Fan Canglang
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SQMP ToC   /   1505 lyrics   Xiao Xiang Shui Yun 聽錄音 Listen to my recording with transcription / 首頁 
52. Floating on the Canglang River
- Ruibin mode: 2 tighten the fifth string one position: 2 3 5 6 1 2 3 		泛滄浪 1
Fan Canglang  
  Illustration from Kuian Qinpu 3 (1660) of Jiuyi Yin 4        
This title could also be translated at Floating on Clear Waters, and the same ambiguity may be found in the most famous story concerning the Canglang, related below but more closely associated with the melody Zepan Yin than it is with the present melody. In that story, connected to the famous upright scholar-official Qu Yuan (ca. 340 - 278), the Canglang is generally said to be the name of a river in Hunan.5 However, although in the Zepan Yin story Qu Yuan sings of the Canglang, he is commonly said to have drowned in the Miluo River. It is not clear whether this is a discrepancy, or whether "canglang" ("clearwater") is there used simply as an adjective describing rather than naming the river.6

In any case the present melody, Floating on the Canglang, has an entirely different theme; or perhaps two different themes. On the surface it seems to be an easygoing melody, well adapted to its stated topic, "casting aside rank and fame" and becoming one with nature. On the other hand, its connection to the following melody, #53 Xiao Xiang Shui Yun, reminds one of the political implications of the latter. This implication is emphasized by the alternate title, Jiuyi Yin (Jiuyi Mountain Prelude; see image at right). The Jiuyi mountains, through their association with Emperor Shun, evoke China's ancient glories, and so Fan Canglang, in spite of its images of escaping the world by floating on a lake, borrows from the paired melody its undercurrent of what might be called patriotic sentiment.

The melody of Fan Canglang survives in nine handbooks: seven from 1425 to 1561, but after that only in 1670 and 1876.7 As with Xiao Xiang Shui Yun, it is attributed to Guo Chuwang,8 a famous qin player who lived in Hangzhou at the end of the 12th century. The >1505 version is musically identical but adds lyrics. These very much align with the sentiments of the fisherman to whom Qu Yuan speaks in Zepan Yin, the >1505 lyrics for which are given here.

The preface to Xiao Xiang Shui Yun says, "Whenever Guo wanted to look at the Jiuyi mountains they were blocked by clouds over the Xiao and Xiang rivers". The Jiuyi mountains are on the border between Hunan and Guangdong/Guangxi provinces to the south; in the southern part of the plains of central Hunan the Xiao meets the Xiang as it flows north into the eastern side of Dongting Lake. In the Song and Yuan dynasty the Canglang is said to have been a small river flowing into the Yuan river just before it entered Dongting from the west. It might be noted that if one is to picture mountains in the background, this would seem to require clear waters and a location closer to where the Xiao and Xiang meet than to a Canglang River near Dongting Lake; however, this may be applying too literal an interpretation to what is in effect a poetic reference.

The significance of the Jiuyi mountains is described further with Xiao Xiang Shui Yun. As for the Canglang, although it is a small river, Zhu Quan would perhaps have particularly liked the title Fan Canglang because of its allusion to the Qu Yuan story.

This Qu Yuan story was related in a poem called The Fisherman (see Chu Ci, The Songs of the South9). Here the unemployed and distraught Qu Yuan, wandering on a marshbank (image10), comes across a fisherman to whom he speaks his grief. The fisherman then sings a Canglang Song,11

When the water in the Canglang is clear, I can wash the tassels of my hat in it.
When the water in the Canglang is muddy, I can wash my feet in it.

Without another word the fisherman then leaves Qu Yuan.

The meaning of the poem is that when government is clean it is fine to work with it, but when it becomes dirty one should be happy to leave it. This is also conveyed by the lyrics which were added to this melody in Zheyin Shizi Qinpu, though they also focus on the joys of life on the waters.12 Zhu Quan, in a form of exile at Nanchang, would presumably have identified with these sentiments.

As for the five lakes,13 there are different accounts of what this refers to, but in this case most likely it is to Dongting, which at times has had an odd shape.

It must be added that although in Shen Qi Mi Pu this melody seems intended as a prelude to Xiao Xiang Shui Yun, and both melodies were apparently created by the same person, it is not at all certain that Fan Canglang originated as a prelude. The main evidence for this is that in several other handbooks Fan Canglang is not placed directly before Xiao Xiang Shui Yun.

In addition to my own, there have been recordings of the SQMP version of Fan Canglang by Zhang Ziqian (rec. between 1981-1984; metal strings and close mic; listen), Wu Wenguang and Gong Yi (two: one with xiao flute, the other with Chinese orchestra).

 
Original Preface14

The Emaciated Immortal says

it is said that this piece was also written by Guo Chuwang. Its topic is rowing a small boat in the five lakes, and casting aside rank and fame as if they were discarded mustard plants. (In the boat it feels as if you are) carrying the wind and moon and playing with the clouds and water; affairs of the world seem as insignificant as bubbles on the surface of the water, your Dao encompasses all of history, and your mind joins with the universe; its theme is like this.

 
Music (timings follow the recording on my CD; 聽錄音 listen with my transcription, which begins with the modal prelude)
Three sections; titles from Zheyin Shizi Qinpu15

(00.00) 1. Mist and rain on the five lakes
(01.02) 2. (Treat) honor like mustard grass
(01.48) 3. Play with clouds and carry the moon in a boat
(02.43) -- harmonics
(03.01) -- Piece ends

The Chinese lyrics from >1505 pair nicely with the melody, generally following the standard pairing method but also generally avoiding the use of filler words like 的那. Here they are with English translation, arranged line by line with the transcription linked above:

    泛滄浪 — Floating on the Canglang

  1. 第一段　五湖煙雨
    Mists and Rain on the Five Lakes

    五湖那煙雨，雲水相為侶，扁舟那看不繫。
    On the Five Lakes is mist and rain; with cloud and water as companions, my little boat floats unmoored.

    柳岸桃花樹，暢中流，無憂慮。
    Drifting past willows and blossoming peach trees, in midstream, without a care I move along freely.

    風月身為主，搜今訪古。
    Wind and moon attend me — I explore the present and seek the past.

    流水斜陽路，芳草垂楊渡。
    My path flows with the water and the setting sun, through fragrant grasses and over willow-shaded fords.

    綸竿網罟日沉，天曉從君去住。
    With fishing rod and woven nets as the sun sinks, then as the sky brightens coming or going as you please.

    伴邀漁父，供魚沽酒那閑相聚。
    As a companion to fishermen, I offer fish to buy wine and gather idly with friends.

    韻和滄浪聲按譜，嘔啞遠度，和柔櫓，明香一炷。
    In tune with the sound of the Canglang, I sing according to the score; my voice hoarsely blends from afar with the soft creak of the oar; a single stick of fragrant incense burns bright.

    願他地久天長，結盟那鷗鷺。
    May earth endure, may heaven last — our oath sealed with the gulls and egrets.

  2. 第二段　草芥功名
    Fame and Office: Lighter than Weeds

    功名輕一芥，此身自在。投入釣徒風月輩，
    Fame weighs less than a blade of grass — my life is my own. I’ve joined the fishing crowd, camerades to the wind and moon.

    漁歌聲欸乃，人當知進，人當知退，光陰應不再。
    From the sound of the fishermen singing "ai nai", one knows when to advance and when to retreat. Time, once lost, does never returns.

    死缶深於鼎鼐，牛背穩於馬背。
    A dead clay pot holds more meaning than great cauldrons of power; the back of an ox is steadier than that of a horse.

    萬頃滄浪心所愛，一簑煙雨身披戴。
    My heart delights in the vast blue waves; I wear a rain-cloak beneath drifting mist.

    絕卻奔馳，了無罣礙。請看古今朝，
    I’ve cut off all rushing about. Now there’s no entanglement, no burden left. Just look at all the courts from past to present.

    此機為最，何必朝趨暮對。
    This is the truest path. Why scurry to court in the morning and bow until night?

  3. 第三段　弄雲載月
    Playing with Clouds, Bearing the Moon

    載滿舡風與月，水雲遙遏，滄浪唱徹。 My boat bears the moon and wind; sailing where water and cloud meet my Canglang song rings clear.

    心堪太虛，志存清節，道弘今古追高潔。
    My heart fits within the Great Void, my will holds to pure integrity. My Way spans past and present, chasing nobility and clarity.

    詞非設，渺焉，世事車懸轍。
    These lyrics are not crafted, just part of the a great vastness, with worldly affairds spinning like a cart off its track.

    萬頃江天一葉，此心無怯，南秦北越。 Amid ten thousand acres of river and sky I am but a leaf, yet I feel no fear, whether of Qin to the south or Yue to the north.

    一任週旋那曲折。柔櫓聲咿軋，
    I let the turns and eddies take me where they will. The soft oar creaks and groans.

    學漁人綸收網撒。
    I learn from fishermen to cast and haul in my nets.

    勾直無勞提韓，網撒無勞拽。
    No need to pull a crooked hook straight, nor strain to haul the net — just cast it and let it drift.

    曲和滄浪，玟無夢遶黃金闕。
    My song joins the Canglang’s flow — no jeweled dreams circle palace gates.

    風吹雪，滿頭白髮，贏得閑身那察察。
    Wind blows like snow, and my head is now filled with white hair, but I have gained a clear and idle life.

    尾聲
    Coda

    此是那藏蹤隱跡真機訣。
    This, truly, is the subtle secret of hiding one’s tracks and vanishing from the world wihtout a trace.

Return to the Shen Qi Mi Pu ToC or to the Guqin ToC.

 
Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1. Floating on the Canglang (泛滄浪 Fan Canglang) references
References in ZWDCD include:

Fan Canglang could also be translated as Floating on Clear Waters, and that might be the intention here. For more on the Canglang River see below.
(Return)

2. Ruibin mode 蕤賓調
For further information on ruibin mode see Shenpin Rujibin Yi and Modality in Early Ming Qin Tablature.
(Return)

3. Kuian Qinpu illustration (QQJC XI/34)
There is no inscription or commentary. Although the melody here is called 九嶷引 Jiuyi Yin, and as mentioned in the next footnote this can be an alternate title for the same melody as here, the melody in Kuian Qinpu is unrelated.
(Return)

4. Jiuyi Yin 九疑吟 (see image above)
Although Jiuyi Yin is an alternate title for Fan Canglang, Zha's Guide lists it separately, at 18/176/--, with three listings (it does not include the version in Taiyin Chuanxi, 1552). All but one are versions of Fan Canglang: see Appendix. The four melodies called Jiuyi Yin are as follows:

  1. 1561; melody similar to Fan Canglang (see in Appendix);
  2. 1552; also a version of Fan Canglang (see in Appendix)
  3. 1557; same as 1552? (see in Appendix)
  4. 1660 (written 九嶷 Jiuyi); in four sections; the image above was for it (see also below)
    This melody seems to survive only here, where it comes directly after 蒼梧怨 Cangwu Yuan. Both melodies are in jue mode, and Jiuyi is an alternate name for Cangwu, so the two melodies may here have the same story. But neither the Cangwu Yuan nor Jiuyi Yin melodies here make any mention of Nü Ying and E Huang. This perhaps suggests that the important part of the Jiuyi Yin / Cangwu Yuan story is not that two concubines mourned for Shun, but that people look to that mountain region to evoke thoughts of China's ancient glory.

Jiuyi mountain range
This area in southern Hunan province near the Guangdong border is also called Cangwu, the name used in a musically unrelated melody, Cangwu Yuan. However, none of the dictionary entries for Jiuyi or Cangwu includes any musical references:

173.574 九疑 Jiuyi (Nine Doubts): name of a mountain range in southern Hunan where the famous legendary emperor Yu Shun is said to be buried.
173.672 九嶷 Jiuyi (Nine Yi): same mountain range
32425.112 蒼梧 Cangwu: 1. Region of Guangxi; 2. another name for 九疑 Jiu Yi, sometimes also located in Guangdong province but today in Guangxi. This seems to be the area closest to Hong Kong with a connection to the title of an old qin melody.
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5. 滄浪水 Canglang River in Hunan (compare Miluo)
The Historical Atlas of China, Vols. VI (Song dynasty, map 63/4) and VII (Yuan dynasty, map 32/3) show a river of this name flowing into the 沅水 Yuan River just before it enters 洞庭湖 Dongting Lake from the southwest. The name Canglang does not seem to be in any of the other volumes.

On the other hand, 18460.17 滄浪 Canglang has two entries, neither associated with the above:

  1. 水名，亦作蒼浪 name of a stream/river, also written Canglang (i.e., with the grass radical instead of water radical). It goes on to give four descriptions, all variant names of or otherwise related to the 漢水 Han River in Hubei province.
  2. 水青色也 "Water clear in color", earliest reference 呂氏春秋 Lüshi Chun Qiu; next a poem by 陸機 Lu Ji in Wen Xuan.

As for 蒼浪 Canglang, 32425.77 says, "azure waters"; another name for 滄浪 Canglang rivers.

There is also a 滄浪 Canglang district in the Suzhou area.
(Return)

6. See further in the Canglang River footnote above.
(Return)

7. Tracing Fan Canglang
See appendix, which is based mainly on two entries in the Zha Guide:

Fan Canglang (8/85/134)
Jiuyi Yin (18/176/--)

Other Canglang melodies and/or preludes to Xiao Xiang Shui Yun seem to be either unrelated or minimally related. For example,

Jiuyi Yin is the source of the above illustration.
(Return)

8. 郭楚望 Guo Chuwang
He is also connected to #53, Xiao Xiang Shui Yun.
(Return)

9. Translated by David Hawkes (Penguin, p.206); see also Xu Yingchong, Poetry of the South, Hunan Publishing Co. p.163 (dual language). See the Chu Ci illustrations
(Return)

10. This connects with the same story related in #56 Zepan Yin . This is retold with the four Zepan Yin illustrations. There the river seems to be called the Canglang.
(Return)

11. Canglang Song (滄浪歌 Canglang Ge)
Found earlier in Mengzi (Book of Mencius). 18480.27 has 滄浪歌﹕孟子，離婁上。有孺子歌曰： Canglang song, Mengzi, Li Lou A: There is a children's song that says,

滄浪之水清兮，可以濯我纓；
滄浪之水濁兮，可以濯我足。
When the Canglang's water is clean I can wash my hat tassles,
When the Canglang's water is dirty I can wash my feet. 孔子曰，小子聽之，清斯濯纓，濁則濯足矣，自取之也。
Confucius said, Listen to this, students, in clean (water) wash your tassles, in dirty (water) wash your feet; (the water's) own nature determines this. 18480.27 also mentions 楚辭，漁父 Chu Ci, The Fisherman.
(Return)

12. Zheyin Shizi Qinpu lyrics
These lyrics begin,
第一段﹕五湖煙雨
五湖那煙雨，雨水相為侶。扁舟那看不繫，柳岸桃花樹。....
(Return)

13. Five Lakes 五湖
262.790 Most commonly it seems to be an old name of Tai Hu, a lake west of Suzhou. A famous story set here concerns the wealthy Fan Li and the beautiful Xi Shi (see the melody Chun Jiang).
(Return)

14. Preface
Two other handbooks have prefaces: >1505 (basically the same as here) and 1670 (same idea). For the original Chinese text see 泛滄浪.
(Return)

15. Music
The original Chinese section titles are:

1. 五湖煙雨
2. 草芥功名
3. 弄雲載月

The music in Zheyin Shizi Qinpu is identical so its lyrics can be sung here.
(Return)

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Appendix: Chart Tracing Fan Canglang and Jiuyi Yin
Based mainly on two entries in Zha Fuxi's Guide

      琴譜
    (year; QQJC Vol/page)		 Further information
(QQJC = 琴曲集成 Qinqu Jicheng; QF = 琴府 Qin Fu)
  1.  神奇秘譜
      (1425; I/166)		 3 sections; comes before Xiao Xiang Shui Yun
 
  2.  浙音釋字琴譜
      (>1505; I/224)		 3T; placed after Xiao Xiang Shui Yun; lyrics, otherwise same as 1425
 
  3. 西麓堂琴統
      (1525; III/203)		 3; placed before Xiao Xiang Shui Yun; quite modified from 1425
 
  4. 風宣玄品
      (1539; II/337)		 3; placed after Xiao Xiang Shui Yun, otherwise same as 1425 (no corrections)
 
  5. 琴譜正傳
      (1561; II/500)		 3; called 九疑吟 Jiuyi Yin, but almost same as 1425 (no corrections of SQMP errors);
precedes Xiao Xiang Shui Yun, but is not in Wugang Qinpu and has no commentary
  6. 太音傳習
      (1552; IV/184)		 3; called 九疑吟 Jiuyi Yin and placed before Xiao Xiang Shui Yun; music almost same as 1425; has preface that begins by saying Jiuyi is in 道州寧遠縣 Ningyuan County of Daozhou (Yongzhou prefecture?), adding that Guo Chuwang created it; it then tacks on the preface from 1425
  7. 太音補遺
      (1557; III/402)		 3; called 九疑吟 Jiuyi Yin and placed before Xiao Xiang Shui Yun; the preface begins the same as 1552, but omits the quote from 1425; music seems same
  8. 琴苑新傳全編
      (1670; XI/435)		 3; almost same as 1425, but placed before Ruibin Yu Ge (Xiao Xiang Shui Yun is at XI/430, after Yu Ge)
  9. 天聞閣琴譜
      (1876; XXV/566)		 3; "from 1670";
its Xiao Xiang Shui Yun, from 1739, is two pieces earlier in the QQJC edition

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