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Collected Notes on Finger Techniques | 指法集註1 |
Compiled by Yuan Quanyou2 | 袁荃猷編輯 |
Published together with Shen Qi Mi Pu, 1950s (see pdf copy) | Yuan Quanyou and her husband Wang Shixiang3 |
These finger technique explanations were compiled in the 1950s, presumably as a part of or in connection with the work of Zha Fuxi discussed further here. To my knowledge they were originally published under the title Collected Notes on Finger Techniques in Shen Qi Mi Pu (神奇秘譜指法集註 Shen Qi Mi Pu Zhifa Jizhu) at the end of the 1955 folio edition of the Shen Qi Mi Pu. 4 The work is thus contemporaneous with that of Wang Mengshu for his Wusilan Finger Technique Explanations. Both this list and the one with the Wusilan Finger Technique Explanations divide the finger techniques into right hand techniques and left hand techniques; to these, Yuan Quanyou adds a list of terms for which no explanation could be found.5
In addition, both Yuan Quanyou and Wang Mengshu explain the finger techniques with reference to earlier sources, and also include a list of these sources at the end of their respective volumes. The sources used here, which should be compared with the sources listed with the You Lan Zhifa (see in footnote), are as follows:
Also useful here is the list of "Finger techniques for which no explanations by our predecessors have been found".6
At that time these original texts were very hard to find. Now, however, most have been published, most commonly in one or more of the handbooks included in Qinqu Jicheng, beginning with,
By following the links above you should be able to find the sources of the explanations.
Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a
separate page)
1.
指法集註 Collected Notes on Finger Techniques
See pdf copy.
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2.
袁荃猷 Yuan Quanyou (1920 – 2003)
As Stephen Jones makes clear in his blog article
Spiritual and marvellous mysteries Yuan Quanyou, wife of 王世襄 Wang Shixiang (1914 - 2009) and a qin student as well as research associate of Wang Mengshu (1887-1969), was an important qin scholar in her own right. She worked many years at the Music Research Institute in Beijing. Her work on Collected Notes on Finger Techniques (指法集註 Zhifa Jizhu and discussed above) was certainly connected to the work she did with Wang Mengshu in connection with the You Lan finger techniques, mentioned further there. In the 1990s, a few years after a seminar in Beijing about the results of my own Shen Qi Mi Pu project, Wang Shixiang gave me a copy of the mimeographed You Lan finger techniques compilation.
As for her own qin play, this is not clear. As described by Stephen Jones, she studied qin from a young age, including from Guan Pinghu, and was very active in qin circles in the 1940s. However, I have not yet found any recordings of her (e.g., in any of these listings).
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3.
Image
Copied from the internet.
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4.
Original publication
This 1955 facsimile edition was included in Tong Kin-woon's
Qin Fu, but to my knowledge is not included in later facsimile editions.
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5.
汪孟舒:烏絲闌指法釋 Wang Mengshu, Wusilan Finger Technique Explanations
Wang Mengshu's work is introduced and discussed in detail elsewhere. The following is that work's 指法集注簡稱說明 Annotated references for further research. Its contents, also called 《烏絲欄指法釋》簡稱說明, listed the shorthand forms Wang used in his work to refer to these earlier sources, following each short form with the full title or titles, then comments mostly saying where the referenced sources could be found. For those details see pages 26-28 of the pdf copy or pp. 7-17 of the modern revised edition by Yang Yuanzheng
Wusilan Finger Technique Explanation's
The 19 references, which should be compared to those
above, are (shorthand form: full title, location in Yang),
More details to be added.
Annotated References for Further Research
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6. 尚未查到前人解釋的指法 Finger techniques for which no explanations by our predecessors have been found |
Return to the Shen Qi Mi Pu index or to the Guqin ToC.