Zhifa Jizhu, 指法集註
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SQMP   ToC   /   Wusilan Zhifa   /   pdf copy 網站目錄
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:

  1. 烏絲欄指法釋 Wusilan Zhifa Shi
  2. 唐陳居士指法 Tang, Chen Jushi's Zhi Fa (Chen Kangshi?)
  3. 唐陳拙指法 Tang, Chen Zhuo's Zhi Fa (compare here)
  4. 唐劉籍琴議 Tang, Liu Ji's Qin Yi (Finger techniques)
  5. 宋則全和尚指法 Song, Zequan Heshang's Zhifa
  6. 宋成玉磵指法 Song, Cheng Yujian's Zhifa
  7. 太古遺音手勢圖註解 Taigu Yiyin Shoushitu Zhujie
  8. 太古遺音指法 Taigu Yiyin Zhifa
  9. 宋楊祖雲指法 Song, Yang Zuyun's Zhifa
  10. 諸家指法拾遺 Zhujia Zhifa Shiyi
  11. 明風宣玄品指法 Ming, Fengxuan Xuanpin Zhifa (1539)
  12. 明文會堂琴譜指法 Ming, Wenhuitang Qinpu Zhifa (1596)
  13. 明綠綺新聲指法 Ming, Luqi Xinsheng Zhifa (1597)
  14. 明太古正音琴經指法 Ming, Taigu Zhengyin Qinjing Zhifa (1611)
  15. 清徽言秘旨指法 Qing, Huiyan Mizhi Zhifa (1647)
  16. 清琴學心聲指法 Qing, Qinxue Xinsheng Zhifa (ca. 1650)
  17. 清澄鑒堂琴譜指法 Qing, Chengjiantang Qinpu Zhifa (1689)
  18. 清潁陽琴譜指法 Qing, Yingyang Qinpu Zhifa (1751)
  19. 清琴學練要指法 Qing, Qinxue Lianyao Zhifa (1739)
  20. 民國琴鏡續廣陵散古指法 Republic, Qinjingxu Guangling San Zhifa

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
Annotated References for Further Research

The 19 references, which should be compared to those above, are (shorthand form: full title, location in Yang),

  1. 烏絲:烏絲欄古卷琴指法(“本卷”) Yang, p.9 (compare #1 above)
  2. 幽蘭:碣石調幽蘭(古逸叢書本) Yang, p.10 (compare #1 above)
  3. 減字:隋,曹柔 減字(指法) Yang, p.11. (For "Jianzi" attributed to Cao Rou see the "曹氏減字法 Caoshi Jianzifa" in 1557 that are virtually identical to an anonymous set in Taiyin Daquanji.)
  4. 陳士:唐,陳居士(舒疑其即陳康士)指法 Yang, p.11 (see #2 above)
  5. 陳拙:唐,陳拙指法 Yang, p.12 (see #3 above)
  6. 成玉:成玉磵指法 Yang, p.12 (see #6 above)
  7. 名端:名數發端 Yang, p.12
  8. 劉籍:劉籍琴義(琴議?) Yang, p.13 (see #4 above)
  9. 楊田:宋,楊祖雲、田紫芝指法 Yang, p.13 (in one of these?)
  10. 劉楊:宋,劉籍、楊祖雲 Yang, p.13
  11. 則全:宋,則全和尚 Yang, p.13 (see #5 above)
  12. 陳暘:宋,陳暘(琴聲經緯) Yang, p.14
  13. 諸家:諸家指法拾遺 Yang, p.14 (see #10 above)
  14. 手圖:彈琴手勢圖 Yang, p.14 (images found here and in other early handbooks, said to have originated with Zequan Heshang)
  15. 吳澄:元,吳澄琴言十則,附指法 Yang, p.14; Wu Cheng, 10 Rules, from Qin Talk (translated) with attached Finger Techniques (pdf copy from Qin Fu)
  16. 㩲袁.:明,㩲仙(朱權)及袁均哲 Yang, p.14
  17. 大全:琴書大全 Yang, p.15
  18. 其他明以前琴譜或琴書 15 more handbooks from Song (2) and Ming (13); Yang, p.16
  19. 清代以後琴譜、琴書 13 more handbooks from Qing (11) and after (4)

More details to be added.
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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  
One can spend a great deal of time looking for explanations for specific finger techniques, especially if only the shorthand form is known. This list makes the searching easier by eliminating the nned to continue searching. Some examples of difficult characters in one of the most ancient pieces,
Guangling San are further discussed there in a footnote. In fact, though, for some techniques on this unfound list, explanations may actually have been found, or at least educated guesses can be made.
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Return to the Shen Qi Mi Pu index or to the Guqin ToC.