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Su Shi 1
 		 蘇軾
Su Dongpo with a lady musician (pipa) 2      
Su Shi (1037 - 1101), better known as 蘇東坡 Su Dongpo, was one of the most influential poets and essayists during the northern Song dyansty (960–1127). His brother Su Che was also a poet.3 There is some discussion of Su Dongpo's connections to the qin in Xu Jian's Introductory History of the Qin, 6a2.

A collection of writings by Su Shi about the qin, under the title Miscellaneous Accounts of Qin Matters, was included in Folio 100 of the 14th century encyclopaedia called Shuo Fu. This volume still exists.4

Poems by Su Shi directly mention qin at least 61 times.5 Qinshu Daquan (QQJC Vol. V) includes at least 22 such poems and essays he wrote concerning qin. These poems and essays include (original texts are in a footnote below):6

Folio 16, #53 (V. 362/3; seven writings)
Folio 17, #56 (V. 384; 1 writing, including 1 poem)
Folio 17, #57 (V. 384; 1 letter)
Folio 18, #55 (V. 403; inscription [with comments])
Folio 19A, #31 (V. 418; [from an essay {repeated} that has 1 poem])
Folio 19A, #33 (V. 419; 1 poem)
Folio 19B, #91 - #93 (V. 431; 3 poems)
Folio 19B, #161 (V. 441; 1 poem)
Folio 20A, #53 - #55 (V. 447; 3 poems)
Folio 20B, #56 - #58 (V. 455/6; 3 poems)

Qinshu Daquan also has stories by other people that mention Su Dongpo and qin, sometimes quoting him. For example, see (original text below):7

Folio 17, #32 (includes a poem; V. 379)
Folio 17, #39 (mentions him with 武崇穆 Wu Chongmu; V. 380) The following poem was included together with one of the essays above:8

If you say music from the qin does rise,
Why in its case will the strings not sing?
If you say sound in the fingers lies,
Why from your fingers do we hear no ring?

Some handbooks say he wrote the melody He Wu Dongtian. And his lyrics set to qin melodies (by others) include the following,

  1. Zui Weng Cao (lyrics)
  2. Qian Chibi Fu (lyrics)
  3. Hou Chibi Fu (lyrics)
  4. Shui Diao Ge Tou9

Should this also include the melody Xiangsi Qu (Gu Qin Yin)?10 Introductions to it suggest he created it, or at least the lyrics, though it does not seem to be part of his canonical work. The various introductions all concern Su Dongpo and a female ghost who played the qin. In the version translated by Van Gulik,11 Su Dongpo hears someone playing a sad song outside his window. When he goes to look he sees a young woman, who immediately disappears. In the morning when digging in that area he finds an old qin.

It may also be appropriate to mention Su Dongpo's Three Songs on Yangguan Lyrics. This and related comments by Su himself may be of relevance in tracing the source of the melody used today with Yangguan Sandie, but as yet I have not carefully analyzed this.12

Su Dongpo is said to have created a list of "16 Enjoyable Activities, the final one of which mentioned "playing qin for an understanding listener".14

 
Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1. Su Shi 蘇軾 (蘇東坡 Su Dongpo, sometimes written Su Dongbo)
33250.234 眉山人，洵子，轍兄，字子瞻 from Meishan, son of Su Xun, brother of Su Che, style name Zizhan. Sources (see also Wiki) include:

Nienhauser, Indiana Companion to Traditional Chinese Literature, p.729.
Michael A. Fuller, The Road to East Slope, The Development of Shu Shi's Poetic Voice
Burton Watson, Selected Poems of Su Tung-p'o
Xu Yuanzhong, Su Dong-po - A New Translation
Lin Yutang, The Gay Genius, The Life and Times of Su Tungpo

The references quoted here come from various poetry collections and The Collected Writings of Su Dongpo (東坡文集 Dongpo Wenji).
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2. Su Dongpo with a lady musician (pipa) Japanese image: Su Dongpo with qin?    
The image above is part of 仇英，東坡寒夜賦詩圖 a long scroll by Qiu Ying (款) called Dongpo on a cold evening writes poetry. The woman with the pipa is said to be a female entertainer (or Skilled Woman). The full scroll is here. There are many online copies but I haven't found where the original is kept.

Compare the image at right, from a standing screen, copied from a Japanese web page. The image seems clearly to be of 鍾馗 Zhong Kui, but the text there says (in part),

蘇東坡 八僊畫衝立 Su Dongpo, from standing screen drawingss of the 8 Immortals (? See Wiki)
古裂會   骨董品古美術品専門オークション Bone (?) valuable object and old beautiful object
寶曆元年 (1751: Houreki 1st year).... 僧泉寺（極書）天保元年（1830: Tenpo 1st year）
長泉寺　裏鐘馗抱琴畫（紙本　ヤケ　シミ　スレ）

The last line says "Chosenji Temple, Drawing of Zhong Kui embracing a qin". On the left side of the screen the writing says: 七十叟野某姚宋敬 .

Is it saying that Su Dongpo was the painter? Otherwise I do not understand this inscription, or the relationship between Su Dongpo, the Eight Immortals, the inscription and the image, which is clearly Zhong Kui (Wiki), who was not one of the 8 Immortals.
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3. Su Zhe 蘇轍 (1039 - 1112)
Su Zhe, style name 子由 Ziyou, though overshadowed by his older brother Su Shi, was one of the "Eight Great Prose Masters of the Tang and Song". (Indiana Companion, p.727)
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4. Miscellaneous Accounts of Qin Matters (雜書琴事，十三則 Zashu Qinshi, 13 entries; 一卷 one folio)
Qinshu Cunmu entry 103 (4 lines) bases its discussion of this work attributed to Su Shi on the version in Folio 100 of 說郛本 Shuo Fu, where it is the fifth entry. There are 13 essays in the Shuo Fu edition, as follows：

  1. 家藏雷琴
    余家有琴，其面皆作蛇腹紋，其上池銘云：「開元十年造，雅州靈關村。」其下池銘雲：「雷家記八日合。」不曉其「八日合」為何等語也？其嶽不容指，而弦不先攵，此最琴之妙，而雷琴獨然。求其法不可得，乃破其所藏雷琴求之。琴聲出於兩池間，其背微隆，若薤葉然，聲欲出而隘，徘回不去，乃有餘韻，此最不傳之妙。
  2. 歐陽公論琴詩
    「    昵昵兒女語，恩怨相爾汝。劃然變軒昂，勇士赴敵場。」此退之《聽穎師琴》詩也。歐陽文忠公嘗問仆：「琴詩何者最佳？」余以此答之。公言此詩固奇麗，然自是聽琵琶詩，非琴詩。余退而作《聽杭僧惟賢琴》詩雲：「大弦春溫和且平，小弦廉折亮以清。平生未識宮與角，但聞牛鳴盎中雉登木。門前剝啄誰扣門，山僧未閑君勿嗔。歸家且覓千斛水，凈洗從前箏笛耳。」詩成欲寄公，而公薨，至今以為恨。
  3. 琴非雅聲
    世以琴為雅聲，過矣。琴正古之鄭、衛耳。今世所謂鄭、衛者，乃皆胡部，非復中華之聲。自天寶中坐立部與胡部合，自爾莫能辨者。或雲，今琵琶中有獨彈，往往有中華鄭、衛之聲，然亦莫能辨也。
  4. 琴貴桐孫
    凡木，本實而末虛，惟桐反之。試取小枝削，皆堅實如蠟，而其本皆中虛空。故世所以貴孫枝者，貴其實也，實，故絲中有木聲。
  5. 戴安道不及阮千里
    阮千里善彈琴，人聞其能，多往求聽。不問貴賤長幼，皆為彈之，神氣衝和，不知何人所在。內兄潘岳每命鼓琴，終日達夜無忤色，識者嘆其恬淡，不可榮辱。戴安道亦善鼓琴，武陵王晞使人召之。安道對使者破琴曰：“戴安道不為王門伶人。”余以謂安道之介，不如千里之達。
  6. 琴鶴之禍
    衛懿公好鶴，以亡其國，房次律好琴，得罪至死。乃知燒煮之士，亦自有理。
  7. 天陰絃慢
    或對一貴人彈琴者，天陰聲不發。貴人怪之，曰：「豈絃慢故？」或對曰：「弦也不慢。」
  8. 天陰絃慢
    或對一貴人彈琴者，天陰聲不發。貴人怪之，曰：「豈弦慢故？」或對曰：「弦也不慢。」
  9. 書醉翁操後
    二水同器，有不相入，二琴同手，有不相應。今沈君信手彈琴，而與泉合，居士縱筆作詩，而與琴會。此必有真同者矣。本覺法真禪師，沈君之子也，故書以寄之。願師宴坐靜室，自以為琴，而以學者為琴工，有能不謀而同三令無際者，願師取之。元祐七年四月二十四日。
  10. 書林道人論琴、棋
    元祐五年十二月一日，游小靈隱，聽林道人論琴棋，極通妙理。余雖不通此二技，然以理度之，知其言之信也。杜子美論畫雲：「更覺良工心獨苦。」用意之妙，有舉世莫之知者。此其所以為獨苦歟？
  11. 書仲殊琴夢
    元祐六年三月十八日五鼓，船泊吳江，夢長老仲殊彈一琴，十三弦頗壞損而有異聲。余問雲：「琴何為十三絃？」殊不答，但誦詩曰：
        「度數形名豈偶然，破琴今有十三絃。
            此生若遇邢和璞，方信秦箏是響泉。」
    夢中瞭然諭其意，覺而識之。今晚到蘇州，殊或見過，即以示之。寫至此，筆未絕，而殊老叩舷來見，驚嘆不已，遂以贈之。時去州五里。
  12. 書王進叔所蓄琴
    知琴者以謂前一指後一紙為妙，以蛇蚹紋為古。進叔所蓄琴，前幾不容指，而後劣容紙，然終無雜聲，可謂妙矣。蛇蚹紋已漸出，後日當益增，但吾輩及見其斑斑焉，則亦可謂難老者也。元符二年十月二十三日，與孫叔靜皆云。
  13. 文與可琴銘
    文與可家有古琴，予為之銘曰：
        「攫之幽然，如水赴谷。
            醳之蕭然，如葉脫木。
            按之噫然，應指而長言者似君。
            置之枵然，遺形而不言者似僕。」
    與可好作楚詞，故有「長言似君」之句。「醳」、「釋」同。鄒忌論琴雲：「攫之深，醳之愉。」此言為指法之妙爾。

    元豐四年六月二十三日，陳季常處士自岐亭來訪予，攜精筆佳紙妙墨求予書。會客有善琴者，求予所蓄寶琴彈之，故所書皆琴事。

Some of these are quoted again below.
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5. Qin mentioned in Su Shi's poetry 61 times
See Stuart H. Sargent, Music in the World of Su Shi (1037-1101): Termiology, Journal of Sung-Yuan Studies 32, pp. 46 (2002; online). Pages 46-51 has a comprehensive account of Su Dongpo's comments on qin; see also pp. 54-5. Sargent is mentioned again below.
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6. Su Shi qin-related poems and essays in Qinshu Daquan
There are at least 22 such items in that 1590 compendium, as follows:

Folio 16, #53 (Selections from Dongpo Wenji arranged into seven paragraphs; V.362/3)
Subtitles: 桐貴孫枝、安道介不如千里達、琴偈燒煮琴鶴、伯倫淵明非達

Folio 17, #56 (V. 384)

Folio 17, #57 (V. 384)

Folio 18, #55 (V. 403)

Folio 19A, #31 (V. 418),

Entry 31 from Folio 19 concerned the 3rd month, 18th day; for the 19th day see below

Folio 19A, #33 (V. 419)

Folio 19B, #91 - #93 (V. 431-2; 3 poems),

Folio 19B, #161 (V. 441)

Folio 20A, #53 - #55 (V. 447, 3 poems)

Folio 20B, #56 - #58 (V. 455/6, 3 poems)

More could be added.
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7. Stories by others concerning Su Dongpo and qin
These two stories were included in Qinshu Daquan (1590), Folio 17:

Folio 17, #32 (V. 379)
觀宋復古畫序 Preface to Looking at a Painting by Song Fugu (V.379)
Fugu was the style name of 宋迪 Song Di, a well-known painter from Luoyang; he painted a version of 瀟湘八景 Eight Scenes of the Xiao and Xiang Rivers. Two subtitles are given:

  1. 東坡夢中琴詩 (Su) Dongpo's qin poem in a dream
  2. 破琴詩見詠琴 Broken qin poem sees singing qin (?)

However, there does not seem to be a clear division in the text. The entire text seems to concern Su Dongpo and a 13-string qin / zheng, so the second subtitle may simply refer to the included poem(s).

舊說房琯開元中嘗宰盧氏，與道士邢和璞過夏口村，入廢佛寺，坐古松下。和璞使人鑿池，得甕中所藏婁師德與永禪師畫，笑謂琯曰：「頗憶此耶？」因悵然悟前生之為永禪師也。故人柳子玉寶此畫，蓋唐本，宋復古所臨者。
Of old it was said that during 713 - 42 Fang Guan zaied (?) Mr. Lu and the Daoist Xing Hepu (8th c.; Bio/499) .....

元祐六年三月十九日，余自杭還朝，宿吳松江，夢長老仲殊挾琴過予，彈之有異聲，熟視琴頗損，而有十三弦。予嘆息不己。殊曰：「雖損尚可修。」曰：「柰十三絃何？」殊不答。
In the 6th year of Yuanruo, the 19th day of the 3rd month, I returned from Hangzhou to....

誦詩曰：
     「度數形名豈偶然，破琴今有十三絃。
         此生若遇邢和璞，方信秦箏是響泉。」
予夢中瞭然，識其所謂，既覺而忘之。明日晝臥，復夢珠來理前言，再誦其詩，方驚覺，而殊適至，意其非夢也。問之殊，蓋不知。是歲六月，見子玉之子子文於京師，求得其畫，乃作詩並書所夢其上。子玉名瑾，善作詩及行草書，復古名迪，畫山水草木蓋妙絕一時。仲殊本書生，棄家學佛，通脫無所著，皆奇士也。
In a dream I....

(The original Dongpo Ji text then continues: 詩曰：
      「破琴雖未修....Broken qin...., see above).

Folio 17, #39 (V.380/1)
昭德樸齋錄 Zhaode Record of Puzhai
There is a 昭德文集 Zhaode Wenji by Zhao Gongwu (晁公武 14239.5: 12th c.), while 樸齋錄 Puzhai Lu is perhaps a work by 蒲瀛 Pu Ying called 蒲氏漫齋錄 Pushi Man Zhailu (32271.17 pushi: a type of fan), but I have not been able to find the connection between that and this text, which mentions Su Dongpo in connection with his friend 王晉卿 Wang Jinqing (王詵 Wang Shen Bio/108; Jin is written here with two 口 instead of two 厶) and two Daoist priests, 武崇穆 Wu Chongmu (Bio/xxx; 16623.xxx) and 費世隆 Fei Shilong (37565.xxx).

東坡觀人知琴 (Su) Dongpo sees people and understands them through qin (note also the mention of 茗 tea)

道士武崇穆善鼓琴，亦能攧竹騁。兹二伎頗結貴游然風貌不甚灑落。王晉卿賞其伎，與之往還。由此識蘇東坡。東坡因聽琴嘗以詩為贈。道士費世隆亦攻琴別無他業其不韻尤甚於武。武欲蔫之於二公令揮絃求詩共要虛譽。一日晉卿約東坡飯。上清宮時武、費與蔫飯起瀹（音藥）茗稍雍容間晉卿乃索琴求武、費各作一操。東坡據振衣索馬欲退。晉卿堅留聽琴。東坡曰：今日只求赴飯，意非聽琴。請俟他日，清集耳竟上馬去。翼日晉卿復見東坡，詰其所以。東坡謂晉卿曰：觀其人可以知其琴矣。何必更聽耶。
Daoist priest Wu Chongmu was a skilled qin player who was also fast at dianzhu (a game involving sketching bamboo?)....

There are probably also other references in Qinshu Daquan that I have not yet found.
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8. Poem on the source of qin sounds (see above)
The translation is based on that of Xu Yuanzhong, Song of the Immortals, p.212. The original (see p.423) is:

若言琴上有琴聲，放在匣中何不鳴？
若言聲在指頭上，何不於君指上聽？

Elsewhere the first phrase is written, "若言聲在琴絃上".
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9. 水調歌頭 Shui Diao Ge Tou
This is the name of a 95-character cipai; the lyrics by Su Shi are the most famous ones in this form. The original and a translation are in Wiki; they are included here under the qin melody of this title.

As indicated by the preface to the poem, this was one of the poems written by Su Shi during Mid-Autumn (details).

Zha Guide 32/244/470 has six entries with this title, but two are duplicates, so there are actually four melodies for the three sets of lyrics; all lyrics fit into the same ci pattern. The six are as follows:

  1. Lixing Yuanya (1618; QQJC VIII/337)
    The lyrics are those of Su Shi given just above; the melody is one of the handbook's 5 melodies for one-string qin.
  2. Shu Huai Cao (1677 [1]; XII/342)
    "宮音"; "鐵篴老仙去，無復採花船...."
  3. Shu Huai Cao (1677 [2]; XII/363)
    "徵音"; "君山已不作，獻曲久無人...."
  4. Song Sheng Cao (1682 [1]; XII/376)
    Seems to be the same as 1677 #1
  5. Song Sheng Cao (1682 [2]; XII/379)
    Same lyrics as 1677 #2 but different music; mode is "商音"
  6. Ziyuantang Qinpu (1802; XVII/540)
    Seems to be same as 1677 #1, but lyrics are paired instead of at end

None are yet reconstructed here.
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10. Xiang Si Qu 相思曲
Also called 古琴吟 Gu Qin Yin. See details in the introduction to the 1585 version, including the original lyrics.
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11. Su Shi and the Ghost of Xiang Si Qu
Van Gulik translates this story in Lore, pp.159-160 and there are further details here. Several other stories in that section of Lore also concern ghosts (and in one of his Judge Dee mysteries Van Gulik has a ghost appear to the judge as he plays qin in the middle of the night [illustration]).
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12. Su Shi and Yang Guan
See p. 70fn of Stuart Sargent, Music in the World of Su Shi as well as Sargent's "Colophons in Countermotion: Poems by Su Shih and Huang T’ing-chien on Paintings", Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 52.1 (June 1992): 263–302. Sargent says the latter has "more on the Yang Pass song and its role as a theme in Song painting".

The 陽關詞 三首 Three Poems on Yangguan Lyrics (SSSJ 3:15.751) are:

  1. 贈張繼願
    受降城下紫髯郎，戲馬臺南古戰場。
    恨君不取契丹首，金甲牙旗歸故鄉。
  2. 答李公擇
    濟南春好雪初晴，行到龍山馬足輕。
    使君莫忘霅溪女，時作陽關腸斷聲。
  3. 中秋月
    暮雲收盡溢清寒，銀漢無聲轉玉盤。
    此生此夜不長好，明月明年何處看。

As can be seen, these have the same structure as the original Wang Wei poem, which was included in Yuefu Shiji, Folio 80.

Of these Sargent wrote,

(We) have Su Shi’s testimony that he sang some quatrains he wrote to the tune of the ubiquitous farewell song called "Yang Pass." At least one of these quatrains was definitely written in 1077, and looking back on this poem years later (and singing it again, in solitude), Su tells us "I wrote this poem and sung it to 'Yang Pass'" 作此詩, 以《陽關》歌之. This and two other poems apparently made to be sung to the same tune are placed together in his collection as "Three Yang Pass Lyrics." "Yang Pass" seems to have been a simple tune that everyone sang at farewell banquets, perhaps with Wang Wei's original words, perhaps with words composed on the spot for the occasion. In a sense, "Yang Pass" is a lyric meter: the well-known tune imposed a pattern, possibly with even greater strictness than other lyric meters.

With ci poetry, new lyrics were written following the pattern of an old melody long after the melody was lost. The poems here are 詩 shi rather than 詞 ci, and it is not clear whether they were applied to an actual surviving Tang melody, to a supposed Tang melody, or to a variety of melodies all with an appropriate structure. This also leaves out consideration of whether they were always paired, as in the qin examples, using one note for each character/syllable.
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14. Su Shi's 十六樂事 16 Enjoyable Matters
Su Dongpo is said to have created a list of "16 Enjoyable Matters", the final one of which was "playing qin for an understanding listener". The 16 (translation incomplete) were:

    蘇東坡：人生賞心十六樂事
    Su Dongpo: For a happy mind, 16 enjoyable matters
  1. 清溪淺水行舟 In the shallow waters of a clear stream to ride a boat
  2. 微雨竹窗夜話 With light rain outside a bamboo window have an evening conversation
  3. 暑至臨溪濯足 When summer comes, in a clear stream wash your feet
  4. 雨後登樓看山 After rain to climb a tower and look at mountains
  5. 柳陰堤畔閒行 Along a willow-shaded embankment have a leisurely walk
  6. 花塢樽前微笑 Huawu tea, a cup (of wine), then smile
  7. 隔江山寺聞鐘 Between a river and a mountain temple to hear a bell
  8. 月下東鄰吹簫 Under the moon the Eastern Neighbor (i.e., a beautiful woman) plays xiao flute
  9. 晨興半炷茗香 In the morning arise in half light to tea fragrance
  10. 午倦一方藤枕 When tired at mid-day to have a rattan pillow
  11. 開甕勿逢陶謝 Open a (wine) vat but not meet Tao or Xie (who would drink it all)
  12. 接客不著衣冠 Meet a guest with whom you don't have to get dressed up
  13. 乞得名花盛開 Seek a lovely flower (beautiful woman) and it/she blooms
  14. 飛來家禽自語 (A child who has) flown home like a bird speaks
  15. 客至汲泉烹茶 When a guest arrives to draw water and boil tea
  16. 撫琴聽者知音 Play qin with a listener who understands (your) music

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