Yan Cheng and Shen Taishao

There is further information on Shen Taishao here. And a related translation of much of the detail here, plus some further information, is included under Zangchunwu Qinpu (1602; VI/292). Most of it seems to be praise, rather then saying much about who he really was.

Yan Cheng's biography in Qin Shi Xu is as follows:

Yan Cheng, style name Daozhe, nickname Tianchi, was a native of Changshu. He was the son of Wenjing Gong Ne (i.e., Yan Ne). Owing to the grace of inherited privilege, he held successive appointments, including as Prefect of Shaowu Prefecture. From youth he was often ill, disliked hearing the sounds of bells and horns, and had a particular passion for the qin. He studied under Chen Xingyuan, who transmitted to him his learning. Whenever he played the qin, he would stay in one room from morning till night, continuing into old age without decline. The number of pieces he mastered was twenty-two in total, which he compiled and engraved under the title Pine and String Studio Qin Handbook (Song Xian Guan Qinpu). Yan Cheng lived at a time when the art of qin was gradually declining. He rejected the vulgar and returned to elegance, becoming a pillar of the mainstream. He lived at Yushan (Mount Yu), and all the connoisseurs of the time unanimously respected him. He was of the Yushan school of qin, and people compared him to Han Changli (Han Yu) among the writers of antiquity, and to Zhang Zhongjing (Wiki) among the physicians of antiquity. Yushan, being in the county seat, had previously not been notable, but thanks to Yan Cheng’s qin playing, it became especially renowned. People also likened it to Mount Xian of Xiang(yang, in Hunan) and Mount Culai of Lu (about 50 miles north of Qufu in Shandong; both historically were mountains associated with famous scholar-hermits).

Yan Cheng once said:

“Ancient music has been lost, and the qin has not been transmitted. What has been passed down is only its sound. Today’s qin does have the five tones harmonizing on their own, but when sought through writing, it lacks proper foundation. The Way of sound is subtle, marvelous, and fully interconnected—rooted in writing, yet not limited to writing. Sound is indeed refined through writing. If one says that the Way of the qin has never ceased to be transmitted, that may be allowable. But I am baffled by one or two vulgar craftsmen who take ancient texts, using one character to stand for one sound, and claim to understand sound; or who take old melodies and, matching one sound to one character, string together colloquial phrases and claim to understand writing. Alas! Can this really be ancient music? It only makes true connoisseurs laugh until their stomachs hurt!”

At the foot of Yushan is a spring, with a clear murmuring sound, circling the city moat and flowing to become the seven strings of the qin. It is named Qinchuan (“Qin Stream”). Among the locals there were many who could play the qin; they all focused intently on the quality of sound and never forced or artificially matched it to literary writing. Thus, their sound tended to be broad, grand, and harmonious, possessing the rhythms of light and heavy, fast and slow. Even though the skill level of players varied, they were, in the end, vastly different from the petty and gaudy vulgar craftsmen.

Shen Taishao

Yan Cheng met Shen Taishao in the capital. Shen was considered the foremost qin master of his time. His temperament and style were in harmony with the qin players of Qinchuan, and he even surpassed them in breadth and elegance. Yan Cheng thus used Shen’s strengths to complement Qinchuan’s select talents, and likewise used Qinchuan’s strengths to support what Shen had inherited. The qin society friends of Qinchuan then formed a spiritual bond with Shen. At that time, the Way of the qin greatly flourished. Its sound — subtle and restrained, with light flavor — was then esteemed throughout the realm.

Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1. Yan Cheng ()
Sources
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2.
The original text from Qin Shi Xu is as follows:

嚴澂，字道澈，號天池，常熟人。文靖公訥之子也。以恩蔭曆任邵武府知府。少多病，惡聞聲角聲，獨癖於琴。
師事陳星源，傳其學。每弄琴，一室以永日，至老而不衰。所御曲凡二十有二，𢑥刻之曰《松絃館琴譜》。澂當琴學寖微之際，黜俗歸雅，為中流砥柱。家住虞山，一時知音翕然尊之。
窩處山宗派人，比之古文中之韓昌黎、岐黃中之張仲景。虞山在縣治，素不著，因徵之琴而特顯，人亦比之襄之峴山、魯之徂徠云。
徵嘗謂：「古樂湮而琴不傳，所傳者聲而已。今之琴五音固自諧，而求之於文，無當也。聲音之道，微妙圓通，本於文而不盡於文。聲固精於文也。然則謂琴之道未嘗不傳，亦可。獨怪一二俗工取古文辭用一字當一聲，而謂能聲；又取古曲，隨一聲當一字，屬成俚語，而謂能文。噫！古樂然乎哉？適為知音者捧腹耳。」
虞山下有泉，泠泠然，環繞城濠，流而為七象琴之絃，名曰「琴川」。其鄉人能琴者不少，胥刻意於聲，而未嘗牽合附會於文。故其聲多博太和平，具輕重疾徐之節。即師工拙不齊，要與俗工之卑瑣靡靡者懸殊。

沈太韶
澂遇沈太韶於京師。沈為當時琴師之冠，氣調與琴川士合，而博雅過之。徵因以沈之長輔琴川之選，亦以琴川之長輔沈之遺。而琴川諸社友遂與沈作神交。一時琴道大振，聲希味澹之妙，遂為宇內推重云。
——《蓴湖漫錄》
蓴湖漫錄

N.B. regarding "歷任", "歷" was written as "㦄" but without the left stroke in 心 and with 厂 instead of 广. This is ZWDCD #3066, which says it 與歷、曆同；清避高宗諱用此字 is the same as 歷 or 曆 but during the reign of the Qing Dynasty's Gao Zong emperor use by anyone else of the standard character was forbidden (his personal name was 弘曆 Hongli).
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