The Shu School of Qin Music (蜀派古琴) refers to the modern guqin regional performance style tradition and lineage begun in the mid-19th century by its founder, Zhang Kongshan. The "Shu" name derives from the main base of operations at the time, namely the Sichuan region of China. Today, the Shu School has many branches and lineages, most of which trace their foundation to Zhang Kongshan, though the term is equally applied to Sichuan-based players in general.[1]

Zeng Chengwei (left), one of the main transmitters of the Shu School of the modern era.

History

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The Sichuan qin players, as early as the Tang dynasty, was perceived as having qin play characterised by rushing, tumbling energy.

Zhang Kongshan

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The modern form of the school was largely founded by Zhang Kongshan in the mid-19th century; his inheritors have been very numerous.

As the Sichuan style fanned out into other areas of China (as it seemed to do rather successfully in the early 20th century), it became known as "Fanchuan", whose connotation is something like "Chuan – Everywhere".

Name nomenclature

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There is a debate as to whether the "Shu" (蜀) appellation is an accurate designation for the school/style in question. Some people prefer "Chuan" (川) as this distinguishes it from the old historical "Shu School" which is totally unrelated to the modern guise. "Fanchuan" (泛川) gained credence after being coined by Zha Fuxi and is applied generally to any Shu style player not residing in Sichuan but has generally been applied indiscriminately, even to players with little association or connection with Sichuan or the modern Shu School in general.

Presently, the only players to use the "Shu" appellation are from the main branches of the Zhang Kongshan lineage, especially the Ye branch, e.g. Zeng Chengwei. "Chuan" is generally used by players not of the main Zhang Kongshan lineage but residing roughly in the Sichuan area or have connections with it.

Style

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Historically, the Shu style is described in literature as "restlessly fast and unrestrained, with magnificence of momentum" (躁急奔放、氣勢宏偉). This is due to the nature of the environment which Sichuan is, with high mountains, deep valleys and fast flowing rivers, which are the main influences for the players and composers of the music.

Melodies and Qinpu

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The magnum opus and foundation document of the modern Shu School is the Tianwen Ge Qinpu (天聞閣琴譜, "Qin Codex of the Pavilion of Heavenly Sounds"), published in 1876 under the auspices of Zhang Kongshan and his associate, Tang Yiming, and his student, Ye Jiefu.[2] The Tianwen Ge is not only the largest collection of qin melodies ever published in a single publication currently in existence but also it contains many other useful data related to qin lore and construction. Most of the melodies were in the active repertoire of his students and came from many sources. Some were compositions whilst around nine melodies were edited and rearranged by Zhang during his years in Sichuan. Out of these nine, the most influential melody was that of "Liu Shui" (流水) or "Flowing Water".

Branches

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There are two branches: one branch through Ye Jiafu whose lineage is embodied by Zeng Chengwei, and the other is through Gu Yucheng whose lineage was embodied by Gu Meigeng.[3] Other than those two main branches, there are others such as the "Ba Lineage" which is not a direct line from Zhang Kongshan.[4]

Lineage tree

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Below is a construction of the lines and branches[5] from the transmission of Zhang Kongshan. Due to limitations of space and lack of information, not all transmitters are included.

曹錡(稚雲)
Cao Zhiyun
馮彤雲
Feng Tongyun
唐彜銘(松仙/軒)
Tang Yiming
act. 1860s—?
張合修(孔山)
Zhang Kongshan
c.1830—1905
錢綬詹
Qian Shouzhan
釋竹禪(法號熹)
Monk Zhuchan
1824—1900
華陽顧氏傳承系
The Gu branch
of Huayang
成都葉氏傳承系
The Ye branch
of Chengdu
楊紫東
Yang Zidong
霸派傳承系
The Ba School
lineage
彭莜香
Peng Youxiang
act. 1875—1898
顧玉成(號少庚)
Gu Yucheng
1837—1906
歐陽書唐
Ouyang Shutang
譚銘(石門)
Tan Shimen
葉介福
Ye Jiefu
蘇天培
Su Tianpei
彭慶濤(祉卿)
Peng Zhiqing
1891—1944
顧雋(哲卿)
Gu Juan
1879—1949
顧煢(卓群)
Gu Qiong
1881—1936
顧熙(勁秋)
Gu Xi
1836—
葉婉貞
Ye Wanzhen
張伯龍
Zhang Bolong
蘇雯
Su Wen
顧燾(梅羹)
Gu Meigeng
1899—1990
廖文甫
Liao Wenfu
楊厚庵
Yang Hou'an
顧澤長(琴禪)
Gu Zezhang
1941—
顧淡如
Gu Danru
朱默涵
Zhu Mohan
1963—
丁承運
Ding Chengyun
1944—
喻瑉(紹唐)
Yu Shaotang
1901—?
喻潤(紹澤)
Yu Shaoze
1903—1988
葉伯和之母
Ye Bohe's mother
裴鐵俠(雪琴)
Pei Tiexia
1884—1950
龍琴舫
Long Qinfang
1886—?
陳蘊儒
Chen Wenru
1874—?
顧永祥
Gu Yongxiang
1982—
新都魏氏傳承系
The Wei branch
of Xindu
喻文燕
Yu Wenyan
1941—
曾成偉
Zeng Chengwei
1958—
葉伯和
Ye Bohe
1889—1945
王華德
Wang Huade
1922—2008
江嘉祐
Jiang Jiayou
1942—
俞伯蓀
Yu Bosun
1922—2013
魏莫愚
Wei Moyu
龍藏寺傳承系
The Longzang Temple branch
戴(代)茹
Dai Ru
曾河
Zeng He
1988—
俞秦琴
Yu Qinqin
魏智儒
Wei Zhiru
釋含澈(雪堂)
Monk Hanche
1824—1900
釋星槎(融琢)
Monk Xingcha
1854—?
魏光綽
Wei Guangchuo
釋月泉
Monk Yuequan
劉應琨
Liu Yingkun
什邡劉氏傳承系
The Liu branch
of Shifang
魏宗鉞
Wei Zongyue
劉仲勳
Liu Zhongxun
魏秉虔
Wei Bingqian
劉兆澤
Liu Zhaoze
劉兆新
Liu Zhaoxin
1918—?
劉兆甫
Liu Zhaofu
秦甬椿
Qin Yongchun
魏學良
Wei Xueliang
劉世復
Liu Shifu
劉世鴻
Liu Shihong
1949—
秦甬椿之子
Qin Yongchun's son

Notes

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  1. ^ Zhang (2005), p. 151.
  2. ^ Zhang (2005), pp. 151-152.
  3. ^ Tang (2013), pp. 288-290.
  4. ^ Yang (2013), pp. 61-65.
  5. ^ This 'family tree' was constructed from information in the works by Zhang (2005) p. 154, and Li (2015) pp. 136-138, together with essays in compilations edited by Zeng (2014), Yang (2013) and Tang (2013).

References

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  • Zhang, Huaying (2005), Guqin. 章華英《古琴》
  • Wu, Zhao (2005), Clear Sounds of the Peerless. 吳釗《絕世清音》
  • Yang, Xiao (ed.), et al. (2013), Oral Histories of Qin People within the Shu Region. 楊曉《蜀中琴人口述史》
  • Tang, Liuzhong (ed.), et al. (2013), Magnificence of the Guqin. 唐六中《古琴清英》
  • Zeng, Chengwei (ed.), et al. (2014), Qin Journal of Mount Shu. 曾成偉《蜀山琴滙》
  • Li, Songlan (2015), The Time-and-Space Penetrating Guqin Art - Research into the Historical and Modern Shu School. 李松蘭《穿越時空的古琴藝術•蜀派歷史與現壯研究》