Shui Diao Ge Tou

Four qin handbooks published between 1618 and 1802 one have six settings for qin of lyrics in the ci pattern called Shui Diao Ge Tou.⁴ The second of these settings is repeted twice, so in all there are four setting but with three different lyrics. The three sets of lyrics are as follows:

Only in 1618. This is the earliest of these settings and it accompanies the famous ci lyrics by Su Dongpo (Su Shi) that are given below. However, this was set for one string qin and I have not yet found the key to making it interesting.⁵
The second setting, in a handbook dated 1682, has lyrics by Rong Qiuyue.⁶ This is then repeated in 1687 and 1802. This setting is for standard seven-string qin.
The third setting, also for seven-string qin, has lyrics by Hong Yunlai of Hangzhou,⁷ but there are two different melodies. The first setting occurs in the handbook dated 1682, but when the lyrics are repeated in 1687 they are paired to a different melody.

It is the last of these four 17th century melodies that I chose to reconstruct, but to this melody I instead paired the famous Su Dongpo lyrics given below.⁸ As shown in the image at right, this melody occurs in the 1687 handbook Songsheng Cao.⁹ This version begins with lyrics identifying it as following the ci pattern Shui Diao Ge Tou. The comments below this title further identify this particular setting only as "Shang Yin", the name of the musical mode.¹⁰ It then attributes the lyrics to Hong Yunlai. The left side of the page repeats the identifier Shang Yin then says that the tablature is by Cheng Xiong, (style name) Yin Yan.¹¹ It is not clear whether this means that Cheng himself created the melody or arranged it from elsewhere. Thus the origin of the actual melody is not certain. Its structure, though, suggested it might just as well be used with the famous lyrics by Su Dongpo.

The cipai called Shui Diao Ge Tou is probably best known today through a popular song using the Su Dongpo lyrics but composed in the 1980s.¹² It has been sung by many popular singers, perhaps most notably Teresa Teng (Deng Lijun) and Faye Wong (Wang Fei).

Preface (XII/358)
The only tablature with a preface is the one-string setting dated 1618. Otherwise there are only brief statements naming the author of the lyrics, arranger/creator of the music, and subtitle/mode of the musical setting. For the Shang Yin version of 1687 shown above the creator of the lyrics is said to be Hong Yunlai and the musical setting by Cheng Xiong himself. However, this latter statement leaves open the possibility that Cheng took an existing melody/song and arranged it for qin.

Music (XII/358; 五線譜 staff notation and 錄音 recordings: solo video (1.36) and recording with Su Shi lyrics (1.49)
This music can be applied to any of the Shui Diao Ge Tou lyrics given here (open the mp3 file in a separate window).

Lyrics
The original lyrics for the tablature at top, plus those from 1682, are copied and punctuated below (comment). Here, however, the music resulting from this tablature is applied to the Shui Diao Ge Tou lyrics by Su Shi (Su Dongpo). These lyrics are perhaps the most famous ones in this form. As indicated here, this was one of the poems Su Shi wrote during Mid-Autumn. Another one is discussed under the melody Mid Autumn Moon.

Application of the music to lyrics by Su Shi ¹³ (Timings follow my recording with voice 聽我的錄音)
Translation is by 裘小龍 Qiu Xiaolong (Wiki), with minor re-alignment. To follow the lyrics while listening, open the music file in a separate window while reading these lyrics of the Su Dongpo poem (or any lyrics following this form). Alternatively, listen while looking at the enlarged jpg of the original 1687 tablature.

00.00 Closing harmonics played as a prelude:

00.09
明月幾時有，把酒問青天。
Míng yuè jǐ shí yǒu, bǎ jiǔ wèn qīng tiān.
When will the moon be clear and bright?
With a cup of wine in my hand, I ask the clear sky.

不知天上宮闕，今夕是何年。
Bù zhī tiān shàng gōng jué, jīn xī shì hé nián.
In the heavens on this night,
I wonder what season it would be?

我欲乘風歸去，又恐瓊樓玉宇，高處不勝寒。
Wǒ yù chéng fēng guī qù, yòu kǒng qióng lóu yù yǔ, gāo chù bù shèng hán.
I'd like to ride the wind to fly home.
Yet I fear the crystal and jade mansions
are much too high and cold for me.

起舞弄清影，何似在人間。
Qǐ wǔ nòng qīng yǐng, hé sì zài rén jiān.
Dancing with my moonlit shadow,
It does not seem like the human world.

01.01
轉朱閣，低綺戶，照無眠。
Zhuǎn zhū gé, dī qǐ hù, zhào wú mián.
The moon rounds the red mansion,
Stoops to silk-pad doors,
Shines upon the sleepless,

不應有恨，何事長向別時圓。
Bù yìng yǒu hèn, hé shì zhǎng xiàng bié shí yuán.
Bearing no grudge,
Why does the moon tend to be full when people are apart?

人有悲歡離合，月有陰晴圓缺，此事古難全。
Rén yǒu bēi huān lí hé, yuè yǒu yīn qíng yuán quē, cǐ shì gǔ nán quán.
People experience sorrow, joy, separation and reunion,
The moon may be dim or bright, round or crescent shaped,
This imperfection has been going on since the beginning of time.

但願人長久，千里共嬋娟。
Dàn yuàn rén cháng jiǔ, qiān lǐ gòng chán juān.
May we all be blessed with longevity,
Though thousands of miles apart, we are still able to share the beauty of the moon together.

02.00

Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1. References for Water Tune Prelude (水調歌頭 Shui Diao Ge Tou) (Wiki)

17458.733 水調 shuidiao: "see shuidiao ge"
17458.734 水調歌 shuidiao ge: "樂府上調曲名 name of a Yuefu shangdiao melody"; first reference: 樂府詩集，近代曲辭，水調歌 Yuefu Shiji, Jindai Quci, Shui Diao Ge
17458.735 水調歌頭 shuidiao getou: 詞牌，屬中呂調 cipai belonging to zhonglü mode". First reference: 外史檮杌 Waishi Tao Wu, a Song dynasty text that tells of Wang Yan taking a boat (to Langzhong in Sichuan?): 『王衍泛舟巡閬中,舟子皆衣錦。偶自製【水調銀漢曲】。』水調者一部樂之名。水調歌者一曲之名。歌頭又曲之始音。 Second reference: 詞譜：『水調乃唐人大曲，凡大曲有歌頭。此必裁截其歌頭，另倚新聲也。』

"頭 tou", literally "head" or "beginning", does not necessarily have a formal meaning such as "prelude".
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2. Ci form "Shuidiao Getou"
This ci form has 95 characters divided into two sections of four lines each, eight rhyming lines in all. The structure by character count is as follows:

5+5
4+7 (or 6+5)
6+6+5
5+5

3+3+3
6+5 (or 4+7)
6+6+5
5+5

The 平仄 pingze structure is said to be as follows:

仄仄平平仄，仄仄仄平平。
平平仄仄平仄，仄仄仄平平（上六下五或上四下七）。
仄仄平平仄仄，仄仄平平仄仄，仄仄仄平平。
仄仄平平仄，仄仄仄平平。

仄平仄，平仄仄，仄平平。
平平仄仄，平仄仄仄仄平平（上六下五或上四下七，又或作仄仄平平仄仄，仄仄仄平平）。
仄仄平平仄仄，仄仄平平仄仄，仄仄仄平平。
仄仄平平仄，仄仄仄平平。

The bracketed comments discuss the two ways of dividing the second line of each section (further below).
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3. Image: Setting for qin of the Shang Yin song following the pattern Shui Diao Ge Tou (XII/358)
Note that, although there is no punctuation in either the lyrics or the tablature, this is not a major problem: the punctuation of the lyrics follows the ci pattern, the tablature also follows a well-known pattern. However, there are three issues worthy of special mention:

The lyrics for the various qin settings show one minor inconsistency regarding whether the second line divides its 11 characters as 4+7 or 6+5; my own interpretation, which could be interpreted as 4+2+5, is designed to fit either one.
In the 1687 Shang Yin version, above, the first (from right) added red mark is at a place in the tablature calling for stopping the fourth string in the 8th position, producing a note that seems out of place; changing this to play on the third string in the eighth position seems more idiomatic both to the fingering as well as to the melody.
The same Shang Yin tablature, except at the second place with a red mark, pairs the music and lyrics strictly following the tradition of one character per right hand stroke, with no characters for slides or for the left hand pluck called "對起 duiqi". This leaves, however, one missing character. According to my understanding of the phrasing this should most likely be resolved at this second place marked in in red: either an extra right hand stroke must be added for one of the two characters "長嘯 chang xiao", or "嘯 xiao" must be paired to the duiqi that follows. My own interpretation accords with the latter.

In 2017 I reconstructed the above Shang Yin melody, but generally pair it with the Shui Diao Ge Tou lyrics by Su Shi. However, the logic of the three adjustments mentioned here is still followed when pairing these or any other lyrics to this tablature.
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4. Tracing settings of 水調歌頭 Shui Diao Ge Tou
Zha Guide 32/244/470 has six entries with this title, all with lyrics. In all there are three sets of lyrics (the first three settings - all later are repeats) for four melodies (since two of the tablatures are repeats). All the lyrics fit into the same ci pattern.

The six entries are as follows:

Lixing Yuanya (1618; QQJC VIII/343)
The lyrics are those of Su Shi given just above; the melody is one of the handbook's 5 melodies for one-string qin. A preliminary attempt at playing it did not reveal the key to making it as interesting as the other settings.
Commentary in Li Xing Yuan Ya (see 琴之界; compare below) is:
蘇東坡丙辰中秋作水調歌，兼懷弟子由者也。都下傳唱，呈錄神宗。至又恐瓊樓云云，上曰，蘇軾終是愛君，量移汝州。
Not yet translated
Shu Huai Cao (1682 [1]; XII/352)
"宮音 Gong Yin"; "lyrics added by 溶秋岳 Rong Qiuyue"
Begins with open 3rd string, open 1st then 打圓 dayuan 鐵篴老仙去，無復採花舡。
剛存湖角煙靄，夕照助蒼然。
晞髮橫觥旅舍，恰得提嵇挈阮，古意滿朱弦。
象板不須奏，大雅正當前。
靑冥處，無人會，調空傳。
一切浮華剝盡，高對逸人眠。
攜到蜀都眉黛，又拜漢家官爵，此福恐難全。
曲罷且危坐，靑雪舞翩。
Shu Huai Cao (1682 [2]; XII/373)
"徵音 Zhi Yin"; "lyrics added by 錢塘洪雲來 Hong Yunlai of Qiantang".
Begins open 4th string then open 7th, 2nd then 5th. 君山已不作，獻曲久無人。
忽看靑雀，飛舞天際攪行雲。
寂寂幽蘭九畹，自向冷冷弦上，抑按發淸芬。
無那知音少，綠綺沒紅麈。
聽曲罷，雙淚落，欲霑巾。
半生潦倒不偶，空自立齊門。
何似松風山月，與爾披襟長嘯，一醉忘冬春。
試問鍾期死，那處可招魂。
Song Sheng Cao (1687 [1]; XII/388)
Seems to be the same as 1682 #1.
Song Sheng Cao (1687 [2]; XII/391)
Same lyrics as 1682 #2 but different music (begins with open 2nd string, open 4th twice, then open 7th); mode is "商音 Shang Yin"; at present this is my preferred melody: I have transcribed and recorded my interpretation but have been applying this to the Su Shi lyrics as outlined above.
Ziyuantang Qinpu (1802; XVII/544)
Seems to be same as 1682 #1 (though missing a 打圓 in first phrase), but the 1682 lyrics are paired at end, making it more difficult to confirm this.

As noted, only the fifth version has been reconstructed here.
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5. Settings for one-string qin
This setting occurs the in 1618 Lixing Yuanya, which also has settings of other melodies for five and nine string as well as the standard seven string qin. It is not clear why this was done. Legend has it that during the Warring States period a man named Sun Deng played a one string qin, but no repertoire exists other than here. On the other hand, in Japan claims have been made that their ichigenkin one-string zither dates back to China, perhaps from around this time.
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6. 溶秋岳 Rong Qiuyue
No further information at present.
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7. 洪雲來茂公 Hong Yunlai (style name) Mao Gong
Online information says he was from 錢塘 Qiantang (Hangzhou), then "中年曾游京師，與張台柱、洪升等唱和。 in his middle years moved to the capital, where he liked to sing togtether with such people as Zhang Taizhu and Hong Sheng."
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8. Chosing the 1887 melody for reconstruction
I chose this melody because I thought its rhythms could be in most accord with the rhythms of the modern popular song as sung by Deng Lijun, discussed further below.
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9. 松聲操 Songsheng Cao (XII/358; 1687)
As with the pieces in Shuhuai Cao, most of the poems in this handbook apparently were written in honor of, perhaps praising, Cheng Xiong (see below). Many, if not most, also use a ci form (玉樓春 Yu Lou Chun, 風入松 Feng Ru Song, 高山流水 Gao Shan Liu Shui, 水調歌頭 Shui Diao Ge Tou, 千秋歲引 Qian Qiu Sui Yin, 滿江紅 Man Jiang Hong, etc.). Search 讀古詩詞網
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10. 商音 Shang Yin; tuning 2 3 5 6 7 2 3 ? (compare shang mode)
If calling the mode here "shang" is based on the actual melody, then quite likely came from considering the tuning as 5 6 1 2 3 5 6. The primary tonal center is the open fourth string so here it would be 2: the note shang.

However, it also seems quite possible that this piece is called "shang yin" not for any musical reason but because of the ancient reference quoted above saying Shui Diao Ge Tou was a Yue Fu shangdiao melody. Because if "shang mode" was intended actually to describe the mode of the present melody, it would suggest that the understanding of mode at that time was different from what I understand of modes in the Ming dynasty qin repertoire as described here under Modality in early Ming qin tablature. This footnote there shows how a fundamental part of my understanding comes from the way a traditional Chinese musician would sing the melody in solfeggio (1 = do; 2 = re, etc.). By naming the notes following that practice I have usually been able to predict how the mode of any Ming dynasty qin melody I hear will be classified. Later nomenclature for modes does not seem to fit any such logic

The relative tuning given above, 2 3 5 6 7 2 3, is based on this understanding, and what it seems to show is that the consideration of mode was changing by the time this handbook was published (early Qing dynasty). What singing the notes solfeggio here means is that the notes actually played fit into a relative scale of 6 7 1 2 3 5 6 and the primary tonal centers are 6 (equivalent to the open 4th string) and 3 (open second string). The melody thus uses a minor hexatonic scale based on 6, making its modality quite similar to that of Ming dynasty melodies in yu mode. However, people at that time would not be likely to call it such because all Ming melodies said to be in yu mode had had their relative tuning considered as 5 6 1 2 3 5 6. Perhaps, then, zhi mode might be appropriate: the relative tuning would then be considered as 1 2 4 5 6 1 2, the scale as 5 6 7b 1 2 4 5 and the primary tonal centers as 5 and 2. Such an interpretation might be supported by the fact that Shui Diao Ge Tou seems to pair well musically with the 1525 zhi mode version of Yu Ge: the flatted 7th gives Shui Diao Ge Tou more of a "minor" flavor, but Yu Ge also sometimes flats its 7s. Of course for such a pairing to work from a literary standpoint it might be better to find Shui Diao Ge Tou lyrics connected to the literati view of fishing.

In any case, the ending on the open first and sixth strings is quite startling: more in tune with the established modal feeling would be to end on the open fourth string. This sudden switch, however, is not completely uncommon. Perhaps it follows a belief that all pieces should end on a certain note, no matter what.
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11. 程雄 Cheng Xiong, style name 隱庵 Yin'an
Cheng Xiong was from 燕山 Yan Shan; another style name was 頴庵 Ying'an. See further.
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12. Popular song by Teresa Teng (鄧麗君 Deng Lijun; Wiki; listen).
This setting of Su Dongpo's Shui Diao Ge Tou was composed in 1983 by 梁弘誌 Liang Hongzhi with the title "但願人長久 Danyuan ren changjiu" ("Wishing We Last Forever" or "Always Faithful"). It can be found in many places on the internet, the version by 王菲 Wang Fei (Faye Wong) also being particularly popular. An abbreviated version from Deng Lijun including only the section where the song is sung beginning to end is linked here.

It is interesting here to see how Liang structures the 95-character ci pattern to fit his music. As shown above, an in accordance with the rhyme scheme, the ci lyrics are in eight lines divided into two four-line sections of two couplets each; the third line of each section has three phrases, the others have two. Liang, however, moves the third phrase of each third line into the fourth line; he also adds a short instrumental phrase after the second line of each section. The structure of his setting is thus more or less as follows:

明月幾時有，把酒問青天。
不知天上宮闕，今夕是何年。_ _ _ _
我欲乘風歸去，唯恐瓊樓玉宇，
高處不勝寒；起舞弄清影，何似在人間。

轉朱閣，低綺戶，照無眠；
不應有恨，何事長向別時圓。 _ _ _ _
人有悲歡離合，月有陰晴圓缺，
此事古難全；但願人長久，千里共嬋娟。

In the recordings I have heard there is then a brief instrumental interlude, after which the second section is repeated with a slightly different arrangement.

This structure gives the song an appropriate length and balance between sung and instrumental sections. And although the re-arrangement of the lines means that the structure clearly violates the poem's rhyme scheme, it allows Liang to use a music structure that can be described as "AABA": the melody for the first two lines is largely repeated in lines 3 and 4. The melody of lines 5 and 6 is somewhat different but lines 7 and 8 are again like 1 and 2 (as well as 3 and 4). This structure, plus the slow rubato 4x4 rhythm throughout, gives the melody an easily recognized coherence.

For my reconstruction of the 1687 melody I found that the slow rubato 4x4 works very well throughout. However, old qin melodies rarely if ever have sections where new lyrics are introduced through a repeated melody and the 1687 setting also does not do that. Instead, in its first four-line section the melody of the second and third phrases of line 3 are basically repeated to form line four. In the second section lines seven and eight have no such repetition, but it still feels natural to follow the rhythm suggested in lines three and four. Thus in both cases, even if one were willing to sacrifice the rhyme scheme in order to structure the phrasing like Liang's, the music does not allow one to assign only two phrases to line three
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13. Lyrics by Su Shi
Su Shi also wrote a preface to his poem, translated by Qiu Xiaolong as follows:

丙辰中秋，歡飲達旦，大醉，作此篇，兼懷子由。
Mid-autumn of the Bing Chen year / Having been drinking happily over night / I'm drunk / So I write this poem / Remembering my brother, Zi You

Links to more of Qiu Xiaolong's translations can be found here.
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