Sun Deng

Sun Deng was apparently an historical person, living under the Wei in perhaps the 3rd century CE. However, our record of him is enriched by many fables. The ones discussed here are mainly connected to the qin. He is said to have studied qin from Zhou Taibin,⁵ then later to have developed a particular fondness for a one-string qin. He was already a well-known recluse when he taught Xi Kang (223 - 262).

The free flowing hair in the left-hand image at right is specifically mentioned in the description of Su Deng with his one-string qin. The qin illustration to its right is noteworthy in that you can actually see that there is one string: otherwise it looks like an ordinary qin.

Qinshu Daquan has several stories related to him. See, e.g.,

Folio 17, #44.

Then there is this story from 《世說新語·任誕》 the Ren Dan chapter in Shishuo Xinyu:

阮步兵嘗詣孫登，不交言。時人謂阮云：“何以不與登語？” 阮曰：“登眸子裡常光，不可以妄談。” 後登死，阮往哭之，慟甚，因嘯一聲，山谷皆應。於是遂去。
Ruan Bubing (Company Commander Ruan, i.e., Ruan Ji) once went to visit Sun Deng, but they exchanged no words. People said to Ruan, “Why did you not speak with Deng?” Ruan replied, “There is a constant radiance within Deng’s eyes — one cannot engage him with idle talk.” Later, when Deng died, Ruan went to mourn him. He grieved deeply, and let out a single long whistle. The mountains and valleys all echoed in response. Then he departed.

The original essay in Qin Shi is as follows.

Sun Deng, style name Gonghe, was from 汲郡共 Gong in Ji Commandery (in Henan). Having attained the Dao, he became a recluse. He enjoyed reading the Yi Jing and playing the qin. By nature he did not have great passions. When Ruan Sizong (Ruan Ji) and Xi Shuye (Xi Kang) made a (long) journey with him, they would speak a lot but he would not reply. When Shuye was about to leave, Sun Deng criticized him, saying, "Your talent is great but your understanding is poor. You will have difficulty in today's world." (Xi) Kang in the end suffered an ignominious fate. He (Xi Kang) was excelled at playing , but when he saw Sun Deng play a one-string qin and yet producing the sound of a complete melody, he called out in admiration. He also once heard Sun Deng's whistling sounding like phoenixes and simurghs. This then caused mountains and valleys to vibrate - it was extraordinary. It is not known what happened to him after this. Immortals consider him to have been removed from his body (thus becoming an immortal himself).

This biography gives no information about where he might have lived (but see below).

Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1. 孫登 Sun Deng
7135.324/3 孫登 Sun Deng, style name 公和 Gonghe. The following description of Sun Deng is from Donald Holzman, Poetry and Politics, The Life and Work of Juan Chi (A.D. 210 - 263). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1973, p. 149.

Sun Deng, whose zi was Gonghe, was a man of 共 Gong in 及 Ji commandery. He was homeless, but stayed in the mountains in the north of the commandery, where he lived in a cavern in the earth that he had made for himself. In summer he wove grasses to wear as a shirt and in winter he let his hair down to cover himself. He liked to read the Yi Jing and played a 1-string qin....

He is sometimes said to have played at a Chanting Terrace (嘯台 Su Tai) on top of a hill called 蘇門山 Sumen Shan about a mile north west of 輝縣 Huixian town (county seat?) in northern Henan province. I don't know the source of that claim. 33250.119 蘇門 Sumen says that by itself it is the name of a 山 hill or mountain in northern Huizhou.
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3. Sun Deng Image
The image of Sun Deng playing the one-string qin is from Liexian Quanzhuan (a Ming publication expanding from Liexian Zhuan).
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4. One string qin image
This image is from Deyintang Qinpu (1691; QQJC XII, p. 459). Compare it with the One String Qin depicted in Taiyin Daquanji (Image 37): both look like ordinary qins except for the number of strings.
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5. 周太賓 Zhou Taibin
The biography of 周太賓 Zhou Taibin also mentions another one-string qin player, Maming Sheng.
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