Lu Qi Qin Tu

Xi Xiang Ji / Feng Qiu Huang / Wenjun Cao (recordings #1 and #2 ¹)

Lu Qi, Sima Xiangru's Qin,
With illustration showing the seduction of Zhuo Wenjun

綠綺﹕司馬相如之琴
綠綺圖、琴挑圖 ²

This woodblock illustration, from the qin handbook Fengxuan Xuanpin (1539), is one of 38 showing what are said to be famous old qins. Compare the illustrations in Taiyin Daquanji, Folio 2, which is also one of 38, and in Taigu Yiyin (under Sima Xiangru), both of which show only the qins themselves.

In the illustration Sima Xiangru is playing the qin while Wenjun listens from another room. She is said to have found his qin play so seductive that she eloped with him. This illustration is connected to the melodies A Phoenix Seeks his Mate and Wenjun Melody (Wenjun Cao, also translatable as Melody for Wenjun, but not Melody of Wenjun), while the opera Xi Xiang Ji used the story and lyrics in a famous seduction scene.

Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1. Comment on recording
On recording #1 I sing in unison with the qin; in recording #2 the relationship is more free. (More recordings at Hear Qin).
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2. Illustration
Copied from QQJC II/37 (one of a series of illustrations of 38 qins and their famous player).
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