Saturday, March 11, 2017

Early Chinese Music Resources: Yuan

Early Chinese Music Resources: Yuan
compiled by David Badagnani (rev. 9 July 2023)
Detail of "Spring Morning in the Han Palace"《汉宫春晓图》, a vertical painting on silk by the Yuan Dynasty painter Ren Renfa (任仁发, 1254-1327), depicting a musical ensemble.  China, Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368). Probably painted in Khanbaliq (Beijing).  Height: 86 1/4 in. (219 cm); width: 55 1/8 in. (140 cm).  Sold at auction in 2011.

In an effort to make this repertoire more accessible, this document contains resources related to the known surviving pieces and songs from China's Yuan Dynasty (元朝, 1279-1368), during which time the dynasty's Mongol rulers became increasingly (if not thoroughly) sinicized.
Links to scores are highlighted in blue.  Links to recordings and videos are highlighted in pink.
Links to textual sources are highlighted in green.

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Se Pu

The Se Pu《瑟谱》(Se Scores) is a 6-volume collection comprising instructional materials and musical settings of 43 songs intended for use in Confucian ritual, to be accompanied by se (25-string bridge zither). It is the work of Xiong Penglai (熊朋来, 1246-1323), a Confucian scholar from Fengcheng (丰城, today a county-level city administered today by the prefecture-level city of Yichun), north-central Jiangxi province. Xiong achieved the rank of jinshi (进士) in 1274 and, upon the fall of the Southern Song Dynasty in 1279, refused to serve the Yuan court, instead preferring to teach at the local level in two prefectures: in Fujian and Luling (today's Ji'an, central-western Jiangxi). The exact date of this work's completion is unknown, and it is assigned to the period between the end of the Southern Song Dynasty and the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty. Notably, Xiong insists on a chromatic (rather than pentatonic) tuning for the se.

In this collection, which exists in numerous editions, each song is presented in both lülü notation and gongche notation. The first twelve songs duplicate the twelve ritual songs in Yili Jingzhuan Tongjie《仪礼经传通解》(A Comprehensive Commentary on the Confucian Classics, Rites, and Ceremonies), by the noted Southern Song Confucian scholar Zhu Xi (朱熹, 1130-1200) and printed posthumously c. 1217, with texts from the "Xiao Ya" (小雅, Lesser Court Hymns) section of the Shi Jing (Classic of Poetry). The titles of these songs are as follows:

 1. Lu Ming《鹿鸣》
2. Si Mu《四牡》 3. Huang Huang Zhe Hua《皇皇者华》 4. Yu Li《鱼丽》(The Fish Fall Into [the Basket]) 5. Nan You Jia Yu《南有嘉鱼》(In the South There are Barbel) 6. Nan Shan You Tai《南山有台》(On the Southern Hills Grows the Nutgrass) 7. Guan Ju《关雎》(Cry of the Ospreys) 8. Ge Tan《葛覃》 9. Juan Er《卷耳》 10. Que Chao《鹊巢》 11. Cai Fan《采蘩》(Gathering the White Southernwood) 12. Cai Ping《采蘋》(Gathering Duckweed)

 Of the remaining songs, 22 are Xiong's own settings of other texts from the Shi Jing (Classic of Poetry), and nine are his settings of various hymns for use in specific services in the Confucian temple. The titles of these 31 remaining songs are as follows:
13. Zou Yu《驺虞》(ceremonial tune for an archery ceremony)
14. Zou Yu《驺虞》(ceremonial tune for an archery ceremony, a second setting of the above text)
15. Qi Yu《淇奥》
16. Kao Pan《考盘》
17. Shu Li《黍离》
18. Zi Yi《缁衣》
19. Fa Tan《伐檀》
20. Jian Jia《蒹葭》
21. Heng Men《衡门》
22. Qi Yue 《七月》
23. Jing Jing Zhe E《菁菁者莪》
24. He Ming《鹤鸣》
25. Bai Ju 《白驹》
26. Wen Wang 《文王》
27.《抑之白圭》
28.《抑之相在尔》
29. Song Gao《崧高》
30. Zheng Min《烝民》
31. Qing Miao《清庙》
32. Zai Shan《载芟》
33. Liang Si《良耜》
34. Jiong 駉》
35.《迎神 凝安之曲》
36.《盥洗 同安之曲》
37.《奠币 眀安之曲》
38.《酌獻 成安之曲：先聖》
39.《兖国公颜子》
40.《郕国公曾子》
41.《沂国公子思》
42.《邹国公孟子》
43.《送神 宁安之曲》

● Facsimile of Se Pu:


● Facsimile and full text of Se Pu (multiple editions):

31 of the songs in this collection (minus the twelve that duplicate those in Zhu Xi's collection) are presented in staff notation (though without meter indicated) in the following book:
● Pian, Rulan Chao. Sonq Dynasty Musical Sources and Their Interpretation.  Harvard-Yenching Institute Monograph Series, no. 16. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1967.

More information about this collection, from the website of John Thompson:
http://www.silkqin.com/05poet/jkgequ.htm

The CD by the Paris-based ensemble Fleur de Prunus entitled Chine:  Hymne à Confucius (Buda Musique, 2003 or 2004) contains renditions of three songs from Se Pu:
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Dasheng Yuepu

 The Dasheng Yuepu《大晟乐谱》(Dasheng Music Scores), called Daeseong Akseo 『대성악서』 in Korean, compiled by a Chinese scholar named Lin Yu (林宇, called Im U 임우 in Korean) in 1349, during the late Yuan Dynasty, contains a set of 16 ritual songs. This obscure book, which was preserved only in Korea, no copy surviving to the present in China, is named for the Dasheng Institute (Dasheng Fu, 大晟府) of the early 12th century (late Northern Song Dynasty), which was founded by the Song Emperor Huizong in 1105, and the ritual melodies notated therein are said to be those used by that institution.

Of these 16 songs, only two remain in use in the tradition of Munmyo Jeryeak (문묘제례악 / 文廟祭禮樂 , Confucian ritual music) of South Korea.

The titles of the 16 songs are as follows:
1.《迎神，奏凝安之曲》, part A
2.《迎神，奏凝安之曲》, part B
3.《迎神，奏凝安之曲》, part C
4.《迎神，奏凝安之曲》, part D
5.《盥洗，同安[之曲]》
6.《陞殿，奏同安之曲》 (title given as 《陛殿，奏同安之曲》 in Korean sources)
7.《奠幣奏明安之曲》
8.《捧爼，奏豊安之曲》 (title given as 《捧俎，奏豊安之曲》 in Korean sources)
9.《初獻，奏成安之曲》
10.《初獻：兗國公》
11.《初獻：郕國公》
12.《初獻：沂國公》
13.《初獻：鄒國公》
14.《亞終二獻，奏文安之曲》
15.《徹豆，奏娛安之曲》
16.《送神，奏寧安之曲》
These songs are presented in staff notation in the following book:
● Provine, Robert C.  Essays on Sino-Korean Musicology:  Early Sources for Korean Ritual Music.  Seoul: Il Ji Sa, 1988.
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 Da Ming Jili

Da Ming Jili《大明集礼》(1370), compiled beginning in 1369, the second year of the Ming Dynasty, and completed the following year, contains scores in lü-lü notation for numerous pieces of Ming Dynasty state sacrificial music, as well as five ritual melodies dating to the Yuan Dynasty (which are presented in both lü-lü notation and gongche notation). The source comprises 53 volumes, of which various aspects of music are covered to a significant degree in 15 volumes. Scores for Ming melodies appear in volumes 2, 3, 4, 9, 11, 13, and 14, and the five Yuan ritual pieces are included in volume 53a.

The titles of the Yuan-era ritual melodies contained in this source are as follows:
1. Yeketangwu《也可唐兀》
2. Weiwuer《畏兀兒》
3. Weiwu'er Guopian《畏兀兒過篇》
4. Si Ji Wan Nian Huan《四季萬年歡》
Video of "Si Ji Wan Nian Huan":
5. Wan Sui Yue《萬歲樂》

Transcriptions in staff notation of the Yuan-era ritual melodies are included in the following source:
● Lam, Joseph S. C. "'There Is No Music in Chinese Music History': Five Court Tunes from the Yuan Dynasty (AD 1271-1368)."  Journal of the Royal Musical Association, vol. 119, no. 2 (1994), pp. 165-188.

● Facsimile of Da Ming Jili: Every volume, 1530 edition, from the website of the Waseda University Library
https://archive.wul.waseda.ac.jp/kosho/wa04/wa04_06292/
Volume 53, 1530 edition, from the website of the Waseda University Library (whole volume / single PDF)
https://archive.wul.waseda.ac.jp/kosho/wa04/wa04_06292/wa04_06292_0040/wa04_06292_0040.pdf
Volume 53, 1530 edition, from the website of the Waseda University Library (individual pages)
● Full-text version of Da Ming Jili:
https://ctext.org/wiki.pl?if=gb&res=224104&remap=gb
https://ctext.org/wiki.pl?if=gb&chapter=189641&remap=gb

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Historical reference works about the music of the Yuan Dynasty

● Ci Yuan《词源》(Fundamentals of Ci Poetry)
An essay on the theory of creating ci poems, as well as their performance as song lyrics, by the Southern Song Dynasty poet Zhang Yan (张炎, 1248-c. 1320), which was written in the early Yuan Dynasty (between 1279 and 1320).
https://ctext.org/wiki.pl?if=gb&chapter=869936
https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E8%AF%8D%E6%BA%90/3416406
https://cglhub.com/auto/db/detail.aspx?db=950008&rid=1387225&agfi=0&cls=0&uni=False&cid=0&showgp=False&prec=False&md=93&pd=6&msd=93&psd=6&mdd=93&pdd=6&count=10&reds=%E5%88%98%E5%B4%87%E5%BE%B7

● Wenxian Tongkao《文献通考》(Comprehensive Examination of Literature)
Compiled in the early 14th century by Ma Duanlin (马端临), this work contains a list and descriptions of many ancient and Medieval musical instruments.  There are no illustrations.
https://zh.wikisource.org/zh-hans/文獻通考
● Yuan Shi《元史》(The History of Yuan)
The official history of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), Yuan Shi was completed in 1370 (actually during the early Ming Dynasty).  It is one of the Twenty-Four Histories (二十四史).
http://www.guoxue123.com/shibu/0101/00ysf/149.htm
http://www.guoxue123.com/shibu/0101/00ysf/171.htm
http://www.guoxue123.com/shibu/0101/00ysf/172.htm

● Xin Yuan Shi《新元史》(The New History of Yuan) is a re-compiled version of Yuan Shi, which fixes many errors in the earlier work's text.  Comprising 257 volumes, it was completed by Ke Shaomin, a historian of the late Qing Dynasty, in 1920, during the Republic period, after 30 years of work.  Xin Yuan Shi was given official historical status by the Republic of China in 1921, and included as one of the Twenty-Five Histories (二十四史).

● Chaoye Xinsheng Taiping Yuefu《朝野新声太平乐府》(The New Sounds of Songs of Great Peace Gathered from All Over the Land)
This is an anthology of sanqu (散曲) songs, with a preface dated 1351.  It is does not appear that this source contains any musical notation (only lyrics).

 Facsimile of Chaoye Xinsheng Taiping Yuefu:

● Gengshen Waishi《庚申外史》
Gengshen Waishi is the unofficial history of the reign of Toghon Temür (Yuan Shundi, 元顺帝, r. 1333-1368), the last emperor of China's Yuan Dynasty.
http://www.guoxue123.com/shibu/0201/00gsws/index.htm
http://www.guoxue123.com/shibu/0201/00gsws/002.htm

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Bibliography
● Lam, Joseph S. C. "'There Is No Music in Chinese Music History': Five Court Tunes from the Yuan Dynasty (AD 1271-1368)."  Journal of the Royal Musical Association, vol. 119, no. 2 (1994), pp. 165-188.
● Pian, Rulan Chao. Sonq Dynasty Musical Sources and Their Interpretation.  Harvard-Yenching Institute Monograph Series, no. 16 Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1967.
● Picken, L. E. R. "The Musical Implications of Chinese Song-Texts with Unequal Lines, and the Significance of Nonsense-Syllables, with Special Reference to Art-Songs of the Song Dynasty." Musica Asiatica, v. 3 (1981), pp. 53-77.
● Provine, Robert C.  Essays on Sino-Korean Musicology:  Early Sources for Korean Ritual Music.  Seoul: Il Ji Sa, 1988.
https://www.amazon.com/Essays-Sino-Korean-Musicology-Sources-Traditional/dp/B0006ESSPO

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Yuan-era poems about music

http://earlychinesemusic.blogspot.com/2018/09/poems-about-music-yuan-compiled-by.html

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 Thanks to Alan Lau and Casey Schoenberger for assistance with this page.

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