
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The discussion here is purely about the notes/pitches. Matters such as tonal color/vocal technique may be even more elusive (speaking as a qin player, where the instrument is essentially unchanged for perhaps two millennia and the notation is written out in great detail).
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