General comments on qin tablature
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Taiyin Daquanji  ToC   Folio 4 ToC  /  Folio 5 parts 1  /  2&3  /  4  /  5&6  /  7  /  8  /  9&10  /  "Folio 6": ToC 網站目錄
Taiyin Daquanji 1
Folios 5-6, General Comments on Qin Tablature: Annotated List of Contents
Explanations provided by the translator are put either in brackets ( ) or in footnotes.2		 太音大全集
卷五、六，目錄

Folio 5-6 originally had no Table of Contents; one is added here for convenience. Folio 5 p.1 (p.2 below) of Taiyin Daquanji (I/89a); compare in Taigu Yiyin3  
Folio 5 uses Taigu Yiyin as well as Taiyin Daquanji images (page bottoms)   

  1. 琴譜總說 Miscellaneous Comments on Qin Tablature (Various related comments without separate headings; QQJC I/89)

    Begins, "家語云，子路鼓琴，孔子聞之，曰...."

  2. 指法 Finger techniques (QQJC I/89)

    Begins, "傳云，琴瑟雖有妙音，而無妙指，終不能發...."

  3. 手訣 Hand Mnemonics (QQJC I/89)

    First of the six entries is, "凡取聲不可造作，搖身作勢"

  4. 右手指法 Right Hand Finger Techniques (QQJC I/89)
    Comment credits Liu Ji: 劉籍琴議(?)，諸家不同，隨指疏之

    75 explanations. First 22 have shorthand forms, later are often repeats.

  5. 左手指法 Left Hand Finger Techniques (QQJC I/90)
    Continues the previous

    49 entries, no shorthand forms

  6. 左手指法譜 Tablature for Left Hand Techniques (QQJC I/91)

    35 shorthand forms plus their full forms

  7. 字譜 Tablature notation (QQJC I/91)
    Tablature notation, also discussed here and elsewhere, was originally 文字譜 longhand tablature but some time during the Tang dynasty was largely replaced by 簡字譜 simplified or shorthand tablature. Elsewhere on this site mention has been made to the development of longhand tablature. The passage here opens with a somewhat questionable account tracing the origins of qin tablature back to the Warring States period, beginning,

    "The systemization of qin tablature began with Yongmen Zhou....(see complete passage).

    It then gives 75 shorthand forms plus their full forms

  8. 唐陳居士聽聲數應指法並注譜訣 Finger Technique Explanations attributed to Master Chen (Chen Kangshi or Chen Zhuo; QQJC I/91)

    A. Full name, shorthand form, then explanation for 30 right hand techniques
    B. Same for 20 left hand mnemonics (左手訣法)
    C. Same for 4 general instructions (雜調寄意)

  9. 外調轉絃 Changing the Tuning for Non-standard Modes (QQJC I/93)
    No indication of source: could it be the same as previous?

    A. 19 tunings
    B. More: 20 tunings

  10. 轉絃宗派 Heritage of Tunings (QQJC I/93)

    A chart with each succeeding level having one additional string re-tuned

    (The Taigu Yiyin in the National Central Library, Taiwan ends here)

 
Table of Contents for Folio 6 (aka the second part of Folio 5)
- Continue to content

End of Taiyin Daquanji, Folio 5

 
Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)  

1. Taiyin Daquanji: various editions
See the Comment on the different editions: this site generally follows the copy of the original version of Folio Four as printed in the Taiyin Daquanji as reprinted in QQJC Vol. I, pp. 79 - 93. It is nearly identical to the same passages as reprinted in QFTGYY, pp. 85 - 107 (the original of which had a number of pages missing, so these missing pages are copied from Taiyin Daquanji); the latter divided this folio in two; it also has punctuation (perhaps added by TKW).
(Return)

2. Explanations by translator
This is called "Folios 5-6" because most editions have only 5 folios but some have 6. See also some further comments concerning the structure of the original text.
(Return)

3. Editions
See details on different editions.
(Return)

4. Rules regarding when, where and for whom to play and not to play the qin
Perhaps the earliest list of such rules is the one above, there copied from the Song dynasty Shilin Guangji.

Such prescriptions seem to have become more detailed later. Here for example are two lists from Fengxuan Xuanpin (1539; QQJC II/24). The translations here are modified when necessary from the corresponding passages in Chongxiu Zhenchuan Qinpu, Folio 2 (1585; IV/288-9), as translated in R. H. Van Gulik, Lore, pp. 61-2 (the order there is slightly different).

    14 Appropriate times for playing the qin

  1. Meeting someone who understands music.
  2. Meeting a suitable person.
  3. For a Daoist recluse.
  4. In a high hall.
  5. Having ascended a storied pavilion.
  6. In a Daoist cloister.
  7. Having climbed a mountain.
  8. Resting in a valley.
  9. Sitting on a stone.
  10. Roaming along the waterside.
  11. In a boat.
  12. Resting in the shadow of a forest.
  13. When the two essences of nature are bright and clear.
  14. In a cool breeze and when there is a bright moon.
    14 Inappropriate times for playing the qin

  1. When there is wind and thunder, and in rainy weather.
  2. When there is a sun or moon eclipse.
  3. In a court room (other versions say In a prison).
  4. In a market or shop.
  5. For a barbarian (夷狄 yidi; Van Gulik says this is often especially emphasized).
  6. For a vulgar person.
  7. For a merchant.
  8. For courtesans or actors (對娼優; 1585 only says "對娼妓 For courtesans").
  9. After inebriation.
  10. After fierce anger (惡怒後; 1585 has "鼓動喧嚷 In loud and noisy surroundings").
  11. After having had sexual intercourse.
  12. When formal dress is not in order (衣冠不肅; 1585: "不盥手揧漱口 Not having washed one's hands and rinsed ones mouth").
  13. In dishevelled and strange clothes.
  14. When flushed and covered with persperation.

In addition to the variations of this in other handbooks, there are also arguments on such points as drinking and playing for merchants. And Van Gulik points out that some apparently wished even to prohibit Buddhists from playing (see further).
(Return)

 
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