Though few of them are played today, there is actually a long tradition of setting philosophical essays to qin melodies.⁷ Not all of these have survived,⁸ but in the qin repertoire there are several other surviving settings of the Da Xue.⁹ However, Ming De Yin and the present Da Xue melody are preserved only in Paired Music for Three Religions (Sanjiao Tongsheng; 1592),¹¹ a qin handbook with a melody from each of China's great religions (or ways of thought), Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daoism.

Da Xue is one of the texts collected in the Li Ji (Book of Rites). According to tradition it was written down by one or more of Confucius' disciples. Modern scholarship, however, says they were written several centuries later. In the 12th century Zhu Xi proposed that four ancient texts -- the Great Learning, The Doctrine of the Mean (another chapter of the Book of Rites), the Analects, and Mencius -- represented the core of Confucian philosophy. As a result of Zhu Xi's arguments (but about a century later), these four books became what might be called the core curriculum for people studying for the government exams. The books continued in that role from 1313 until 1905, almost the end of the Qing dynasty.

The lyrics of Mingde Yin (from Zhu Xi's commentary on the Great Learning) are given below under "Music". The original was an essay, not verse. However, it is arranged below as though it were verse because that is the effect when it is sung. It begins by saying that it is quoting the Zhengzi brothers (Zi Chengzi ¹²).

The lyrics of Kongsheng Jing, which are the same as the text of the Great Learning, are also given below under "Music". The translation was adapted from those by Patrick Moran¹³ and Wing-tsit Chan.¹⁴   Once again, the original is an essay, not verse; it is arranged below as though it were verse because that is the effect when it is sung.

Original Prefaces

 
Music and text (see transcription [.pdf]; timings follow my recording 聽錄音)
Includes both pieces; I am singing the texts accompanying both.

 
Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1. Biyu Diao (碧玉調)
Instructions are "(from standard tuning) raise the 2nd, 5th and 7th strings". Tuning is the same as that of the 1425 姑洗 Guxian mode, not the 1425 Biyu mode or the 1525 Biyu mode.
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2. 明德引 Mingde Yin
14124.572 明德 mingde gives references to the Great Learning (Da Xue).
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3. 孔聖經 Kongsheng Jing
7077.250 孔聖 kongsheng: respectful name for Confucius.
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4. The original text of Ming De Yin and the first line of Kong Sheng Jing
From San Jiao Tong Sheng, QQJC VI/112.
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5. Commentary by Zhu Xi (1130-1200)
朱熹 Zhu Xi started an academy in Changsha called the 嶽麓書院 Yuelu Academy. With luck, one day I will play this melody there.
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6. 大學 Da Xue
In ctext.org the original text of the Da Xue is here (with translation by Legge here). The whole text is divided into 16 sections, with the lyrics of the present song being the text of the first two sections, minus two phrases at the end: "此謂知本，此謂知之至也。". These two phrases are not translated by Legge. In addition, the final 14 sections may be considered as commentary on what is written in the first two. The first two sections are thus sometimes attributed to Confucius himself, with the other sections attributed to students. Others say that the first two sections were also written later, paraphrasing Confucius' actual words.
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7. Setting philosophical texts to qin music: surviving examples
Surviving examples, in addition to the ones here in Sanjiao Tongsheng, include:

• a setting of Zhuge Liang's Chushi Biao (1585)
• the setting of lyrics that try to synthesize the ideas of China's three main religions/systems of thought (Awakened Minds 1585)
• the setting of the Heart Sutra (1625)
• a setting of text from Mozi (1630)
• a setting of the text of Wang Xizhi's Lanting Xu (1664)

Awakened Minds (1585) might be somewhat different from the others in that it is a setting of lyrics rather than of prose. With none of these, however, is there information about how and/or when, or even whether, the lyrics themselves might have been sung.
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8. Setting philosophical texts to qin music: not surviving
The Qin Shi Xu biography of Yu Qian says he wrote a qin setting for Da Xue, which he called Sounds of Reading (讀書聲 Du Shu Sheng), and that his main disciple 汪一恆 Wang Yiheng did settings of such essays as 中庸 Zhong Yong, 論語 Lun Yu and 孟子 Mengzi. In fact there is a setting for Zhong Yong published in Japan.
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9. Qin melodies using Da Xue as lyrics
In addition to the Kongsheng Jing setting traced below, the words of the 大學 Da Xue are also set for qin in several later handbooks. Zha Fuxi's Guide lists them under two general titles, but in fact none these seems to be musically related either to the present Kongsheng Jing setting or to each other. All seem to use standard tuning.

• 大學序 Da Xue Xu
  Guide 32/245/477 lists this in only one handbook:
  • 1623 (VIII/402); 1 section; standard tuning; preface says that the text originally had no tablature attached, so Wang Shanwu added it.

• 大學章句 Da Xue Zhangju (also: 聖經 Sheng Jing)
  Guide 25/213/389 lists six handbooks having a piece of this title. All but one version include the Da Xue text.
  • 1585 (IV/345); 4 sections, titled; 1st section ("孔氏遺書 Kongshi Yishu") has Zhu Xi text; standard tuning
  • 1663/5 (XI/79); 3 unnumered sections; 聖經 Sheng Jing; new melody; has only Da Xue
  • <1802 (XIX/88); 4 sections; mentions pairing text but does not include it
  • 1875 (XXVI/231); 4 sections; "聖經 Sheng Jing"
  • 1884 (XXVII/277); "聖經大學一章 Shengjing Daxue Yizhang"; four unnumbered sections; attributed to Yang Biaozheng but seems unrelated to 1585
  • 1899 (not reprinted).

To my knowledge none of the above has been reconstructed.
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11. Tracing Mingde Yin and Kongsheng Jing
Zha Fuxi's Guide 27/---/420 明德引 Mingde Yin and 27/---/421 孔聖經 Kongsheng Jing list only Sanjiao Tongsheng, but see the footnote above.
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12. 子程子 Zi Chengzi: the Cheng Brothers (compare 程子 and 子程子 Zichengzi)
According to 7072.542 子程子 this refers to 宋程顥程頤兄弟也 the brothers Cheng Hao (25638.274; Wiki) and Cheng Yi (25638.49; Wiki) of the Song dynasty; the 子 zi at the end is an honorific given to a number of philosophers. Giles says Cheng Hao (1032-1085), after an official career, became a tutor to Zhu Xi, while Cheng Yi (1033-1090) also had his long career stifled by his opposition to Wang Anshi. Cheng Hao has been associated with the qin melody Jing Guan Yin.
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13. Translation by Patrick Moran
See Three Smaller Wisdom Books, University Press of America, 1993. The original and Prof. Moran's translation are not divided into numbered sections.
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14. Wing-tsit Chan, A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, Princeton, 1963.
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15. Original text of the Bright Virtue Prelude
Zhu Xi's original text alone, here used for 明德引 Mingde Yin, is as follows (arranged as in the qin setting):

See it arranged with translation and Romanization above.
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16. Original text of the Sacred Confucian Canon
The original text of the Sacred Confucian Canon, i.e., the 大學 Da Xue, is by itself as follows (arranged according to the sectioning of the music):

1. 大學之道．在明明德．在親民．在止於至善．知止而後有定．定而後能靜．靜而後能安．安而後能慮．慮而後能得．物有本末．事有終始．知所先後．則近道矣．
2. 古之欲明明德於天下者．先治其國．欲治其國者．先齊其家．欲齊其家者．先修其身．欲修其身者．先正其心．欲正其心者．先誠其意．欲誠其意者．先致其知．致知在格物．
3. 物格而後知至．知至而後意誠．意誠而後心正．心正而後身修．身修而後家齊．家齊而後國治．國治而後天下平．
4. 自天子以至於庶人．壹是皆以修身為本．其本亂而末治者否矣．其所厚者薄．而其所薄者厚．未之有也．

See it arranged with translation and Romanization above. In addition, the original text and tablature of Ming De Yin and the first line of Kong Sheng Jing, from San Jiao Tong Sheng, are at top).
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