Qin Shi Chubian 6B - Introduction to Zui Weng Yin

The melody was created by the (12th century) Daoist of Lushan, Cui Xian, then Su Dongpo paired it with lyrics. The "Old Toper" of the song is Ouyang Xiu. The creative concept draws on the famous essay Record of the Old Toper's Pavilion by Ouyang Xiu; the composer created this song as a memorial to Ouyang Xiu. An outline of this piece can be seen in Qinyuan Yaolu. There Zequan Heshang uses this piece as an example introduce the special points of rhythmic process in Song dynasty "diaozi" (see comments), from which one can see that it was a very popular piece. The first surviving tablature for this melody can be seen in the early Ming handbook Fengxuan Xuanpin (1539).⁴ Based on this the words and music are paired as below.

(The essay ends here with a transcription of the entire melody from Fengxuan Xuanpin, at present omitted. I have done my own transcription of this melody, as well as a recording online [see link at top]. My own selections of note values/rhythms are very different from those of Xu Jian. There is also a version by Wang Di, again with different note values. In addition, Xu Jian makes no attempt to show why one should think there is any melodic connection between the 1539 song and the melodies discussed during the Song dynasty; in fact, a number of unrelated settings of the song appeared beginning around that time [see list].)

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Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1. Chapter 6 covers these dynasties (dates, capital city [modern name]):

Northern Song (960-1126; Dongjing [Kaifeng])
Liao (907-1125; Dading Fu [Daning?])
Southern Song (1127-1280; Linan Fu [Hangzhou])
Jin (1115-1260; Zhongdu [Beijing])
Yuan (1206-1280-1368; Dadu [Beijing])
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2. Translation by JT.
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3. Old Toper's Chant (醉翁吟 Zui Weng Yin)
More information as well as links to further references are included with my own separate page about the earliest version of this melody, the Zui Weng Yin published in 1539.
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4. Later versions of 醉翁吟 Old Toper's Chant
See footnote under the 1539 Zui Weng Yin.
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Return to the top or to Song-Yuan in the Qinshi Chubian outline.