Although the expression "Yi ye zhi qiu" is quite well known, its precise origin is not clear. The afterword in Xilutang Qintong says that the title comes from a phrase in the Biographies of Exemplary Immortals (Lie Xian Zhuan), but it does not specify which biography and I have not yet found such a reference in the original text of the Liexian Zhuan.⁵

In fact, none of my dictionaries connects this expression with Lie Xian Zhuan, instead suggesting that the earliest known source of this concept was Huainanzi. There, as here, the actual expression used in the commentary, though it has the same basic meaning, is somewhat different: "By seeing one leaf fall, you can know that the year will soon end". Other related versions can be found in many places in Chinese writings.⁶

Regarding the actual music, I have reconstructed this melody but not yet recorded it. However, on YouTube one can currently (2016) find recordings by 李佳蓁 (Li Jiaqin?) in Tainan of her (?) reconstruction of this melody.

 
Original Afterword ⁷

The Lie Xian Zhuan says, "From a single leaf falling one can know that it is autumn everywhere." The intentions of this melody draw on this. Its sounds are like the sudden resonance of whirling winds (pinwheels?), (and) cold sounds from a golden well. It is very musical.

 
Music (See my transcription; timings follow my recording 聽錄音)
Prelude plus 8 sections, titled ⁸

1. Knowing Autumn from a Single Leaf (一葉知秋 Yi Ye Zhi Qiu) (III/123)
1.2815 gives as its earliest reference the phrase 見一葉落而知歲之將暮 (Seeing the fall of a single leaf and thus knowing the year will soon end) from the chapter A Mountain of Persuasions, in Huainanzi (淮南子，說山順 Huainanzi, Shuo Shan Shun; online in the China Text Project). The full passage is translated in Major, et. al., 16.133, as follows,

1.2815 then goes on to quote 文録 Wen Lü (by the northern Song poet 唐庚 Tang Geng [唐子西 Tang Zixi, 1070–1120]) as having stated that an anonymous Tang dynasty poet once wrote,

1/81 is similar to 1.2815, and neither gives an ancient quote using the precise phrase "一葉知秋". In addition, I have not yet found the reference in the original text of either Lie Xian Zhuan (Biographies of Exemplary Immortals) or its later edition, Liexian Quanzhuan (although so far the only online edition I have seen of the latter is not searchable).
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2. Shang mode (商調 shang diao)
Shang mode melodies often had sad themes, and perhaps for this reason a number of melodies having an Autumn theme use shang mode. Here the mode is largely do so, but it quite often switches to la mi; there is also the occasional flatted mi. For further information on characteristics of shang mode melodies see Shenpin Shang Yi and Modality in Early Ming Qin Tablature.
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3. Meridel Rubenstein: Green Rust Spotted Maple No.5
2010/11; Vegetable ink on Canson BFK Reeves watercolor paper
From Photo Synthesis, then Eden Turned on its Side; see http://www.meridelrubenstein.com

(See also a bamboo inscription by 倪小舟 Ni Xiaozhou.)
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4. Tracing Yi Ye Zhi Qiu
Zha Guide 19/183/--
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5. Liexian Zhuan references
I have not yet found a digital copy of Liexian Quanzhuan so this information may be incorrect.
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6. Single Leaf Falling
Similar references are in the lyrics to Gu Qiu Feng and Qiu Feng Ci.

Related also are poems such as 早秋 Early Autumn by 許渾 Xu Hun (d. 858):

Not yet translated.
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7. Afterword
The original Chinese afterword is:
列仙傳云，「一葉落知天地秋」。曲意疑取諸此。其音直若飈輪乍應，金井寒聲。籟籟之餘也。
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8. Music
The timings with the following list of the original Chinese section titles (with ome poetic references added) are for a separate recording 聽錄音 I made with a guqin made by He Mingwei. (Compare the recording above.)

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9. Ardent lyrics by the Fen river (汾水厲辭 Fenshui Li Ci)

• 汾水: Fen Shui, 17597.3xxx; 汾河: 17597.4xxx. The Fen River flows from northern to southern 山西 Shanxi province. One of the sets of Autumn Wind Lyrics attributed to the Han emperor Wudi mentions the Fen River. Another poem, 雁邱詞 Tomb of the Wild Goose by 元好問 by Yuan Haowen (1190-1257), was inspired by a story about a goose dashing itself against the rocks by the Fen River because its mate had been trapped and killed.
• 厲辭 Li Ci: 3094.xxx; compare 詞. "Ci" could also mean "parting"; other meanings for "li" include "harsh", "urgent", "cross a stream fully clothed, etc.

As yet I have no specific information as to what might have been the intended allusion here; sometimes multiple interpretations are possible.
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10. The Chu official increasingly sighs (楚臣增慨 Chu chen zeng kai)
Chu chen: 楚臣 15473.xxx; "chen" can refer to a high official but also low level ones or even slaves. The old state of Chu was south of what is now Shanxi province; it is often thought to be centered on what is now Hunan province. Song Yu of Chu mourned autumn, but he is not usually thought of as an official; Qu Yuan was an official in Chu, but to my knowledge is not particularly connected to autumn. In sum, I do not yet know to what the intended allusion is here.
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Return to the annotated handbook list or to the Guqin ToC.