General Comments on Qin Tablature

(General comments on qin tablature)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 as the standard, thus a gentleman's sounds are temperate and centered so as to nurture life energy: this is what is a climate for bringing order and harmony."
  《家語》云：「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，以養生育之氣：所謂治安之風也。』
  (Shilin Guangji then added additional text apparently from the same source but not included here. Instead the text [see fifth column from right in image at right] continued with the following without saying anything about the new source.)
2. (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, including by the author, is added commentary that is very similar to commentary attributed to Chen Zhuo in Shilin Guangji, as follows:)
  (Military District Administrator Chen Zhuo in his Qin Talk said), "To play the qin is to prioritize fluent harmony with elegance at the foundation. Qin sounds come out from wood with strings used to amplify the sound.
  (Xi Kang wrote that), "Lōu, pī, luò, lüè; piāo, liáo, piē, liè are all fingering techniques." Essential facets such as playing high or low, light or heavy, you have to consider what the ancients called for. If intending to bring out the beauty of a melody then with your fingers you should be ancient and plain, pure and beautiful, sorrowful with poignancy and impassioned with resolution - constantly changing and never rigid. So when people play melodies they use expansion and contraction, tempo changes, and phrasing that forms distinct sections. If a passage starts slowly and then accelerates, this is a distinction of a well-made piece. If it begins rapidly and then slows, this creates a natural rhythmic pause. A forceful strike can make the sound like splitting bamboo. (Gloss: The word 劈 is pronounced pì, meaning to split or separate. (Shilin Guangji here has 擘.) A gentle pluck produces a resonance like the movement of wind. Sometimes, a note is played forcefully, yet through finger pressure, its resonance extends even after the audible sound has ceased. Therefore, in playing melodic preludes (diaoyin), careful attention should be given to detailed phrasing and pacing, extracting meaning from within the notes. (Gloss: The word 讀 (dòu) refers to the subtle pauses within a phrase—points where the sound seems about to break but does not fully do so.)
  Like a solitary cloud drifting in the vast sky, it expands and contracts with the wind, lingering without dispersing. This is the essence of a sublime prelude. However, playing should focus on precision rather than quantity. Mastery lies in the perfect coordination between fingers and strings, where the hands execute effortlessly and the heart resonates with the music. The highest level of skill is when one plays without consciously knowing how — it simply happens naturally. As for those with innate talent, who produce extraordinary sounds, their nature manifests through music, and their sound arises from the depths of the heart — this reaches the realm of the divine and cannot be easily discussed. But if one merely knows sound without understanding music, or plucks the strings without grasping their meaning, then no matter how much one plays, what benefit is there?"
  （陳拙參軍，琴說，云：）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、潎、洌。」（或是：「摟批、擽捋、縹繚、潎洌。」）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，變態無常，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* top right 音釋﹕劈音僻，開分也[事林廣記：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* top 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 47, Kongzi ⁸
  (Again continuing without a break but now mentioning the source [see the third column from the left in the image above], the next passage again concerns Confucius, but it comes from the Annals of History, Chapter 47 (Yang 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* top right 音釋﹕襄子，孔子琴師也。 Yinshi: Xiangzi was Confucius' qin teacher）
  
  「可以益矣。」
  
  (Here see the Taiyin Daquanji version, which correctly adds the following two lines here,
  孔子曰：「丘已習其曲矣，未得其數也。」
  有間曰：「已習其數，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。」
  有間曰：「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 the image above right, the section called "Finger techniques" starts in the fifth column from the right; explanation begins on the next page. Other parts of that image concern the text above. These images are included here for their relative clarity compared to those often in Taiyin Daquanji.
傳云：琴瑟雖有妙音，而無妙指，終不能發。身哉。指法之難也。（嵇康賦曰：....）
Tradition says, "Even if the qin and se make marvelous sounds, if the fingering is not marvelous, in the end this cannot be expressed.” How true this is! Such is the difficulty of finger techniques! (Xi Kang said,.... )
As can be seen in the black and white image below right, the title "指法 Finger Techniques" appears at the end of the page. It also does so in this webpage, since the related webpages follow the pagination of the edition in 太音大全集卷五 Taiyin Daquanji, and prior to this section most of the images for this section came from that volume. For the rest of this part of Folio 5 (i.e., before this version of Taigu Yiyin ends, these Taiyin Daquanji pages are at the bottom of each page, supplementing the ones from Taigu Yiyin.

Continue Part 2

Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page) Typed text is at top (QQJC I/89b)

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，以養生育之氣，所謂治安之風也。』
Regarding the full passage from Shilin Guangji, it continues with, 是以造琴之法，木用陰陽，取其相配，以召和也。桐木屬陽。 (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。苟知聲而不知音，彈絃而不知意，雖多何益哉。" (In the south a Mr. Li skillfully created (a piece called) Sorrowful Wind, so people of his time called him "Li Beifeng," naming him after his most famous piece. This is the mark of true mastery. Thus if one knows sound but not music, plucks the strings but does not grasp the intent — what use is playing so much?)
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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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