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Teaching HIP / Learning to play qin / Xianweng Cao transcription / 1585 Cao Man Yin transcription / pdf of all three | 首頁 |
Transcription of 1552 Caoman Yin | 操縵引琴譜、五線譜 |
Green: section titles; red: music begins |
- In the transcription (see below), circled tablatures/punctuation symbols were added; boxed ones were deleted.2
- The tablature has a preface then short comments at the beginning and end of each section.3 Here is a translation:4
散挑七,大九勾四。散挑六,名十勾四。散挑七,名十勾五。散挑六,名十勾四。散挑六,散勾四,散挑六,名勾四。散挑六,散勾四,散挑七,名十勾五。
散挑七,散勾五,散挑六,名十勾四【,】散挑七,大九勾四【。】散挑七,散勾四,散挑五,名十一勾三,散挑六,大九勾三。
散挑六,散勾三,散挑四,名十勾二,散挑五,大九勾二。散挑四,名十勾二,散挑五,大九勾二。挑五,散勾二,散挑三,中十勾一,散挑四,大九勾一。
散挑五,大九勾二,散挑三,中十勾一,散挑四,大九勾一,散挑五,大九勾二。散挑六,大九勾三,散挑七,大九勾四。
為初學下手莫知所向,故為初和。
This is for beginners who may not know where to begin; hence this section (utilizing only the central hui) is called 'Initial Harmonizing'."
蓋一君二臣,六文七武,上下同聲。故云合德。此之謂大和也。
So the first (string) is the ruler, the second is minister (going to) the sixth as Civil Lord and seventh as Military Lord; whether higher or lower (octave?) it is the same sound. Thus what is here is called "uniting in virtue". This is what is called ‘Great Harmony’.
大七泛挑七,名九泛勾四。大九泛挑六,名十泛勾四。大九泛挑七,名十泛勾五。大九泛挑六,名十泛勾四。
大九泛挑四,名十泛勾二。大九泛挑三,名十泛勾一。散挑三,中十勾一,散挑四,大九勾一。
散挑三,中十勾一。三挑四,大九勾一。散挑五,大九勾二,散挑六,大九勾三。散挑七,大九勾四。
是丁寧至再。欲求取和平。
This must be practiced repeatedly and internalized if you seek perfect equilibrium."
Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a
separate page)
1.
Longhand Tablature (文字譜
wenzipu)
Given the singularity of its use here it is rather strange that there is no comment anywhere about this.
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2.
Comments on the tablature
As for changes in the tablature, in the 1552 Cao Man Yin transcription this only occurs in line two. The reasons for the punctuation change is pretty clear: this balances the phrasing on that line in a very clear and symmetical way that also fits in with the rest of the melody; of course the apparent logic of this change does not prove it is correct, but it does mean I couldn't enjoy playing the line the way it was originally punctuated into three parts.
Further comment:
3.
Comments at the beginning and end of each section of the tablature
Compare this typed version with the one dated
1559.
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4.
Comments on the translation
Translation of this section is problematic. The music of this section (see transcription) uses the 9th and 10th positions quite a lot, to a great extent playing the same note first at one hui then on another string at the other hui. However, the first section does the same thing.
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