Tang-era piece: Ji Hu Xiangwen
《急胡相問》
compiled by David Badagnani (rev. 16 August 2025)
In an effort to make this information more accessible, this document contains resources related to the Tang-era piece entitled Ji Hu Xiangwen《急胡相問》(Quick "The Barbarian Asks" or possibly Quick Barbarian Dialogue), which exists in the form of an instrumental part for a single-movement piece in the Lydian mode on C, called Huangzhong Gong (黃鐘宮).
This piece appears in a single score collection: the 10th-century Dunhuang Scores (Dunhuang Yuepu,《敦煌乐谱》), also known as Dunhuang Qupu《敦煌曲谱》, Dunhuang Juanzipu《敦煌卷子谱》, or Dunhuang Pipa Pu《敦煌琵琶谱》, found in Mogao Cave 17 near Dunhuang in Gansu province, northwest China in 1900; Ji Hu Xiangwen is piece no. 19 of Dunhuang manuscript P.3808, which comprises 25 pieces in tablature for the 4-stringed quxiang pipa. For this piece, the quxiang pipa is tuned (low to high): ACEA; this tuning is known as Fengxiang Diao (風香調).
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Chinese historical sources mentioning Ji Hu Xiangwen
● Jiegu Lu《羯鼓錄》
Jiegu Lu is a book on music in two parts by Nan Zhuo (南卓, fl. 848-850). The first part was completed in 848 and the second in 850, during the Tang Dynasty. This piece appears therein as Hu Xiangwen《胡相問》.
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Videos and recordings of Ji Hu Xiangwen
● Studio recording of Ji Hu Xiangwen, as reconstructed by Ye Dong, for solo quxiang pipa, played by Ye Xuran (叶绪然, b. 1936) (Beijing, 1984)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhpmKyjPH9Q&t=03m48s
https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1cF4m1F7aC/
● Studio recording of Ji Hu Xiangwen, as reconstructed by Chen Yingshi, performed by the Shanghai Chinese Ancient Music Ensemble (Shanghai, 1988); Ji Hu Xiangwen starts at 19:37
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p38uKQkog0I&t=1177s
● Studio recording of an ensemble arrangement of Ji Hu Xiangwen, with added vocal part, by Xi Zhenguan (席臻贯, 1941-1994) (China, c. 1992)
● Studio recording of an ensemble arrangement of Ji Hu Xiangwen, with added vocal part, by Xi Zhenguan (席臻贯, 1941-1994) (China, c. 1992)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPFcwNBdVbw&t=51m04s
● Stage performance of an ensemble arrangement of Ji Hu Xiangwen, with added vocal part and dance (China, c. 2010)
https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1QN7hzwETQ/
● Studio recording of an arrangement of Ji Hu Xiangwen for gagaku ensemble by the Japanese composer Shiba Sukeyasu (芝 祐靖, 1935-2019), performed by Reigakusha (Japan, c. 2016)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17YhiwnIhPQ
● Studio recording of an arrangement of Ji Hu Xiangwen for gagaku ensemble by the Japanese composer Shiba Sukeyasu (芝 祐靖, 1935-2019), performed by Reigakusha (Japan, c. 2016)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nK0hTgXfjzg
● Live performance of an ensemble version of Ji Hu Xiangwen, as reconstructed by Gus Holley (Northfield, Massachusetts, USA, 2017)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KT0ciYEkyEA&t=04m33s
● Ensemble performance of a modernized arrangement of Ji Hu Xiangwen (Shanghai, 2018)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmJeF16AtJU&t=01h02m30s
● Cross-cultural (Japanese/Arabic) ensemble performance of an arrangement of Ji Hu Xiangwen for gagaku ensemble by the Japanese composer Shiba Sukeyasu (芝 祐靖, 1935-2019) (Tokyo, 2018)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLN0zHRZAys
● Excerpt from an ensemble performance of Ji Hu Xiangwen (Shanghai, 2022)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsEamL7d4m4
● Stage performance of an ensemble arrangement of Ji Hu Xiangwen, with added vocal part and dance (China, c. 2010)
https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1QN7hzwETQ/
● Studio recording of an arrangement of Ji Hu Xiangwen for gagaku ensemble by the Japanese composer Shiba Sukeyasu (芝 祐靖, 1935-2019), performed by Reigakusha (Japan, c. 2016)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17YhiwnIhPQ
● Studio recording of an arrangement of Ji Hu Xiangwen for gagaku ensemble by the Japanese composer Shiba Sukeyasu (芝 祐靖, 1935-2019), performed by Reigakusha (Japan, c. 2016)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nK0hTgXfjzg
● Live performance of an ensemble version of Ji Hu Xiangwen, as reconstructed by Gus Holley (Northfield, Massachusetts, USA, 2017)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KT0ciYEkyEA&t=04m33s
● Ensemble performance of a modernized arrangement of Ji Hu Xiangwen (Shanghai, 2018)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmJeF16AtJU&t=01h02m30s
● Cross-cultural (Japanese/Arabic) ensemble performance of an arrangement of Ji Hu Xiangwen for gagaku ensemble by the Japanese composer Shiba Sukeyasu (芝 祐靖, 1935-2019) (Tokyo, 2018)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLN0zHRZAys
● Excerpt from an ensemble performance of Ji Hu Xiangwen (Shanghai, 2022)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsEamL7d4m4
● Solo quxiang pipa performance of Ji Hu Xiangwen by Bilibili user 桐木D (China, 2022)
https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1cY411j7qS/
● Solo quxiang pipa performance (excerpt) of Ji Hu Xiangwen, as reconstructed by Chen Yingshi, by Bilibili user 中阮制作工坊一听阮轩 (China, 2023)
https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1fs4y1R7YS/
● Solo quxiang pipa performance (excerpt) of Ji Hu Xiangwen, as reconstructed by Chen Yingshi, by Bilibili user 中阮制作工坊一听阮轩 (China, 2023)
https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1fs4y1R7YS/
● Solo quxiang pipa performance (excerpt) of Ji Hu Xiangwen, as reconstructed by Chen Yingshi, by Bilibili user 中阮制作工坊一听阮轩 (China, 2023)
https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1ZT411b77P/
● Solo performance of Ji Hu Xiangwen for what sounds like a zheng with steel strings, by YouTube user 中国古乐器复原 (c. 2023)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-cjZsk9Nrw
● Solo performance of Ji Hu Xiangwen for what sounds like a zheng with steel strings, by YouTube user 中国古乐器复原 (c. 2023)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-cjZsk9Nrw
● Electronic realization of Ji Hu Xiangwen by YouTube user 古樂尋蹤_HGofACH, in both ensemble and solo quxiang pipa versions (Canada, 2023)
● Studio recording of a solo quxiang pipa performance of Ji Hu Xiangwen, as reconstructed by Chen Yingshi, by the Shanghai-based musician Zhang Xiaodong (张晓东) (Shanghai, 2024)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNWrhVP6Ilc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNWrhVP6Ilc
● Studio recording of a small ensemble performance of Ji Hu Xiangwen, as reconstructed by Chen Yingshi, by the Shanghai-based musician Zhang Xiaodong (张晓东) (Shanghai, 2024)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfW4nskJusY
● Studio recording of a solo quxiang pipa performance of Ji Hu Xiangwen, as reconstructed by Ye Dong, by the Shanghai-based musician Zhang Xiaodong (张晓东) (Shanghai, 2024)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWTBgK_rZf0
● Studio recording of a solo quxiang pipa performance of Ji Hu Xiangwen, as reconstructed by Xi Zhenguan, by the Shanghai-based musician Zhang Xiaodong (张晓东) (Shanghai, 2024)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyuLm8TczNE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyuLm8TczNE
● Studio recording of a solo pipa performance of Ji Hu Xiangwen, as reconstructed by Chen Yingshi, by the Carlsbad, California-based pipa player Wu Man (吴蛮) (2024)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Mw3da-xeao
● Studio performance of an arrangement of Chen Yingshi's reconstruction of Ji Hu Xiangwen for classical guitar by the Swedish guitarist Johannes Möller (2025)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-9ekD4oyiE● Performance of Ji Hu Xiangwen, as reconstructed by Chen Yingshi, by members of the Eurasia Consort, playing shu konghou, fangxiang, and drums, with dancer (New York City, 2025)
https://www.youtube.com/live/nAK7CJ6NrrA?t=751s
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Bibliography
● Chen Yingshi 陈应时. Dunhuang Yuepu Jieyi Bianzheng《敦煌乐谱解译辨证》[A Dialectical Investigation of the Interpretation/Deciphering/Decoding of the Dunhuang Scores]. Shanghai: Shanghai Yinyue Xueyuan Chu Ban She 上海音乐学院出版社, 2005.
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Thanks to Keith Wong for assistance with this page.
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http://earlychinesemusic.blogspot.com/2020/04/site-index.html
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