Xu Shen

Xu Tianmin; Xu Shen's great grandfather, the famous Hangzhou qin master
Xu Qiushan, Xu Tianmin's son
Xu Xiaoshan, the father of Xu Hezhong.
Xu Shen himself

The rather complex essay here in Qinshi Xu discusses various people associated with the Xu tradition of qin play. However, it does not discuss characteristics of this tradition, in particular making no comparisons with the Jiang tradition.⁴ It also makes no mention of Meixuowo,⁵ apparently the name of a handbook edited by Xu Shen but probably never printed. Had it survived it would have provided very interesting comparisons to Shen Qi Mi Pu (1425), compiled just a few years later, while Xu Shen was perhaps still alive.

The essay does say that Xu Shen created Wen Wang Si Shun. This title is generally associated with a melody surviving under various titles beginning with the qin melody (with lyrics added) Si Shun published in >1505 and the qin song (different lyrics but similar melody) Wen Wang Qu of 1511. In Wugang Qinpu, which directly connects several melodies to the Xu tradition, it is called Wen Wang Cao and there is no comment about Xu; Wen Wang Si Shi is given as an alternate title. None of the three early handbooks that specifically uses the title Wen Wang Si Shun mentions Xu Hezhong or the Xu tradition; see Faming Qinpu (1530), Fengxuan Xuanpin (1539) and Taiyin Chuanxi (1551).

In addition to Xu Shen the biography mentions:

徐宇 Xu Yu (see also in Rao, Section 9)
- nickname 雪汀 Xueting or 雪江 Xuejiang (i.e., Xu Tianmin?)
徐夢吉 Xu Mengji (i.e., Xu Xiaoshan)
- see also in Rao, Section 9
薛生 Xue Sheng
-
王禮 Wang Li
-
金應龍 Jin Yinglong
-
吳以介 Wu Yijie
-

Xu Shen entry in Qinshi Xu ⁶
Xu Shen, courtesy name Hezhong, was originally of Qiantang (Hangzhou). His great-grandfather Xu Yu bore the sobriquet Xuetian (also written Xuejiang). His father Xu Mengji bore the sobriquet Xiaoshan. Both devoted themselves to Confucian learning and were skilled at the qin. Later, his father traveled in official service to Siming and settled there.

Xu Shen was by nature careful and sincere. At home he studied diligently, using the Spring and Autumn Annals as his teaching text. In instructing the local community and composing writings, he was neither vulgar nor florid. He also became renowned in his time for the qin.

During the Hongwu period, when the Taizong Emperor was still residing in his princely estate, an envoy was sent to summon Xu Shen, and he was bestowed gifts of silk and other items. After returning, Xu Shen was recommended for his mastery of the Classics and appointed as xundao (local educational instructor) of the county school.

From his great-grandfather through his father, all specialized in the qin; but Xu Shen surpassed them, achieving marvelous skill, responding effortlessly with hand and mind, his expressive intent seeming to arise naturally from Heaven. When he traveled among the rivers and lakes, those who truly understood sound held him in the highest esteem.

There was a man known as Xue Sheng, skilled at the qin, who excelled in the piece Wu Ye Ti (Evening Call of the Raven), and was therefore called “Xue Raven Evening". He repeatedly asked Xu Shen to play the qin for him, but Xu Shen refused. Xue then enlisted a mutual acquaintance who delighted in such matters to persuade Xu Shen to play the piece. While Xu Shen was performing it, Xue listened secretly from the adjoining room; he then rushed out, prostrated himself beneath the table, and said: “I beg to serve you as a disciple.”

Xu Shen explained the pieces he had composed, including King Wen Thinks of Shun (Wen Wang Si Shun). After careful revision, these were all acclaimed as works of divine quality.

Figures such as Wang Li, Jin Yinglong, and Wu Yijie personally received instruction at his gate. Students who came to study with him, from near and far, were numerous. Later, his sons and grandsons were all able to carry on the family learning, and the Zhejiang style of qin playing came to be known everywhere as the “Xu lineage.”
— Source: Gazetteer of Qin County (勤縣志)

Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1. Xu Shen references (See also in Rao, Section 9)
徐詵, Bio/xxx, but see Hsu Wenying, The Ku-Ch'in, p. 225, which quotes "the Index" saying he was a native of Ningbo who served as a supervisor during 1403-25, that he originated the Zhe school of qin, and that he wrote a 梅雪窩刪潤琴譜 Plum Snow Nest Revised Qin Tablature (see Meixuewo). She adds that "Records of Zhejing" say he was the leading player of his time, and that his great-grandfather was Xu Yu.
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2. 12 lines; includes five other people; only source stated: 鄞縣志 Annals of Yin county (around Ningbo).
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3. 四明 Siming is the name of some hills west of Ningbo. Often Xu Hezhong is said to be from Ningbo itself. Presumably this means 寧波府 Ningbo district, not Ningbo city itself.
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4. The preface to Fengxuan Xuanpin by Zhu Houjiao says there were two types of melodies in those days. The 浙操徐門 Zhe melodies of the Xu tradition and the 江操劉門 Jiang melodies of the Liu tradition. Xu Jian's History, Chapter Seven discusses the Xu tradition in some detail, contrasting it with the Jiang tradition, the most famous master of which was 劉鴻 Liu Hong of 松江 Songjiang.
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5.
梅雪窩刪潤琴譜 Meixuewo Shanrun Qinpu (Plum Snow Nest Revised Qin Tablature)
Meixuewo was presumably a nickname of either Xu Shen himself or of his study. Qinshu Cunmu #163 confuses the name of this handbook, calling it Xuewo Shanrun Qinpu. It adds no signficant details, and the only other mention I have found so far is in connection with the melody Yu Ge. See also QSCB, Chapter 7.A.1
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6. Xu Shen entry in Qinshi Xu
The original text is,

徐詵
徐宇，徐夢吉，薛生，王禮，金應龍，吳以介
徐詵，字和仲，其先錢塘人，曾祖。宇號雪汀（或作雪江）。父孟吉號曉山皆業儒善琴後父宦遊四明遂家焉。詵性謹厚。居家篤學以春秋教。授鄉里為文不俚不浮亦以琴著名於時。洪武間太宗在藩邸遺使召至錫賚殘、陳既歸舉明經爲邑仰庠訓導詵自曾祖逮父皆以琴專門而詵尤工妙得心應手趣自天成時遊江湖間尤為知音者推讓有薛生者善琴操《烏夜啼》號薛烏夜每請詵鼓之弗許薛求好事者邀說鼓此曲薛隔壁潛聽之乃趨出拜伏几下曰願執第子禮說所製有《文王思舜》凡經訂正號為神品若王蘆金應隆吳以介親受業其門遠近從學者眾後子第皆能踵其家學浙操至令稱徐門云。勤縣志

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