Wenhuitang Qinpu
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Wenhuitang Qinpu
Literary Collection Hall Qin Handbook 1		 文會堂琴譜
1596

This handbook in six folios was compiled by Hu Wenhuan of Qiantang (Hangzhou).2 After his own preface there is a table of contents. The first three folios have general essays,3 the fourth to sixth have tablature. After the tablature is an illustration and discussion of a baina qin (a qin made from 100 different pieces of wood), followed by a listing of the names of qins made by Mr. Hu.4 Hu then writes closing essays, this being followed by one written by Zhang Lun for an undated reprint.5

Zha's Guide indicates that the 69 melodies include 11 new compositions. The first three of these, however, are not new: they do not appear in Zha's lists of earlier handbooks because previously they were always included with the opening essays, not within the listed melodies. In addition, versions of the two modal preludes also occur earlier with different names, as is also the case for the full-length piece, Qu Yuan. This leaves five melodies that are actually new; they are all preludes to longer melodies.

The 11 titles Zha's Guide lists as occuring first here are,6

  1. 調絃入弄 Tiao Xian Runong (VI/191)
    Not the first occurrence: see 1585 under Caoman Yin

  2. 泛音入弄 Fanyin Runong (VI/191)
    Not the first occurrence: see 1585 under Caoman Yin

  3. 五徽調弄 Wuhui Tiaonong (VI/191)
    Not the first occurrence: see 1585 under Caoman Yin

  4. 尋芳吟 Xun Fang Yin (Seeking Fragrance Intonation; VI/195)
    Only here and ; "prelude for 陽春 Yang Chun"

  5. 開指魯商意 Kaizhi Lushang Yi (Prelude Explaining Shang Mode of Lu; VI/200)
    Not first occurrence: see Gu Qiu Feng; lyrics: 秋風秋風生，鴻鴈來也....

  6. 雙鶴聽泉 Shuang He Ting Quan (Paired Cranes Listen to a Spring; VI/219)
    Not first occurrence: see in 1556, where it is a prelude for (Yuan He) Shuang Qing Zhuan

  7. 桃源吟 Taoyuan Yin (Peach Spring Intonation; first of 10; VI/223)
    Zha Guide 28/221/-- : first of 10; prelude for Fenglei Yin. This melody has four sections and is in shang mode. Only the version dated 1705 has a preface; its says merely that the theme is "falling flowers and flowing streams". Tao Yuan Yin is different from the earlier Ziyi Yin, distantly related to Tianfeng Huan Pei (?), and unrelated to Taoyuan Chun Xiao

  8. 蒼梧吟 Cangwu Yin (Cangwu Intonation; first of five; VI/232)
    Here it is a prelude for Liezi (Yu Feng), but it seems to be the earliest surviving form of a popular melody later called Liang Xiao Yin

  9. 會賓吟 Huibin Yin (Prelude of Meeting Honored Guests; only here; VI/245)
    Huibin Yin is in zhi mode, has three sections, and is identified as a prelude to the melody which follows it, Yu Hui Tushan. However, it does not seem to be related to Huitong Yin.

  10. 屈原 Qu Yuan (only here; VI/274)
    Not the first occurrence: it is a version of Qu Yuan Wen Du

  11. 清商意 Qingshang Yi (first of three; VI/280)
    Not the first occurrence: see in 1425
 
Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1. Wenhuitang Qinpu
QQJC VI/121-290. 13766.705 文會堂 house name of Hu Wenhuan
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2. 胡文煥 Hu Wenhuan
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3. Includes good illustrations of finger techniques
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4. 84 names
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5. 張綸 Zhang Lun
10026.1277xxx; Bio/1212 has four. The last is from Hangzhou, so perhaps it is him. He was a 藩司掾吏 clerk in the Provincial Administration Commission who was skilled at painting, but no dates are given.
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6

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Return to the annotated handbook list or to the Guqin ToC.