General Comments on Qin Tablature

General Comments on Qin Tablature

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Taiyin Daquanji ToC Folio 5-6 ToC / Next / "Folio 6 / "Melodies"

Taiyin Daquanji ¹
Folio 5, Part 1: General Comments on Qin Tablature
Explanations provided by the translator are put either in brackets ( ) or in footnotes.²

太音大全集
卷五，一﹕琴譜總說
Page 1 of Folio 5 (compare in Taiyin Daquanji) ³

(In the original these sections and quotations are unnumbered.)

(Miscellaneous)⁴
1. (The first passage here was shortened from the version in Shilin Guangji):⁵
  (Kongzi) Jiayu says, When Zilu was playing the qin Confucius heard him and said, When the rulers of antiquity created sounds they relied on balanced tones to moderate them, thus a gentleman's sounds are temperate. While living flexibily, using a nurturing and fostering attitude, this is what is called an aura of providing peace.
  (Shilin Guangji then added the following, not included here.)
2. 陳拙參軍，琴說 Military District Administrator Chen Zhuo, Qin Talk (Qin Shuo)⁶
  (Here, following 「之風也」in line 3 of "琴譜總說 Miscellaneous" and without any break or other indication, is added the same extract from Chen Zhuo found in Shilin Guangji.)
  夫彈琴以和暢為事、清雅為本。琴聲出於木，而絃所以揚其聲。（嵇康曰）﹕摟批擽捋，縹繚瞥冽,所謂指法也。大要或高或下，或輕或重，亦湏看古人命，意作調弄之趣，下指或古淡、或清美、或悲切、或慷慨，変態無常，不可執一。故彈操弄者，舒張緩急。要成段節，若前緩而後急，乃妙曲之分佈。中急而後緩，乃節奏之停歇。或疾打則聲如擘竹。
  （1* at right 音釋﹕劈音僻，開分也[事林廣記 had 擘]。）
  緩挑則韻似風生。或聲正厲而以指按，響巳絕而意猶未儘。是以彈調引者，貴乎詳緩句讀，取子中有意思。
  （2* at right 音釋﹕讀音豆，為句中欲斷不斷者也。）
  如孤雲之在太虛。因風舒捲，久而不散。此調引之妙操也。然彈不在多，以精為妙，使指與絃相契，得之於手，應之於心。不知其所以然者則善矣。⁷若夫天性聰明，取聲奇異，性出於聲，聲出於心，此殆神妙又不可論此也。苟知聲而不知音，彈絃而不知意，雖多何益哉。
  (Elsewhere this passage may be somewhat different.)
3. Shi Ji, Shi Jia, Kongzi ⁸
  (Again continuing without a break, this is a passage from Kongzi Jiayu, Chapter 47 (my edition p.123 [compare 1925?]); it is translated here as the second paragraph of the Qin Shi biography of Shi Xiangzi [without the 音釋 yinshi comments shown here].)
  史記，世家，孔子學鼓琴師襄子,十日不進。師襄子曰﹕
  （3* at right 音釋﹕襄子，孔子琴師也。 Yinshi: Xiangzi was Confucius' qin teacher）
  「可以益矣。」孔子曰：「丘未得其志也。」有間，曰：「已習其志，可以益矣。」
  孔子曰：「丘未得其為人也。」有間，有所穆然深思焉，有所怡然高望而遠志焉。曰「丘得其為人，黯然而黑，頎然而長。眼如望羊，
  （4* at right 音釋﹕頎音奇，長望羊視也。 Yinshi: 頎 sounds like 奇 qi; [the other part is puzzling, having "looking at 羊 goats" instead of "looking at the 洋 sea]）
  如王四國非文王其誰能為此也.」師襄子辟席再拜，曰：師蓋云《文王操》也。」
指法 Finger Techniques
(In image at right, fifth column from the right; explanation begins on the next page.)

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Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1. 太音大全集卷五 Taiyin Daquanji Folio 5, Part 1 (QQJC 1981 edition I/79, 2010 edition I/89; QF/87)
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2. Explanations by translator
See comments concerning the structure of the original text.
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3. Image: 太古遺音 Taigu Yiyin (compare 太音大全集 Page 1 of Folio 5 in Taiyin Daquanji, QQJC I/89)
Images from Taigu Yiyin are used here because of their greated clarity. Note that in the present section there are four differences, all relating to the methods of presenting the explanations of "sounds and explanations" (音釋 yinshi).

Omitted; see above or in Taiyin Daquanji.
Separate section called "音釋"
In a double column without mentioning "音釋"
Omitted; see above or in Taiyin Daquanji.

The other three (#5-7) are covered on the next page.
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4. Miscellaneous
Compare with "琴譜總說 General comments on Qin-related material" under Shilin Guangji.
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5. Quotes from (Kongzi) Jiayu
子路鼓琴，孔子聞之，曰﹕先王之制音也，以中聲為節，故君子之音溫。柔居中，以飬生育之氣，所謂治安之風也。
Regarding the full passage from Shilin Guangji see further here .
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6. Quotes from Chen Zhuo
Regarding the full passage by Chen Zhuo see further here .
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7. Different ending in Shilin Guangji
事林廣記 Shilin Guangji, after "則善矣", finishes the passage, "南中李氏善作悲風曲，時人號曰李悲風，以此得名可謂精矣。"
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8. 史記，世家，孔子 Shi Ji, Shi Jia, Kongzi
This is not in the Shilin Guangji text, which instead has a passage here beginning Diwang Shiji says....
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