Xie Zhuang
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Qin Shi      
Xie Zhuang
- Qin Shi #100		 謝莊 1
琴史 #100 2

Xie Zhuang (421-466) was from a prominent family that had moved south from Henan. His father and other relatives became high officials under the Liu Song dynasty, based in Nanjing.

Xie Zhuang was an important writer in his day, but very little of his opus remains. His best-known work surviving work, Rhapsody on the Moon, as translated in Knechtges, Wen Xuan, Volume Three, mentions the qin on lines 63 and 70. There it is being played on a calm moonlit evening.

Qinshu Cunmu has three books attributed to Xie Zhuang:

  1. Qin Treatise3
    Though not surviving, it is often quoted in Yuefu Shiji

  2. Qin Handbook with Hand Mnemonicss for Three Tunings4
    Apparently a list of players and qin names

  3. Elegant Qin Names5
    A list of qin names

Taiyin Daquanji, Section 2B, says Xie Zhuang had a qin named Harmonious Spirit (怡神 Yi Shen.)

The original biography in Qin Shi has the heading Xie Xiyi:

Xie Zhuang had the style name Xiyi. His well-written words and the good contents of what he wrote made him the best writer of his time. He held numerous official positions, and was 中書令 a regular attendant of the emperor when he died. Although historical records do not say he was a good qin player, it was recorded of old that Xiyi made (a list of) qin names. The lists we have today of the names of people from antiquity, if we collate them, we will realize that they are the ones that Xiyi edited. If it wasn't the result of someone focused on 絲桐 qin, who would have spent so much energy on this?

Further details in preparation. 4

 
Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1 謝莊字希逸 36661.213; detailed biography in Knechtges, Wen Xuan, Vol. 3, pp. 393 - 395 (Return)

2 (Return)

3 琴論一卷 Qin Lun (Qin Treatise)
The long entry at Qinshu Cunmu, #20 says that although the book itself hasn't survived, it is quoted in numerous sources. The entry then gives several quotes from Yuefu Shiji. These quotes, plus others, include the following entries,

4 琴譜三均手訣一卷 Qinpu Sanjun Shoujue
See further. (Return)

5 雅琴名錄 Ya Qin Minglu (Elegant Qin Names)
According to Entry 22 in Qinshu Cunmu it is a list of qin names; VG, Lore, p. 104 says it can be found in 順治，說郛 a 17th century compendium. (Return)

 

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