The ancient zither is present in paintings from the Song and Yuan dynasties, and the taste of the zither is pure joy

The ancient zither is present in paintings from the Song and Yuan dynasties, and the taste of the zither is pure joy

Scholars of Lü Zhi Culture

As one of the earliest plucked instruments in China, the guqin carries profound cultural connotations and aesthetic ideas. From Boya and Ziqi, who firmly established their friendship in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, to the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, who expressed their life and spiritual communication, to the literati of the Song and Yuan Dynasties who rose and fell in the officialdom, calmed their inner restlessness, admired the past, and exchanged songs with each other... The many images of guqin that appear in the paintings handed down from the Song and Yuan Dynasties are the most direct reflection of the guqin culture of the Song and Yuan Dynasties.

Qinhua Classification

During the Song and Yuan dynasties, cultural undertakings flourished, and the art of guqin developed greatly. Guqin performances, exchanges of guqin studies, and even guqin collections flourished, and all of these can be reflected in paintings of guqin during the Song and Yuan dynasties. Based on the content of the paintings, guqin paintings of the Song and Yuan dynasties can be roughly divided into three categories: playing the guqin, carrying the guqin, and playing the guqin at leisure.

Playing the Piano

There are numerous works depicting playing the zither in Song and Yuan Dynasty paintings. Some depict the company of three or five good friends and the zither player demonstrating his zither skills, such as Zhao Ji's "Listening to the Zither", Liu Songnian's "Zither Playing in the Shade of Pines", Liu Songnian's "Zither, Books and Music", Anonymous "Confucius Meets Rong Qiqi", Anonymous "Returning Home and Saying Goodbye to Paintings and Calligraphy", Li Gonglin's "Gao Hui Practicing the Zither", Zhao Boju's "Putting Down the Zither and Picking the Ruan", Wang Zhenpeng's "Boya Playing the Zither", etc.; some depict the zither player playing music in a deserted place, such as Anonymous (titled Xia Gui)'s "Playing the Zither by the Stream", Anonymous "Pin Fun in the Deep Hall", Anonymous "Playing with the Moon in the Shade of Pines", Anonymous "Pine Wind and Zither Melody", Anonymous "Playing the Zither in the Pine Pavilion", Anonymous "Listening to the Zither", etc.; there are also depictions of zither players playing music in elegant gatherings, such as Anonymous "Scroll of the Nine Elders of Huichang", "A Combined Scroll of the Four Elders of Shangshan and the Nine Elders of Huichang" attributed to Li Gonglin, and Anonymous "Eighteen Scholars".

[Song Dynasty (attributed)] Li Gonglin, "The Four Elders of Shangshan and the Nine Elders of Huichang" Partial, Liaoning Provincial Museum Collection

[Song Dynasty] Anonymous "Eighteen Scholars" Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei

Among them, "Qin Shu Yue Zhi Tu" depicts an old man playing the qin on a table, with a tall hat, white hair and a youthful face; "Confucius Meets Rong Qiqi" and "Returning to the Countryside, Saying Goodbye to the Painting and Calligraphy", the former is based on the story of Confucius meeting Rong Qiqi, and the latter is based on the poetry of Tao Yuanming, both of which show the nobleness of the hermit; "Bo Ya Playing the Qin" depicts Yu Boya playing the qin for Zhong Ziqi, and the manners and expressions of Boya and Ziqi in the painting are vividly portrayed, and the lines of their clothes are fine and fluent, precise and vivid; "Playing the Qin in a Pine Pavilion" depicts a qin player playing the qin leisurely in a pine pavilion, with pine wind blowing and the mountain moon shining on the qin; in the anonymous "Listening to the Qin" the qin player is playing the qin inside the house, with three people listening outside the window, the player is calm and the listeners are intoxicated; "The Scroll of the Nine Elders of Huichang" depicts Bai Juyi organizing the "Shangchi Meeting" of the nine elders, with a scene of playing the qin in the middle; "The Four Elders of Shangshan and the Nine Elders of Huichang" depicts three Confucian scholars sitting around a waterside pavilion, one playing the qin and two listening, and the feeling of soulmates overflows from the picture.

Carrying a piano

There are also many scrolls in Song and Yuan Dynasty paintings depicting zither players traveling with their zithers, including Zhang Xian's "Ten Poems", Wang Shen's "A Fishing Village in Light Snow", Li Gonglin's "The Descent of the Western Peak", Wang Ximeng's "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains", Zhao Boju's "Autumn Scenery of Rivers and Mountains", an anonymous "Literary Gathering of the Southern Tang Dynasty", an anonymous "Walking with a Cane in the Shade of Pine Trees", an anonymous "A Solitary Pavilion at the End of the Tree", an anonymous "Wall by the Willow Creek", an anonymous "Water Village with Pavilions", an anonymous "Phoenix Coming to the Mountain Tower", and an anonymous "Walking with a Zither". The following are some of the paintings by the same author: "Appreciating Plum Blossoms Under the Moon" by Ma Yuan, "Gathering of Elegant Men in the Western Zhou Dynasty" by Ma Yuan, "Viewing the Waterfall" by Ma Yuan, "Playing Qin in the Water Pavilion" by an unknown artist, "Walking on the Snow on the Plank Bridge" by Ma Yuan, "Exploring Plum Blossoms in Snow Clogs" by Xia Gui, "Literary Gathering" by Zhao Ji, "Viewing the Waterfall" by Liang Kai, "Tianxiang Book House" by Gong Kai, "River Bridge and Forest House" by an unknown artist, "Mountain Villa with Elegant People" by Guo Xi, "Mountain Residence with Guests" by Xia Gui, "Landscape Painting Page" by Gui Guan, "Visiting Friends with Qin" by Luo Zhichuan, etc. In addition, many paintings such as "Chess Game in the Deep Mountains" by an unknown artist from the Liao Dynasty, "Endless Mountains and Streams" by an unknown artist from the Jin Dynasty, and "Clear Forest and Clear Sky" by an anonymous artist from the Jin Dynasty also have this theme.

[Northern Song Dynasty] Wang Ximeng, A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains, Collection of the Palace Museum

[Southern Song Dynasty] Part of "Literary Gathering" by an anonymous artist, collected by the Palace Museum

[Southern Song Dynasty] Ma Yuan, "Viewing the Waterfall", Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA

Among them, "Ten Poems" depicts an old man taking his zither-playing child to a grand gathering in his parents' hall; "Literary Gathering in the Southern Tang Dynasty" and "Elegant Gathering in the Western Zhou Dynasty" also depict elegant gatherings of zither-playing people, with many friends in the pictures; "Tianxiang Book House", "Mountain Villa Gaoyi Picture" and "Chess Game in the Deep Mountains" depict the owner taking his zither-playing child to visit friends and learn from each other about the art of playing the zither. In addition, many other scrolls, such as Gui Guan's "Landscape Picture Page" and Luo Zhichuan's "Visiting Friends with a Zither" scroll, depict zither-playing people walking in cold forests and valleys, with a desolate atmosphere.

[Yuan] Luo Zhichuan, "Visiting Friends with a Qin" Cleveland Museum of Art, USA

Leisure Piano

In addition to the above-mentioned images of "playing the zither" and "carrying the zither", there is another type of zither in Song and Yuan Dynasty paintings that is in an idle state, either waiting for the zither player to play, or the zither player has finished playing, so it is called "idle zither", such as Zhao Ji's "Literary Gathering" and Yang Wujiu's "Sitting Alone and Playing the Zither".

Among them, the guqin in "Literary Gathering" is placed on a stone table under a willow tree, as if it is waiting to be played by the guests after the banquet; while in the remaining picture of "Sitting Alone Playing the Guqin", a noble man in white clothes is leaning on the guqin and watching the water flow, probably taking a rest after finishing playing.

[Northern Song Dynasty] Zhao Ji, "Literary Gathering", Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei

In addition, epigraphy flourished during the Song and Yuan dynasties, and collecting and appreciating antiques became popular among scholars and officials. There was a regular session of antique appreciation at literary gatherings, and appreciating guqin was one of the contents. This type of guqin being appreciated was also called "leisure guqin". The paintings of the Song and Yuan dynasties that reflect this type of "leisure guqin" truly reproduced the trend of collecting and appreciating guqins at that time, including Liu Songnian's "Picture of Guests Talking in a Stream Pavilion", an anonymous "Picture of Children Playing in a Lotus Pavilion", and Qian Xuan's "Picture of Appreciating Antiques".

[Song Dynasty] Anonymous "Children Playing in Lotus Pavilion" Collection of the Palace Museum

Among them, "Guests Chatting in the Creek Pavilion" depicts two scholars sitting around a table in a corner of a waterside pavilion. There are various tripods and bronze vessels on the table. One of them is reading a scroll carefully. There is an ancient zither in a conspicuous place beside the table, which has obviously become an antique treasure; "Appreciating Antiques" shows two Confucian scholars carefully admiring the bell-shaped object held by the host. There is an ancient zither beside the table, which is put into a zither bag with a corner of the zither exposed; in the anonymous "Infants Playing in the Lotus Pavilion", there is a small table beside the bed under the shade of willow trees in the hall, displaying precious artifacts such as gold and stone calligraphy and paintings, and a zither next to it.

The zither player in the painting

The reason why there are so many images of guqin in Song and Yuan Dynasty paintings is mainly to highlight the elegance of the characters in the paintings. The paintings depicting guqin in this period are mostly timeless and elegant, with little vulgarity. If divided by the characters, the guqin players in the paintings can be roughly divided into three categories: those who play the guqin, those who listen to the guqin, and those who carry the guqin.

The person playing the piano

Most of the people playing the zither are Confucian scholars, but there are also some dancing in feathered robes, dressed as Taoists or sages, such as the people playing the zither in Zhao Ji's "Listening to the Zither", Li Gonglin's "Gao Hui Practicing the Zither", an anonymous "Enjoying the Moon under the Pine Shade", and Zhao Boju's "Stop Playing the Zither and Picking the Ruan".

During the Song and Yuan dynasties, although the guqin was more popular among the literati, it was not accessible to ordinary people. The Ming edition of "Tai Gu Yi Yin" was originally written by Tian Zhiweng in the Song Dynasty, so it has a relatively comprehensive record of the guqin of the Song Dynasty. Among them, the article "Guqin You Suo Yi" says:

"Huang Menshi, hermits, Confucian scholars, feathered scholars, and virtuous scholars, these five are elegantly called the music of saints, so they are suitable for the zither. Huang Menshi plays the ode of great elegance and saintly virtue; the hermit plays the tune of flowing water and high mountains; the Confucian scholar plays the sound of peace and harmony in governing the world; the feathered scholar plays the tune of riding the wind and flying fairies; the virtuous scholar plays the chant of dryness, simplicity, and emptiness, which are the kind of people like Boyi, Shuqi, and Liuxia Hui."

There are five categories, namely, "Huang Men Shi", "Yin Shi", "Confucian Shi", "Yu Shi" and "De Shi", who are suitable for playing the qin. Among them, "De Shi" refers to people who must be "kind and righteous" when playing the qin, which is unnecessary to explain. "Yu Shi" is an elegant name for Taoists. The ancients believed that Taoists were far away from the hustle and bustle of the world, and playing the qin was naturally unworldly, as stated in "The Taoist Playing the Qin" in "Dongtian Qinglu Collection" by Zhao Xigu of the Song Dynasty:

“When a Taoist plays the zither, the sound is clear even when it is not clear; when a layman plays the zither, the sound is muddy even when it is not muddy.”

The sound of the guqin is still clear and distant, which is consistent with the Taoist's pure and clear spirit. Zhao Ji's "Listening to the Guqin" is said to be a scene of himself playing the guqin. He is in the center of the painting, wearing a black Taoist robe, with his hair tied up and his head bare, standing under a pine tree, looking like an immortal.

[Northern Song Dynasty] Part of "Listening to the Zither" by Zhao Ji, collected by the Palace Museum

Looking at the "hermits", the hermit style was prevalent in the Song and Yuan Dynasties. Not only did the common people wander around the world, but those in high positions also had their hearts set on the mountains and rivers. Among them, there were many people who were good at playing the guqin, such as Ouyang Xiu who was good at playing "Little Flowing Water", Su Shi who composed lyrics for "Drunken Old Man's Song", and Fan Zhongyan who was known as "Fan Lushuang". The hermits playing the guqin in Song and Yuan Dynasty paintings can also be seen in many paintings such as the anonymous "Pine Wind and Guqin Rhythm" and the anonymous "Playing the Guqin by the Stream". Among them, "Playing the Guqin by the Stream" is said to be painted by Xia Gui. The picture restores the original meaning of the guqin of looking for a soulmate in the mountains and flowing water, and the harmonious unity of people, guqin and nature is handled very appropriately.

[Song Dynasty] Anonymous "Playing the Qin by the Stream" Collection of the Palace Museum

As for the "Confucian scholars", the "Four Sentences for Learning the Qin" in "The Ancient Sounds" says:

"The left hand chants and writes, the right hand is light and heavy, slow and fast, and there is something else that is difficult to describe. The person must be reading."

Guqin playing is similar to the literati chanting, both of which have ups and downs, and the state of singing and sighing. It is said that "anyone who learns guqin must have an article to chant." Moreover, the meaning of guqin is profound and difficult for non-literary people to understand.

The so-called "Huangmenshi" are people who live in the government. Guqin is their tool for civil administration, to educate the people and bring peace to the world.