Taiyin Daquanji fingering

指法 Zhifa (Finger Techniques)
Starts on previous page, beginning on column 5 from the right in the the image at right ("4*" refers to an entry on the previous page). Compare the image below which has virtually the same text from Taiyin Daquanji starting on the first line (the title is on the last line of the previous page q.v..)
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’s Rhapsody on the Qin mentions: "Lōu, pī, lüè, luǒ; piāo, liáo, liè, liè”. These are all finger techniques.
(It also says:) "When the instrument is well-matched and the strings are properly tuned, the mind is at ease, and the hand is nimble; every touch follows intention, solely as the mind envisions." This is the subtle essence of qin play.
Alas! The profound transmission of the masters is utterly unattainable. Though the techniques passed down in the present age are not entirely absent, those of great refinement are few, while those of vulgar corruption are many. This is why I have repeatedly studied and repeatedly ceased. The intricacies of the hand cannot be conveyed through words, yet the essential principles of finger techniques can all be enumerated in detail. Now, I shall list them comprehensively and expound upon both the tablature and the methods of qin play to guide beginners.
Gloss: 摟 is pronounced as "lóu"; 批 as "pī"; 擽 as "lì"; 捋 as "luán"; 縹 as "biǎo"; 繚 as "liǎo"; 潎 as "piān"; 冽 as "liè"; 數 as "suǒ".
傳云，「琴瑟雖有妙音，而無妙指，終不能發。」甚在！指法之難也。
嵇康賦曰﹕「摟、批、擽、捋，縹、繚、潎、冽。」此手法也。
（又曰）「器洽絃調，心閑手敏，觸摠如志。唯（惟）意所擬。」此彈琴之妙致也。
惜乎師傳之妙絕不可得。見今世所傳不為無人而高妙者少，俗惡者多。此予所以屢學而屢輟也。夫手之精微非言可傳至指法大要皆可縷數。今具列之並敘彈譜並彈琴法以示初學云。
（5* at right 音釋﹕摟音婁，批[written 扌+毘]音皮，擽音歷，捋音銮，入聲。縹音表，繚音了，潎音偏，入聲，冽音列。數音所）。
手訣 Shou Jue (Hand Mnemonics) (QQJC I/89)
"Shou Jue" are the elements of the "clusters that comprise shorthand tablature; this diagram shows the way these elements were put together.
1. When doing 取聲 qǔ shēng (producing sound), avoid unnecessary body movements or exaggerated gestures.
2. When doing a 拂 fú do it (with the right hand aligned) near the sixth position markers and not higher or lower.
3. When doing a 遠行 yuǎn xíng (play from afar?) fling your wrist as you strike. (Note: In this context, "掉" (diào) is pronounced in the fourth tone, and "腕" (wàn) is also in the fourth tone.)
4. When doing a 細吟 xì yín (fine vibrato) the wrist itself should note move.
5. As for the left hand moving back and forth, when occuring at (for example) the 7th position should not go beyond the seventh position marker.
6. When doing a 挑歷 tiāo and lì the (right) finger should strike near the second position marker, with the finger curved while going across the strings.
7. When playing 散作聲 sǎn zuò shēng (sounds on open strings), it should look as if the left hand's middle finger is positioned above the tenth position marker with the (left) thumb curled beyond the strings as though cutting it off. (Gloss: In this context, "散" (sǎn) is pronounced in the fourth tone.)
  1. 凡取聲，不可造作搖身作勢。
  2. 凡拂，須在六徽間，不得過上下。
  3. 凡遠行，須掉腕打之。
    （6* at right 音釋：掉音調，去聲；腕音碗，去聲。）
  4. 凡細吟，不得動腕。
  5. 凡左手來去勢，至七徽已，不得過七徽也。
  6. 凡挑歷，須移指二徽已來曲指歷之。
  7. 凡散作聲，左手中指看十徽已上、大指屈絃外虛扼。
    （7* at right 音釋：散，去聲。）
  (#3 遠行 yuanxing is not clear to me. I have not yet found such a term in qin fingering instructions. It would make more sense if 遠 yuan were "爰 yuan" ["thereupon"], as in "爰摟" [also "園摟 yuanlou"], in which case that might describe how to move the right hand. Note also that the left hand technique of sliding up into a sound [short form almost like 卜] stands for 綽, not what is here, 掉, which has no special guqin meaning, just generally "shake" or more anciently "fling away". As for #7, it is common at the end a melody for the players to rest their middle finger on the qin near the 10th position; perhaps this is similar.)
8. (右）指法 Zhifa: (right hand) finger techniques (top image on next page as well as just left of center in image below right)
  (This set of finger technique explanations is unattribuated. begin here, there is no such general title, only separate sections for right hand and left hand techniques. Of these, #s 1-24 are in the image below; #25 挑 tiao continues in the first footnote on the next page.)
(Go to the top of the next page to continue with the translation.)

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)

2. Further comment on finger technique explanations
The fingering explanations given starting in the next section of this incomplete translation of Taiyin Daquanji come from various sources. They can often be frustratingly imprecise. Examining several explanations of a particular technique may clarify the intention; other times the explanations may conflict with each other.

In later handbooks such lists of explanations often seem simply to have been copied from earlier sources, perhaps without regard to whether the technique is used at all, or in some cases used in the same manner, by the person or persons whose playing technique the tablature is describing in the individual melodies or in that particular handbook in general. This is particularly important because it seems that here was probably change in the usage of the tablature over time, but this is not always clearly shown in the finger technique explanations.
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3. Explanations by translator
See comments concerning the structure of the original text.
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4. Image: 太音大全集 Page 1 of Folio 5 in Taiyin Daquanji (QQJC I/89)
Comparisions are made starting here with the version in Taigu Yiyin, which has almost identical text but is arranged much more clearly.
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