Zheyin Shizi Qinpu #
The Qin Handbook Transmitting Lyrics with Music of the Zhejiang School it is thought to have been written by Zhu Dianpei (1418-1491), grandson of Zhu Quan, who published the Shen Qi Mi Pu (1425). Zhu Dianpei was a poet, and wrote poetical essays for each piece, signing with his lierary name, Xi Xian, Beyond-Sound Immortal. Xi Xian, who became princess of Nanchang in 1448, refers to Zhu Quan as his Royal Ancestor.
About the name of Beyond-Sound Immortal, John Thompson cites the chapter 14 of the Dao De Jing where Laozi says of the Tao:
One looks but is unable to see it,
so it is called ‘formless’ (yi);
one listens but is unable to hear it,
so it is called ‘soundless’ (xi);
one grasps but it is unable to hold it,
so it is called ‘intangible’ (wei);
these three, being unresolvable,
are mixed together as one.
The 42 pieces of Zheyin Shizi Qinpu are thought to represent the famous Zhejiang (a province south of Shanghai) school of qin playing in the late Song and early Ming dynasties. All the pieces have lyrics: 28 pieces appeared before in Shen Qi Mi Pu in identical versions (SQMP had no lyrics); 5 pieces are different versions from those of Shen Qi Mi Pu; and 9 pieces are the earliest surviving occurrences.
Music Beyond Sound
- Transcriptions from Zheyin Shizi Qinpu, pieces recontructed by John Thompson
- Music from Zheyin Shizi Qinpu, recordings of qin pieces played by John Thompson