Shi Tan Zhang and Pu'an Zhou

 

By Chan Chong Hin ³Â ËÉ ÏÜ

 

June, 1992

 

Translated by J. Joseph

 

Introduction

 

Pu'an Zhou ÆÕâÖ Öä is one of the widely known, traditional qin pieces which have been handed down to the present time. Most qin handbooks call it Shi Tan Zhang ÊÍ Ì¸  ÕÂ. Are these two pieces in fact one and the same piece with different titles, or two completely different pieces? It seems that until now no one has investigated this question in depth.

 

Two years ago, the author had the good fortune to meet Rong Size ÈÝ Ë¼ Ôó in Hong Kong and to hear him play Shi Tan Zhang. The mood and the music were ancient and simple, grave and stern, solemn and respectful, far surpassing the Pu'an Zhou usually heard. Since then this refined tune has frequently lingered in my mind. Later, I found out from Qin Ren Wen Xun Lu ÇÙ ÈË ÎÊ Ñ¶ ¼in Jinyu Qinkan ½ñ ÓÝ ÇÙ ¿¯, Jindai Qinren Lu ½ü ´ú ÇÙ ÈË Â¼ in Qin Fu ÇÙ ¸® and other sources that there seem to be very few people who can play Shi Tan Zhang - apparently only the school to which Mr. Rong belongs. Nonetheless I feel it is a great treasure.

 

Last year, Mr. Rong gave me a recording of himself playing several pieces on the qin. Among these was Shi Tan Zhang. So, based on Mr. Rong's recording and a phrase by phrase comparison with the qin score of Shi Tan Zhang in Qin Se He Pu Ç٠ɪ ºÏ Æ×, which was edited by his great grandfather Qing Rui Çì Èð, I played it phrase by phrase in the correct order, until eventually I had mastered the entire piece. I used cipher notation as a convenient means of recording what I had learned. Besides learning the piece, I have analysed and compared Shi Tan Zhang and Pu'an Zhou and written a short report.

 

Shi Tan Zhang

 

Shi Tan Zhang first appeared in the late Ming (Wanli Íò Àú period) qin handbook San Jiao Tong Sheng Èý ½Ì ͬ Éù, edited by Zhang Dexin ÕÅ µÂ Рin 1592. This collection of scores contains only four pieces:

 

1.     Ming De Yin Ã÷ µÂ Òý

2.    Kong Sheng Jing ¿× Ê¥ ¾­

3.    Qing Jing Jing Çå ¾² ¾­

4.    Shi Tan Zhang ÊÍ Ì¸ ÕÂ

 

Hence the name San Jiao Tong Sheng[1]

 

Since I do not have this material available for reference, I have no details of their content. Later collections of scores containing this piece are numerous:

 

Late Ming:

 

·      1609 - Yang Lun's Ñî ÂÕ Bo Ya Xin Fa ²® ÑÀ ÐÄ ·¨

·      1611 - Zhang Daming's ÕÅ ´ó Ãü Yang Chun Tang Qinpu Ñô ´º Ìà ÇÙ Æ×

·      1625 - Chen Dabin's ³Â ´ó ±ó Tai Yin Xi Sheng Ì« Òô Ï£ Éù

·      1634 - Zhu Changfang's Öì ³£ ·¼ Gu Yin Zheng Zong ¹Å Òô Õý ×Ú

·      1634 - Tao Hongkui's ÌÕ ºè åÓ Tao Shi Qinpu ÌÕ ÊÏ ÇÙ Æ×

 

(The above are in Qinqu Jicheng volumes 7 and 9)

 

Qing Çå:

 

·      1802 - Wu Hong's Î⠻𹤠Zi Yuan Tang Qinpu ×Ô Ô¶ Ìà ÇÙ Æ×

·      1864 - Zhang He's ÕÅ º× Qin Xue Rumen Ç٠ѧ Èë ÃÅ

·      1870 - Qing Rui's Çì Èð Qin Se He Pu  Ç٠ɪ ºÏ Æ×

 

(The above are in volume 1 of Qin Fu ÇÙ¸®).

 

In addition, it is recorded that most of the wealth of famous qin score collections published during the Qing Dynasty contain this piece, but as I do not have these materials, I cannot list them individually.

 

The division into sections varies among the above scores of Shi Tan Zhang. For example: Fo Tou ·ð Í·, Qi Zhou Æð Öä, 3 cycles and 15 zhuan plus Fo Wei ·ð β; 21 sections; 8 sections; 5 sections; there are even some that are not divided into sections at all. But structurally they are all the same: all are as in Qin Se He Pu, which is divisible into Fo Zhou Tou ·ð Öä Í·, Qi Zhou, First Cycle (6 sections), Second Cycle (6 sections), Third  Cycle (6 sections) and Fo Zhou Wei ·ð Öä β, a total of 21 sections.

 

Furthermore, all scores except Qin Se He Pu have words alongside [the music notation]. From the words we can see that it is a Buddhist scripture. Taking the Shi Tan Zhang in Qin Se He Pu as a base, and referring to the text in the Zi Yuan Tang Qinpu and Qinxue Rumen, we can now analyse the entire piece as follows:

 

The words to Fo Zhou Tou are as follows:

 

'Nan mo fo tuo ye. Nan mo da mo ye....Nan wu bai wan huo shou jin gang wang pu sa  ÄÏ ÎÞ ·ð ÍÓ Ò®¡£ ÄÏ ÎÞ Á« Ħ Ò®¡£... ÄÏ ÎÞ °Ù Íò »ð Ê× ½ð ¸Õ Íõ ÆÐ Èø'. (In some qin handbooks, we have the additional words 'Nan wu Pu'an Chan shi pu sa, mo he sa ÄÏ ÎÞ ÆÕ âÖ ìø ʦ ÆÐ Èø£¬ Ħ Ú­ Èø'), which seem to be repeated or omitted). This section is a hymn praising the name of every Buddha. The music has only 7 phrases, and the whole seems to be a simple repeated theme, as in example 1 below:

 

Example 1 Fo Zhou Tou

 

The words of the second section, Qi Zhou, are:

 

'Yan. Jia jia jia yan jie. Zhe zhe zhe shen re ... âÖ åÈ åÈ åÈ åû ½ç¡£ ÕÚ' ÕÚ' ÕÚ'  Éñ ÈÇ. According to research carried out by Wang Zhengshi Íõ áç Ê¿ of Taiwan, these are Chinese interpretations of Sanskrit initials and consonants. Table 1 (below) shows a comparison of the syllables in Pinyin and Chinese characters:

 

Glottals

åÈ  ka

åÈ  kha

åÈ  ga

åû  gha

½ç na

Palatals

ÕÚ ca

ÕÚ cha

ÕÚ ja

Éñ  jha

ÈÇ na

Linguals

߸  ta

߸  tha

߸  da

âò  dha

ÄÇ na

Dentals

 ¶à  ta

¶à  tha

¶à  da

Ì´  dha

ÄÇ na

Labials

²¨  pa

²¨  pha

²¨  ba

èó  bha

Ħ  ma

 

Table 1 The Sanskrit syllables and their Chinese interpretations

 

In the Buddhist scripture there is an oral tradition for learning the sounds of Sanskrit. It is called Xi Tan Zhang Ϥ ê¼ Õ (the Tao Shi Qinpu ÌÕ ÊÏ ÇÙ Æ× uses this as the title for the piece). Could Shi Tan ÊÍ Ì¸  be a variant character for Xi Tan Ϥ ê¼? We must seek evidence from scholars with experience in the study of Buddhism. From the text of Shi Tan Zhang, however, it would seem that the notion that it is a tune for learning Sanskrit pronunciation must be correct.

 

In Qi Zhou, the syllables are chanted both in the order shown in the Table 1 and in the opposite order, and on this basis is divisible into two parts. The first part is sung in the order shown in the table: glottals - palatals - linguals - dentals - labials. The music is also very simple, being made up of only a single repeated phrase (see score example 2). The second half of Qi Zhou is a chant in which the syllables are chanted in the opposite order. In this part the Sanskrit text and the music are also very regularised (score example 3). Furthermore the 6th section of each of cycles 1, 2 and 3 is repeated as shown in examples 2 and 3 below:

 

Example 2 Qi Zhou, first part

 

Example 3 Qi Zhou, second part

 

Cycles 1, 2 and 3 are each divided into 6 short sections. The 6th section of each of these is the repeated part of Qi Zhou (score example 3). Sections 1-5 of each cycle consist of the sounds of Sanskrit initial consonants and vowels (single or compound) (a, i, u, ai, e) put together to form the chanted syllables. The five sections in each of these three cycles are in order of the initial consonants: glottals, palatals, linguals, dentals and labials. Apart from the insertion of half-vowels and nasal sounds, and fluctuation by several beats, the music in the 15 sections of these three cycles is all derived from performance variations of a single melody. The first section of cycle 1 is shown in example 4:

 

Example 4 Cycle 1, section 1

 

The last section, Fo Zhou Wei, is played in harmonics and summarises the whole piece. The words are: "An. Bo duo zha. Zhe jia ye. Ye lan ke. ....... Pu'an dao ci. Bai wu jin ji. âÖ¡£ ²¨ ¶à ߸¡£ ÕÚ åÈ Ò®¡£ Ò¹ À¼ ºÇ¡£ ....... ÆÕ âÖ µ½ ´Ë¡£°Ù ÎÞ ½û Íü¡£" The text of this section very probably comprises the essentials of an incantation by the Buddhist priest Pu'an ÆÕ âÖ. The title Pu'an Zhou may derive from this (early qin handbooks, such as Bo Ya Xin Fa etc. already contained a note to the effect that Shi Tan Zhang is Pu'an Zhou). The Buddhist priest Pu'an was the Southern Song high priest Yin Su Ó¡ Ëà (AD 1115-69). He went to Mt. Nan Quan ÄÏ Èª ɽ, Yuanzhou Ô¬ ÖÝ to spread the word of Buddhism; the occasion was the grandest the country had ever seen. It is said that Shi Tan Zhang was a song used by this Chan ìø  priest to teach his disciples Sanskrit pronunciation.

 

Shi Tan Zhang appears to be too old to be traced it from its origin to the time of the priest Pu'an, in the twelfth century. However, none of the qin study materials from the entire 400 years up to the beginning of the Ming Dynasty mention these pieces. Since most qin players of the period had Taoist leanings, it is possible that they excluded Buddhist pieces. However this piece is not mentioned in the Qin Shu Da Quan ÇÙ Êé ´ó È« (1590), which contains some stories about Buddhist monks who were qin players, so that is not very likely.

 

According to the annotations to Shi Tan Zhang in Taiyin Xisheng Ì« Òô Ï£ Éù, edited by Chen Dabin ³Â ´ó ±ó (1625), "This piece was composed by Li Shuinan Àî Ë® ÄÏ; before that this music did not exist. It was because Lü Xuanjun ÂÀ Ñ¡ ¾ý of Xizhou Ï£ ÖÜ in Chongde ³ç µÂ had a taste for Buddhism and Taoism. He asked Shuinan to write this music according to the temperament, but it was not disseminated. I learned it [from Shuinan] quite a long time ago. Only after I played it for the relief of victims of a calamity in the year Wuyin Îì Òú of the Wanli Íò Àú period (1578) did it spread widely. ...". If what Chen Dabin said is correct, then it is a composition by Li Shuinan of the Zhe Õã school, and it must date from the end of the 16th century.

 

Shi Tan Zhang was composed according to the sound (Éù): one character to one note, with the rhythmic pattern quite strictly defined. This gives it a very different flavour from normal qin pieces, which have a flexible tempo (½Ú ×à). According to what is recorded in all qin handbooks, the melodies are all the same even though the hui positions are different. For the most part, the Ming handbooks repeat [the same music] section for section, phrase for phrase; those of the Qing Dynasty show numerous performance changes. Taking the Qin Se He Pu as an example, its every repeated phrase or musical section shows some variation. It contrasts each different register (Òô Çø), and uses the interplay between the open, stopped and harmonic timbres, so that within the 21 sections, each phrase shows changes and each section shows differences. Not only does it not make the listener feel it is a rigid and inflexible monophony, it lingers in the mind for a long time. It is a solemn and respectful, grave and stern artistic conception.

 

2. Pu'an Zhou

 

In addition to Shi Tan Zhang, the Zi Yuan Tang Qinpu contains piece called Pu'an Zhou. It has 13 sections and some religious text is appended to it. By analysing this text we can see that it is derived from Shi Tan Zhang, but: 

·      it omits Fo Zhou Tou

·      it omits the first part of Qi Zhou and, from each cycle, the chanting of those syllables which have palatal and dental initials

·      the latter part of Qi Zhou is retained without modification and is inserted between each of the cycles

·      Fo Zhou Wei is reduced to a phrase in harmonics which concludes the piece (see Table 2)

Apart from the omission of certain sections and the addition of some open string notes and ornaments, the melodic line closely resembles Shi Tan Zhang. One can state categorically that the 13 section Pu'an Zhou is an abridged version of Shi Tan Zhang.

 

Beside the qin piece Pu'an Zhou, it has also been handed down as a folk instrumental piece. In Xian Suo Bei Kao ÏÒ Ë÷ ÂÔ ¿¼, published in 1814 by Rong Zhai ÈÙ Õ« of the Qing Dynasty, there is a score for an ensemble version of Pu'an Zhou with parts for erhu, pipa, sanxian and zheng. There is a note at the beginning of the score which says that "Pu'an Zhou is the qin piece Shi Tan Zhang." A pipa piece of the same name was published in 1818 in the Hua Qiuping Pipapu »ª Çï Ƽ Åý Åà Æ× and Ju Shilin Pipapu ¾Õ Ê¿ ÁÖ Åý Åà Æ×.

 

Furthermore, according to Jin Wenda's È« ÎÄ Fojiao Yinyue de Chuanru Ji Qi Dui Zhongguo Yinyue de Yingxiang ·ð ½Ì Òô ÀÖ µÄ ´« Èë ¼° Æä ¶Ô ÖÐ ¹ú Òô ÀÖ µÄ Ó° Ïì  (The Spread of Buddhist Music and Its Influence on Chinese Music), the piece Pu'an Zhou is also found in the Beijing Zhi Hua Si Shou Chao Pu ±± ¾© ÖÇ »¯ Ë ÊÖ ³­ Æ× (1694). It has a total of 18 sections. The subtitles are:

 

1.    Chui Si Diao ´¹ Ë¿ µ÷

2.    Fo Tou  ·ð Í·

3.    Pu'an Zhou - first section (Qi Duan Æð ¶Î)

4.    First cycle (plus zhuan 1-3)

5.    Second cycle (plus zhuan 1-3)

6.    Third cycle (plus zhuan 1-3)

7.    Conclusion jieduan ½á ¶Î

8.    Jin Zi Jing ½ð ×Ö ¾­

9.    Wu Sheng Fo Îå Éù ·ð

 

This is a wind and percussion (´µ ´ò) ensemble piece; its title and the division into sections is identical to those of the string ensemble piece in Xian Suo Bei Kao (see Table 2). I believe that there is a direct connection between these two pieces.

 

From Xian Suo Shisan Tao ÏÒ Ë÷ Ê® Èý Ì×, the modern translation of Xian Suo Lüe Kao, it can be seen that apart from Chui Si Diao at the beginning and Jin Zi Jing and Wu Sheng Fo in the finale, which are adapted from folk pieces (qupai Çú ÅÆ), both the structure and the melody of the main part this string ensemble piece Pu'an Zhou are very similar to the qin pieces Shi Tan Zhang and the 13 section version of Pu'an Zhou. The structures of the three pieces are compared in Table 2:

 

Shi Tan Zhang in Qin Se He Pu

Pu'an Zhou in Zhi Hua Si Jing music and in Xian Su Bei Kao

Pu'an Zhou in Zi Yuan Tang Qinpu

Fo Zhou Tou

Chui Si Diao

Fo Tou

-

Qi Zhou

1st part

2nd part

Pu'an Zhou section 1

1st cycle

1st section

1st part (without pal/dent.)

2nd part



1st cycle

section 1 section 2
section 3
section 4
section 5

1st cycle 1st zhuan

1st cycle 2nd zhuan

1st cycle 3rd zhuan

Section 2
Section 3
Section 4
(without palatals & dentals)

1st cycle, section 6
(same as 2nd part of Qi Zhou)

2nd cycle

Section 5
(same as 2nd part of section 1)



2nd cycle

section 1 section 2
section 3
section 4
section 5

2nd cycle 1st zhuan

2nd cycle 2nd zhuan

2nd cycle 3rd zhuan

Section 6
Section 7
Section 8
(without palatals & dentals)

2nd cycle, section 6

3rd cycle

Section 9
 (same as 2nd part of section 1)



3rd cycle

section 1 section 2
section 3
section 4
section 5

3rd cycle 1st zhuan

3rd cycle 2nd zhuan

3rd cycle 3rd zhuan

Section 10
Section 11
Section 12
(without palatals & dentals)

3rd cycle, section 6
(same as 2nd part of Qi Zhou)

Conclusion

Section 13
(same as 2nd part of section 1)

Fo Zhou Tou

Jin Zi Jing

Wu Sheng Fo

Coda in harmonics

 

Table 2

 

There are two versions of Pu'an Zhou in the Ju Shilin Pipapu. One is a short piece (xiaoqu С Çú) of only 129 measures commonly known as Xiao Pu'an Zhou С ÆÕ âÖ Öä. This is an abridged extract from the Pu'an Zhou in the Xian Suo Bei Kao Pipapu. The other was handed down by Chen Mufu ³Â ÄÁ ·ò of Zhejiang Õã ½­. It is 647 measures in length, divided into 16 sections:

 

 

1.    Fo Tou ·ð Í·

2.    Qi Zhou Æð Öä

3.    Xiang Zan Ïã ÔÞ

4.    Lian Tai Xian Tuan Á« ̨ ÏÖ ÍÄ

5.    Zhan Tan Hai An ì¹ Ì´ º£ °¶

6.    Qi Zhou Æð Öä

7.    Fa Zan  ·¨ ÔÞ

8.    Yu Shan Fan Chang Óã ɽ èó ³ª

9.    Ri Ying Tan Hua ÈÕ Ó³ ê¼ »¨

10.Qi Zhou Æð Öä

11.Bao Zan ±¦ ÔÞ

12.Zhong Sheng ÖÓ Éù

13.Gu Sheng  ¹Ä Éù

14.Zhong Gu ÖÓ ¹Ä

15.Ming Zhong He Gu Ãù ÖÓ ºÍ ¹Ä

16.Qing Jiang Yin Çå ½­ Òý (postlude)

 

The section titles of the pipa piece Pu'an Zhou are elegant and scholarly, but are not the same as those of the qin piece and the piece from Xian Suo Bei Kao. However the basic structure and melody are similar to the qin piece Shi Tan Zhang and the 13 section Pu'an Zhou.

 

The Present Day Pu'an Zhou

 

In Jue Yuan Qin Ji Xu Mu ¾õ Ô° ÇÙ ¼¯ Ðò Ä¿ in the 1932 edition of Jinyu Qinkan ½ñ ÓÝ ÇÙ ¿¯ it says of Pu'an Zhou that "This is a Buddhist piece. Two versions have been handed down in qin handbooks. One has words, which are an incantation of the Chan priest Pu'an. The other is without words. It alone has the sound of bells and chimes, small cymbals and singing in praise. Listening to it is like hearing a Buddhist song on Mount Yu Óã ɽ[2]. There are people now who play it." It is clear that the versions with words are Shi Tan Zhang or are similar to the 13 section version of Pu'an Zhou. Versions without words are probably from the Beijing Qinhui Pu ±± ¾© ÇÙ »á Æ×or a similar source.

 

The Beijing Qinhui score solo version as played by Pu Xuezhai ÆÎ Ñ© Õ« is in Guqin Quji ¹Å ÇÙ Çú ¼¯. The version he recorded is identical to that played and recorded by Wu Jinglüe Îâ ¾° ÂÔ, Zhang Ziqian ÕÅ ×Ó Ç« and others, and is the same as that which is played today. It must be true that "there are people now who play it".

 

The Beijing Qinhuipu Pu'an Zhou is based on the 13 section version of Pu'an Zhou, created by the absorption of various techniques from folk instrumental music, such as the addition of beats, omission of notes, addition of ornamentation, rondo techniques, etc. If we compare it with Shi Tan Zhang, we find that several hetou ºÏ  Í·  are similar, whereas the other sections are very different. However one need only analyse them carefully and one can see that the one has developed from the other. It is as if the first two sections of the piece developed from Qi Zhou extended by the addition of ornamental notes and slowing down (·Å Âý)  (Example 5):

 

Example 5 Top: Pu’an Zhou section 1, Bottom: Shitan Zhang Qi Zhou

 

Sections 3 and 4 shown in example 6 below are variations of Hewei ºÏ β  phrases in all 18 sections in the three cycles. The simple musical phrases in open notes are set off by the ornamentation, rondos and sections with the coordination of such finger techniques as jinfu ½ø ¸´, dou ¶º, zhuang ײ, etc. It became the dominant musical section with a wide intervallic range Ìø ·ù  and intensified dynamics ÂÉ ¶¯ ÐÔ. The undulating, flowing rhythm of these two sections runs through the whole piece, and constitutes the main part.

 

Example 6 Hewei phrase variations (Sections 3 and 4)

 

In the present-day Pu'an Zhou, not only has the melody changed greatly, but it also no longer has a structure consisting of 3 cycles and 15 sections, or 3 cycles and 9 zhuan. The 'cycles' are now in order of low pitch to high pitch, and are of the new form introduction - development - re-emergence. It omits the repeated sections and hetou phrases and phrases in harmonics are inserted to add colour; prominent hewei phrases either replace or reiterate and link together the whole piece, making it a grave and solemn stanza.

 

If we compare it with another modern handbook, Guqin Qu Huibian ¹Å ÇÙ Çú »ã ±à, which consists of scores of performances by Xia Yifeng ÏÄ Ò» ·å, we see that the melodic changes in Xia's score are already the same as present-day scores. The sections at the beginning and the two dominant hewei sections have already taken shape. However, Xia's score preserves the overall arrangement into 3 cycles and 9 zhuan. From this we can see traces of the transition from the 13 section scores to the present day scores.

 

The new qin piece Pu'an Zhou has already broken completely away from the qin song with vocal accompaniment [style], and uses a new melody and a new structure to depict the "bells and chimes, small cymbals and songs of praise", and to hand down the artistic conception of the solemnity and respect of Buddhism today.


Conclusion

 

To summarise the above, the process of performance change from Shi Tan Zhang to the present-day Pu'an Zhou is already very clear. The sequence is shown in figure 1 below:

 

 

1592          1609          1802                 1870          present day

 

San Jiao      Bo Ya         Zi Yuan                    Qin Se        Rong Size's qin

Tong  ---->   Xin Fa –--->  Tang Qinpu    ---------->  He Pu  –--->  performance of

Sheng         qin song      Shi Tan Zhang        Shi Tan              Shi Tan Zhang

qin song      Shi Tan                                  Zhang

Shi Tan       Zhang ----------------------

Zhang         |                          |

              |                          |

              |                          |

              |                    Qin song Pu'an Zhou-------

              |                    (13 sections)            |

              |                                            |

              |                                            |

              |                                        Qin piece

              |                                        Pu'an Zhou

              |                                        transmitted by--

              |                                        Xia Yifeng      |

              |                                                        |

              |                                                        |

              |                                               Beijing Qinhui Pu

              |                                               Qin piece

              |                                               Pu'an Zhou

|

              |

              |

              |                    1818

              |                    Hua Qiu Ping Pipapu

              |------------------> Ju Shi Lin Pipapu  ------> Solo pipa piece

              |                    Pipa piece                 Pua'an Zhou

              |                    Pu'an Zhou

|

              |

              |

              |

              |                                               Xiao Pu'an Zhou

              |                                                      |

              |      1694                 1814                       |

              |      Zhi Hua Si Shou chaopu     Xuan Suo Bei Kao     |