Wang Jingbo

Wang Jingbo seems to have been either confused with or the same person as Wang Shen, also called Wang Yanbo.⁴ Similar qin-related stories are told about both. The entry here gives as its sole source the Continuation of Qi Xie's Records (Xu Qi Xie Ji).⁵

Van Gulik, Lore, p.157, tells of Wang Jingbo having had a qin called Influencing Spirits (感靈 Gan Ling). One night he plays it in a pavilion under a full moon. His playing brings out the spirit of the dead daughter of 劉惠明 Liu Huiming, together with two maids.

A Qing dynasty edition of Xu Qi Xie Ji

The story related here in Qin Shi Bu consists entirely of a quote from Xu Qi Xie Ji by Wu Jun (469 - 520), who also wrote several other tales about the qin. Yuefu Shiji, Folio 60, #3, quotes the same source but with greater detail in its introduction to the qin melody Yuan Zhuan Ge.⁶

The lengthy Xu Qi Xie Ji account mentions a female immortal and the melody Chu Mingjun, played by Xi Kang. In this it is similar to the story told with Wang Shen (Wang Yanbo -- note the similarity of the names).

The account in Qin Shi Bu begins as follows.

Wang Jingbo was from Yuyao (near Shaoxing). When young he enjoyed studying and excelled at playing the qin. He held official position as a guard in the Eastern Palace (residence of the heir apparent).... (The story concerns meeting a woman who also plays qin. After she teaches him the melody Yuan Zhuan Ge he recompenses her with a "teeth-fire-box" [牙火籠 20364.xxx] and a qin with jade pegs.).

Translation incomplete. ⁷

Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1. Wang Jingbo 王敬伯
Bio/xxx; 王敬伯 Wang Jingbo, from 會稽餘姚 Yuyao (near Shaoxing)
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2. Text in Qinshi Bu
The original text begins, "王敬伯，會稽餘姚人。少好學，善鼓琴。仕於東宮...."
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4. Wang Shen 王沈 (bio in Qinshu Daquan)
The variety of stories about Wang Shen (aka 王彥伯 Wang Yanbo) and Wang Jingbo suggest many must be apocryphal
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5. The story of Wang Jingbo from Xu Qi Xie Ji
The original text of the Xu Qi Xie Ji account as related in the Yuefu Shiji commentary on the melody 宛轉歌二首 Yuan Zhuan Ge is as follows,

晉有王敬伯者，會稽餘姚人。少好學，善鼓琴。年十八，仕於東宮，為衛佐。休假還鄉，過吳，維舟中渚。登亭望月，悵然有懷，乃倚琴歌《泫露》之詩。俄聞戶外有嗟賞聲，見一女子，雅有容色，謂敬伯曰：「女郎悅君之琴，原共撫之。」敬伯許焉。既而女郎至，姿質婉麗，綽有餘態，從以二少女，一則向先至者。女郎乃撫琴揮弦，調韻哀雅，類今之登歌，曰：「古所謂《楚明君》也，唯嵇叔夜能為此聲，自茲已來，傳習數人而已。」復鼓琴，歌《遲風》之詞，因嘆息久之。乃命大婢酌酒，小婢彈箜篌，作《宛轉歌》。女郎脫頭上金釵，扣琴弦而和之，意韻繁諧，歌凡八曲。敬伯唯憶二曲。將去，留錦臥具、繡香囊，並佩一雙，以遺敬伯。敬伯報以牙火籠、玉琴軫。（The account in Qinshi Bu ends here）女郎悵然不忍別，且曰：「深閨獨處，十有六年矣。邂逅旅館，盡平生之志，蓋冥契，非人事也。」言竟便去。敬伯船至虎牢戍，吳令劉惠明者，有愛女早世，舟中亡臥具，於敬伯船獲焉。敬伯具以告，果於帳中得火籠、琴軫。女郎名妙容，字雅華，大婢名春條，年二十許，小婢名桃枝，年十五，皆善彈箜篌及《宛轉歌》，相繼俱卒。 No translation available yet.
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6. Yuan Zhuan Ge 宛轉歌
There is no piece of this title in existing qin tablature. (Return)

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