Tang-era piece: Shang Yuan Yue
《上元樂》
compiled by David Badagnani (rev. 4 February 2023)
In an effort to make this information more accessible, this document contains resources related to the Tang-era piece entitled Shang Yuan Yue《上元樂》, which exists in the form of an instrumental part for a piece in six sections.
In the Sino-Japanese tradition, this piece is called Jōgenraku『上元樂（じょうげんらく）』, and it appears in the following score collection:
● Gogen Fu『五絃譜』or Gogen Kinfu『五絃琴譜』, the manuscript itself simply bearing the title《五絃》(Gogen); individual pieces in the collection bear the dates 773 and 842 and the music is believed to be of Tang Chinese origin, though the manuscript was probably copied in Japan in the 11th century during the mid-Heian period
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Chinese historical sources mentioning Shang Yuan Yue
● Tongdian《通典》(Comprehensive Institutions)
Written by Tang Dynasty scholar and historian Du You (杜佑, 735-812) between 766 and 801, Tongdian discusses music in its fifth section; in volume 146 the title appears as Shang Yuan Yue《上元樂》and Shang Yuan《上元》.
● Jiu Tang Shu《旧唐书》(The Old Book of Tang), also known simply as Tang Shu《唐书》 (The Book of Tang), a historical work in 200 volumes that was completed in 945, actually during the Later Jin (后晋) Dynasty, one of the Five Dynasties during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms (五代十国) period following the fall of the Tang Dynasty; it is one of the Twenty-Four Histories (二十四史). The title is mentioned in volume 28 (appearing as "Shang Yuan Yue"《上元樂》, "Shang Yuan Wu"《上元舞》, and "Shang Yuan Zhi Wu"《上元之舞》) and volume 29 (appearing as "Shang Yuan Yue"《上元樂》and "Shang Yuan"《上元》).
● Tang Huiyao《唐会要》(Institutional History of Tang)
This history of the Tang Dynasty, comprising 100 volumes and 514 sections, was compiled by Wang Pu (王溥, 922-982) and presented to Emperor Taizu, the founding emperor of the Song Dynasty, in 961. Shang Yuan Yue is mentioned in volume 33.
● 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 (though no illustrations) of many ancient and Medieval musical instruments. In volume 146, the title appears as both Shang Yuan Yue《上元樂》and Shang Yuan《上元》.
● Taiping Guangji《太平广记》(Extensive Records of the Taiping Era)
Taiping Guangji is a collection of stories compiled in the early Northern Song Dynasty under imperial direction by the scholar and bureaucrat Li Fang (李昉, 925-996). The work was completed in 978 and printing blocks were cut, but it was prevented from publication on the grounds that it contained only xiaoshuo (fiction or "insignificant tellings") and thus "was of no use to young students." It survived in manuscript form until it was eventually published in the Ming Dynasty. The collection, which is considered one of the Four Great Books of Song, is divided into 500 volumes and consists of about 3 million Chinese characters. It includes about 7,000 stories selected from over 300 books and novels from the Han Dynasty to the early Song Dynasty, many of which have been lost. Some stories are historical or naturalistic anecdotes, and each is replete with historical elements, and were not regarded by their authors as fiction, but the topics are mostly supernatural, about Buddhist and Taoist priests, immortals, ghosts, and various deities. They include a number of Tang Dynasty stories, especially chuanqi (tales of wonder), that are famous works of literature in their own right, and also inspired later works. Shang Yuan Yue is mentioned in volume 204.
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Videos and recordings of Shang Yuan Yue
● Realization of Shang Yuan Yue by YouTube user Snowwolf using synthesized sounds (China, 2020)
● Multitrack recording of Shang Yuan Yue, as reconstructed by Liu Tao, performed by Bilibili user Beilin Zhai Zhuren (北林斋主人), bili, heng di, and percussion (China, 2020)
● Electronic realization of Shang Yuan Yue by YouTube user 古樂尋蹤_HGofACH (Canada, 2022)
● Small-ensemble performance (with dance) of Shang Yuan Yue, as reconstructed by Chen Yingshi, performed by the Haus of Imperial Music (上元燕楽舍) (Taiwan, 2023)
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Bibliography
● Nelson, Steven G. スティーヴン・G・ネルソン. "Gogen-fu shinkō: Omo ni gogen-biwa no jūsei oyobi chōgen ni tsuite"「五絃譜新考一主に五絃琵琶の柱制及び調絃について一」 [The Gogen-fu, a Japanese Heian-Period Tablature Score for Five-Stringed Lute: Concentrating on the Fret System and Tunings of the Instrument]. Tōyō ongaku kenkyū 『東洋音楽研究』[Journal of the Society for Research in Asiatic Music], vol. 50 (1986): pp. 13-76. [Contains a detailed English summary of sections 4 through 9.]
● Wolpert, R. F. "A Ninth-Century Score for Five-Stringed Lute." Musica Asiatica, vol. 3 (1981), pp. 107-135.
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