A Kunqu Masterpiece and Its Interpretations: Tanci (The Ballad) from Hong Sheng’s Changsheng dian (Palace of Lasting Life)

Abstract

“Cangliang” 蒼凉 (desolate) is how many Kunqu 崑曲 connoisseurs would characterize Tanci 彈詞 (The ballad), scene 38 of Hong Sheng’s 洪昇 (1645–1704) Changsheng dian 長生殿 (The palace of lasting life; henceforth CSD), one of the last masterpieces (jiezuo 杰作; jingdian 經典) of chuanqi 傳奇 drama. Since 1688, the year CSD was completed, Tanci was and still is regularly performed by both amateur and professional performers as vocal music (qingchang 清唱) or as an independent scene-play (zhezixi 折子戲). Historical performances of Tanci and other CSD scene-plays mark critical developments in the history of Kunqu in Qing (1644–1911) and Republican China (1911–1949), as well as more recent decades.

Acknowledgements

This essay is dedicated to my mentor, Rulan Chao Pian (1922–2013). I would like to acknowledge Professor Zhou Qin 周秦 of Suzhou University, China, for his help in the research for preparing this essay: he generously provided me with not only old and rare recordings of Tanci by Zhang Shizheng 張世錚 and Ji Zhenhua 計鎮華, two master Kunqu performers, but also a digital copy of the earliest extant edition of Chengsheng dian. In addition, his Cunxin shuwu qupu 寸心書屋曲譜 (Musical notation from Cunxin shuwu; Suzhou: Suzhou daxue, 1993) has been a valuable source for identifying linguistic tones particularized for Kunqu singing of the words in Tanci’s arias. I would also like to thank Dr. Xu Lili 徐莉莉 of Nanjing University and Dr. Sun Xiaohui 孫曉暉 of Wuhan Conservatory of Music for their help in collecting Chinese research materials on Tanci. Finally I would like to thank Bell Yung and David Rolston for their comprehensive and patient help in my revisions of this essay.

Notes

1 For example, in the episode on “Cangliang zhi mei” 蒼涼之美 (The beauty of desolation) in her CCTV series on Kunqu, Youyuan jingmeng 遊園驚夢 (Stroll in the garden, the interrupted dream), Yu Dan 于丹 uses Tanci as a prime example. The series is available on DVD and the episode is available online as “Shuoxi: Changsheng dian Tanci” 說戲: 長生殿彈詞 (Talking of plays: Tanci of Changsheng dian), http://xiyou.cntv.cn/v-fc636950-f4cc-11e1-b091-a4badb4696b6.html, accessed August 1, 2014. For another example of such a characterization of Tanci, see Anonymous, “Changsheng dian: Tanci” 長生殿彈詞”; http://baike.baidu.com/view/2404234.htm; uploaded by Anonymous on unknown date; accessed on July 15, 2014.

2 As can be seen in the commentaries on the Confucian classics that permeated traditional Chinese culture and scholarship, and the historical discussions of specific works of Chinese calligraphy, literature, music, painting, and other artistic and cultural expressions, China has a long tradition of canonizing and examining exemplary and representative works as masterpieces. Recently, China enthusiastically embraced the quite broad and flexible conception of “masterpiece” involved in UNESCO’s concept of “Masterpieces of Oral and Intangible Cultural Heritage” (ICH), which includes the importance of safeguarding such masterpieces. The first list of these masterpieces, promulgated in 2001 by UNESCO, included Kunqu. For a representative introduction to Chinese theories and practices of ICH, see Wang Wenzhang 王文章, Feiwuzhi wenhua yichan gailun 非物質文化遺產概論 (An overview of the concept of intangible cultural heritage; Beijing: Xinhua shudian, 2006). Approaching the different versions of Tanci as masterpieces of ICH facilitates the detailed examination of their structural features and artistic meanings.

3 A well-known saying describing eighteenth-century Suzhou, Jiajia “Shoushiqi,” huhu “Bu tifang” 家家收拾起, 户户不提防, makes the claim that the sound of the singing of Tanci and another Kunqu scene-play can be heard in “every household.” It refers to the two plays by the opening characters of their first arias. On this saying, and how it has been frequently been misinterpreted, see Liu Zhizhong 劉致中, “Jiajia ‘shoushiqi,’ huhu ‘bu tifang’ kaobian” 家家收拾起, 户户不提访考辩 (On “In every family there is [the sound of] ‘Packing up,’ In every dwelling there is [the sound of] ‘Unexpectedly’”), Xiqu xuebao 戲曲學報 (Theater journal) 1(2007): 1–22.

4 For a recently posted audio-visual clip of such a performance, see “Li Dun jiaoshou ban Kunqu laosheng xianchang Changsheng dian Tanci” 李楯教授扮崑曲老生獻唱長生殿彈詞 (Professor Li Dun performs the role of a Kunqu laosheng actor and sings Tanci from CSD), http://v.qq.com/page/d/q/z/d0013b72kqz.html; uploaded on January 3, 2014 by Anonymous; accessed on July 1, 2014.

5 For two seminal surveys of the history of Kunqu, see Hu Ji 胡忌 and Liu Zhizhong 劉致中, Kunqu fazhanshi 崑曲發展史 (The history of the development of Kunqu; Beijing: Zhongguo xiqu, 1989), and Lu Eting 陸萼庭, Kunqu yanchu shigao 崑曲演出史稿 (A draft history of the performance of Kunqu; Shanghai: Shanghai wenyi, 1980).

6 There is a wealth of scholarly publications on CSD. Seminal ones that provided fundamental data for this study include: Zhang Peiheng 章培恆, Hong Sheng nianpu 洪昇年譜 (A chronology of Hong Sheng’s life and career; Shanghai: Shanghai guji, 1979); Zeng Yongyi 曾永義, Changsheng dian yanjiu 長生殿研究 (A study of Changsheng dian; Taipei: Commercial Press, 1969); Zeng Yongyi 曾永義, “Hong Sheng ji qi Changsheng dian” 洪昇及其長生殿 (Hong Sheng and his CSD), in Zhongguo gudian xiju lunji 中國古典戲劇論集 (Studies on classical Chinese opera; Taipei: Lianjing, 1976), pp. 245–72. Recent quanben 全本 (complete; neither, however, includes all of the scenes of the original) performances of CSD generated two informative anthologies: Xie Boliang 謝柏梁 and Gao Fumin 高福民, eds., Qiangu qingyuan: Changsheng dian guoji xueshu yantaohui lunwenji 千古情缘: 長生殿國際學術研討會論文集 (A love crossing millennia: Collected essays from the international conference on CSD; Shanghai: Shanghai guji, 2006); and Ye Changhai 業長海 ed., Changsheng dian yanchu yu yanjiu 長生殿演出與研究 (Performance of and research on Changsheng dian; Shanghai: Shanghai wenyi, 2009). Two representative theses on CSD written for graduate degrees are: Ay-ling Wang, “The Artistry of Hong Sheng’s Changshengdian,” Ph.D. dissertation, Yale University, 1992; and Chen Wanxi 陳宛希, “Jianguo yilai de Chengsheng dian yanjiu: Huigu yu fansi” 建國以來的長生殿研究: 回顧與反思 (Research on CSD since 1949: Retrospection and reflection), M.A. thesis, Zhongguo yishu yanjiuyuan, 2013.

7 Bibliographies of Rulan Chao Pian’s scholarly work are available in Siuwah Yu (Yu Siu Wah), “Bibliography of Works by Rulan Chao Pian,” in Bell Yung and Joseph S. C. Lam, eds., Themes and Variations: Writings on Music in Honor of Rulan Chao Pian (Cambridge and Hong Kong: Department of Music, Harvard University and The Institute of Chinese Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1994), pp. 352–57; and at http://rulanchaopian.lib.cuhk.edu.hk/byrulan.htm, accessed August 21, 2014. Particularly relevant to the theoretical issues of creativity, cultural context, music notation, and analysis of Chinese oral and performance literature that this essay explores are her: “Rewriting of an Act of Yuan Drama, Lii Kwei Fuh Jing, in the Style of the Peking Opera: A Field Worker’s Experiment,” CHINOPERL News 2 (1970): 19–29; “The Function of Rhythm in the Peking Opera,” in Jose Maceda, ed., The Musics of Asia (Manila: The National Music Council of the Philippines with the UNESCO National Commission of the Philippines, 1971), pp. 114–31; “Text Setting with the Shipyi Animated Aria,” in Lawrence Berman, ed., Words and Music, the Scholar’s View: A Medley of Problems and Solutions, Compiled in Honor of A. T. Merritt by Sundry Hands (Cambridge: Department of Music, Harvard University, 1972), pp. 237–70; “Aria Structural Patterns in the Peking Opera,” in James I. Crump and William P. Malm, eds., Chinese and Japanese Music Drama (Ann Arbor: Center for Chinese Studies, The University of Michigan, 1975), pp. 65–86; “Modes, Transposed Scales, Melody Type and Tune Types,” in Daniel Heartz and Bonnie Wade, eds., Proceedings of the Twelfth Congress of the International Musicological Society, Berkeley, California, August 1977 (New York: Barenreiter, 1981), pp. 536–44; and “Musical Elements in the Peking Opera, The King’s Farewell,” CHINOPERL Papers 12 (1983): 61–83.

8 For a study of the history of qupai registers and manuals, see Zhou Weipei 周維平, Qupu yanjiu 曲譜研究 (A study of tune registers; Nanjing: Jiangsu guji, 1999).

9 Hong Sheng, “Changsheng dian liyan” 長生殿例言 (Editorial principles for CSD), in Cai Yi 蔡毅, comp., Zhongguo gudian xiqu xuba huibian 中國古典戲曲序跋彙編 (Collected prefaces and colophons to classical Chinese drama; Jinan: Qi Lu shushe, 1989), p. 1579.

10 For an analysis of the tragedy, see Zhang Peiheng, Hong Sheng nianpu, “Yan Changsheng dian zhi huo kao” 演長生生殿之禍考 (An investigation into the disaster provoked by the performance of CSD), pp. 371–404.

11 The edition that is the earliest, and which is also generally recognized as the original edition, is the so-called Baiqi caotang 稗畦草堂 edition, author’s preface dated to 1695 (hereafter, Baiqi caotang edition), which was photo-reprinted in Guben xiqu congkan wuji 古本戲曲曲叢刊五集 (Collectanea of ancient editions of indigenous Chinese drama, series 5; Shanghai: Shanghai guji, 1986). A typeset edition that includes the commentary is also available: Mingcai 明才, ed., Wu Yiyi piping ben Changsheng dian 吳儀一批評本長生殿 (Wu Yiyi commentary edition of Changsheng dian; Nanjing: Fenghuang chubanshe, 2011).

12 See Zhu Jinhua 朱錦華, “Changsheng dian yanchu jianshi” 長生殿演出簡史 (A brief history of the performance of CSD), in Ye Changhai, ed., Changsheng dian yanchu yu yanjiu, pp. 326–47; and Qu Guilin 屈桂林, “Changsheng dian yanchu biannian” 長生殿演出編年 (A chronology of performances of Changsheng dian),” in Xie Boliang and Gao Yangmin, eds., Qiangu qingyuan, pp. 586–603.

13 See Hua Wei 華瑋, “Ruhe lijie ‘renao Mudanting’” 如何理解熱鬧牡丹亭 (How to understand “renao Mudan ting”), in Ye Changhai, ed., Changsheng dian yanchu yu yanjiu, pp. 256–65.

14 Wu Mei 吳梅, Zhongguo xiqu gailun 中國戲曲概論 (An overview of indigenous Chinese theater), in Zhang Yibing 張一兵 and Zhou Xian 周憲, eds., Wu Mei ciqu lunzhu ji 吳梅詞曲論著集 (Collected writings on ci and qu poetry by Wu Mei; Nanjing: Nanjing daxue, 2008), p. 271.

15 Wu Mei 吳梅, “Chongke Changsheng dian ba” 重刻長生殿跋 (Colophon to the reprinting of Changsheng dian), in Cai Yi, comp., Zhongguo gudian xiqu xuba huibian, p. 1596.

16 Zeng Yongyi, Changsheng dian yanjiu, p. 267.

17 Wang Jilie 王季烈, “Lun zuoqu zhi yaozhi” 論作曲之要旨 (On the essentials of qu composition), in his Yinlu qutan 螾廬曲談 (Talks on qu from Yinlu; Shanghai: Commercial Press, 1928), p. 2/2b.

18 See Chen Wanxi, “Jianguo yilai de Chengsheng dian yanjiu.”

19 See, for instance, the section entitled “Changsheng dian de lishi zhuti he ta de guojia xingwang zhi hen” 長生殿的歷史主題和它的國家興亡之恨 (The historical theme of Changsheng dian and the resentment in it over the loss of the nation), in Xu Shuofang’s introduction to Xu Shuofang 徐朔方, ed., Changsheng dian 長生殿 (Beijing: Renmin wenxue, 1980), pp. 16–21.

20 Many audio-visual clips and discussions of performances are available online: searching for the Chinese characters of the title of the play will lead to representative clips and blogs in Youtube, Youku, and other websites. See also Wang Wenzhang, Feiwuzhi wenhua yichan gailun.

21 Two English translations of the scene as Hong Sheng wrote it are available: Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang, The Palace of Eternal Youth (Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 2001), pp. 383–401; and Stephen Owen, An Anthology of Chinese Literature (New York: W. W. Norton, 1996), pp. 1076–87.

22 Aria 1 is immediately followed by Aria 2.

23 For a detailed study on the “Huolang’er” qupai, see Zheng Qian 鄭騫, “Li Shishi liuluo Huxiang dao, fu ‘Huolang’er jiuzhuan’ pu” 李師師流落湖湘道, 附貨郎兒九轉譜 (Li Shishi Gets Stranded in Huxiang Circuit, with score for “Huolang’er in nine variations”), Youshi xuebao 幼獅學報 (Young lion journal) 3·2 (1961).

24 This description of the Tanci script is based on Xu Shuofang, ed., Changsheng dian, pp. 167–74.

25 Bai’s ballad is available on-line: http://www.gushiwen.org/GuShiWen_c79924d76e.aspx; uploaded by Anonymous in 2013; accessed on July 15, 2014.

26 For the text of the poem, see Anonymous, “Jiangnan feng Li Guinian” 江南逢李龜年 (Meeting Li Guinian south of the Yangzi), http://www.baike.com/wiki/%E3%80%8A%E6%B1%9F%E5%8D%97%E9%80%A2%E6%9D%8E%E9%BE%9F%E5%B9%B4%E3%80%8Bhttp://www.baike.com/wiki; upload date unknown; accessed on July 15, 2014.

27 Paraphrased into prose to underscore its dramatic and musical meanings, Du’s celebrated and iconic poem says: “In Prince Qi’s palace I saw you often; in Master Cui the Ninth’s mansion I heard you perform several times. True it is that the scenery of south of the Yangzi [where we now meet] is beautiful, but my meeting you again comes during flower-falling time” 岐王宅裡尋常見, 崔九堂前幾度聞. 正是江南好風景, 落花時節又逢君.

28 Zhang Peiheng, Hong Sheng nianpu, p. 129.

29 Zhang Peiheng, Hong Sheng nianpu, p. 363.

30 The text of the Yuan drama is available on a several websites; see, for instance, Anonymous, “Fengyu xiangsheng huolang dan” 風雨象生貨郎旦; http://www.motie.com/book/4606/chapter; uploaded by Anonymous on unknown date; accessed on July 15, 2014. The last act of this Yuan drama became part of the Kunqu repertoire of scene-plays (see Wang Yu 王宇, Kunju zhezi xi xukao 崑劇折子戲敘考 [Research on Kunqu zhezi xi; Hefei: Huangshan shushe, 2011], pp. 21–22). A video of Cai Yaoxian 蔡瑶銑 (1943–2005) performing a new Kunqu staging of the Yuan drama act can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v = hmy-PKXIPkI, accessed May 1, 2014. For details on how the music for that production was put together, as well as information on the genre of “Huolang’er,” see Fu Xueyi 傅雪漪, “Gudiao xinsheng chang huolang” 古调新声唱货郎 (New sounds for an old tune, singing “Huolang”), Kunqu yinyue xinshang mantan 崑曲音樂欣賞漫談 (Leisurely talks on the appreciation of the music of Kunqu; Beijing: Renmin yinyue, 1996), pp. 196–208. Finally, a supplement entitled Qupai shichang 曲牌試唱 (Experimental sung versions of qupai) published with Wang Zhenglai’s 王正來 (1948–2003) Xinding jiugong dacheng nanbei ci gongpu yizhu 新定九宫大成南北詞宫譜譯註 (English title: An Anthology of Notated Northern and Southern Ci Music in Nine Modes: A Critical Edition), 9 vols. (Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press, 2009), includes two CDs of vocal realizations with simple Kunqu orchestra (four players) of songs and arias for which Wang supplied annotated cipher notation (jianpu 簡譜) versions in this nine-volume work. Wang’s versions are basically transcriptions of the gongche 工尺 (see below) notated versions of vocal works collected in Xinding Jiugong dacheng nanbei ci gongpu 新定九宫大成南北詞宫譜 (A comprehensive collection of notated scores for northern and southern arias in nine musical modes; 1742–1746; hereafter JGDC). The first nine tracks of the second CD contain Zhang Lizhen’s 張麗真 vocal realizations of the nine variations of “Huolang’er” from Huolang dan. The supplement also contains the musical notation for the nine variations, which also appear in Wang’s work (vol. 5, juan 33, pp. 397–409).

31 This discussion of Kunqu music and composition is based on my survey and current understanding of relevant literature. Insightful studies in English of music in CSD in particular and the interaction of Chinese music and literature in general include Judith Zeitlin, “Music and Performance in Hong Sheng’s Palace of Lasting Life,” in Wilt L. Idema, Waiyee Li, Ellen Widmer, and Allan Barr, eds., Trauma and Transcendence in Early Qing Literature (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2006), pp. 454–87; idem, “Between Performance, Manuscript, and Print: Imagining the Musical Text in Seventeenth-Century Plays and Songbooks,” and Ayling Wang, “Music and Dramatic Lyricism in Hong Sheng’s Palace of Eternal Life,” in Maghiel van Crevel, Tian Yuan Tan, and Michel Hockx, eds., Text, Performance, and Gender in Chinese Literature and Music: Essays in Honor of Wilt Idema (Leiden: Brill, 2009), pp. 264–92 and 233–62, respectively; Joseph S. C. Lam, “Reading Music and Eroticism in Late Ming Texts,” Nannü 12 (2010): 215–54; idem, “Music and Masculinities in Late Ming China,” Asian Music 42·1 (2011): 112–34; and Lindy Li Mark, “From Page to Stage: Exploring Some of the Mysteries of Kunqu Music and Its Melodic Characteristics,” CHINOPERL: Journal of Chinese Oral and Performing Literature 32·1 (July 2013): 1–29.

32 Xu Shuofang, ed., Changsheng dian, p. 48.

33 Xu Shuofang, ed., Changsheng dian, p. 51.

34 Two modern and representative studies of Kunqu music and theories about it are Wu Junda 武俊達, Kunqu changqiang yanjiu 崑曲唱腔研究 (Research on the melodies of Kunqu; Beijing: Renmin yinyue, 1993); and Wang Shoutai 王守泰, Kunqu gelü 崑曲格律 (The prosody of Kunqu; Nanjing: Jiangsu, 1982).

35 For an authoritative, informative, insightful, and traditional discussion of Kunqu musical composition, see Wang Jilie, Yinlu qutan, and in particular, “Lun qiang zhi lianluo ji yan zhi buzhi” 論腔之聯絡及眼之布置 (On connecting tunes and the placement of secondary beats), pp. 3/49a–52b. For a contextualized discussion of Kunqu composition and performance in pre-modern China, see Xu Peng, “Lost Sound: Singing, Theater, and Aesthetics in Late Ming China,” Ph.D. dissertation, University of Chicago, 2014, especially chapters 1–2. For an ethnomusicological discussion of contemporary Kunqu composers and composition, see Juliane Jones, “Contemporary Kun Opera Composition,” Ph.D. dissertation, University of British Columbia, 2014.

36 Xu Shuofang, ed., Changsheng dian, pp. 62–63.

37 Xu Shuofang, ed., Changsheng dian, pp. 62–63.

38 There are many historical and modern studies on this famous piece of Chinese music and dance; for a concise summary of what is known about the piece, see Zhongguo yinyue cidian 中國音樂詞典 (Dictionary of Chinese music; Beijing: Renmin yinyue, 1985), s.v. “Nishang yuyi qu” 霓裳羽衣曲 (Rainbow skirts and feathered robe suite).

39 See Wu Junda 武俊達, “Xu Lin” 徐麟, in Zhongguo da baike quanshu: Xiqu quyi 中國大百科全書: 戲曲曲藝 (Great encyclopedia of China: Indigenous Chinese theater and oral narrative arts; Beijing: Zhongguo da baike, 1983), pp. 517–18.

40 The photo-reprint and typeset versions of the Baiqi caotang edition of CSD mentioned above contain the marginal comments. On Xu Lin’s marginal comments, see Zeng Yongyi 曾永義, “Changsheng dian meipi zhi tantao” 長生殿眉批之探討 (A look into the marginal comments to Changsheng dian), in Zhang Peiheng 章培恆 and Wang Jingyu 王靖宇 eds., Zhongguo wenxue pingdian yanjiu lunji 中國文學評點研究論集 (Collected research articles on pingdian-style criticism of Chinese literature; Shanghai: Shanghai guji, 2002), pp. 424–41; and Fu Xueyi 傅雪漪, “Qianqiu yiqu wu Nishang—Tan Changsheng dian chuanqi zai yinyue fangmian de chengjiu” 千秋一曲舞霓裳—談長生殿傳奇在音樂方面的成就 (A “Nishang” for the ages—On the musical accomplishments of the chuanqi play Changsheng dian), Kunqu yinyue xinshang mantan, pp. 105–109.

41 Baiqi caotang edition, pp. 2/47a–54b.

42 For Hong’s comments on him, see item 3 of his “Liyan” for the play. Xu’s preface is reproduced in Xu Shuofang, ed., Changsheng dian, p. 225.

43 See Joseph S. C. Lam, “The Presence and Absence of Female Musicians and Music in China,” in Dorothy Ko, JaHyun Kim Haboush, and Joan R. Piggot, eds., Women and Confucian Cultures in Premodern China, Korea, and Japan (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003), pp. 96–120.

44 See Fang Xiangying 方象瑛, “Hong Si naqie sishou” 洪思納妾四首 (Four poems on Hong Sheng’s taking of a concubine), in Zhang Peiheng, Hong Sheng nianpu, p. 220.

45 I plan to include comparative scores in a future article on the musical similarities and differences between Tanci and its Yuan drama model.

46 This description of the “Huolang’er” qupai and variations is based on my interpretation of traditional Kunqu music theory and analysis of contemporary performances. Assuming that the Kunqu music Hong knew is essentially the same as what has been notated and is still being performed, I posit that when Hong created the Tanci arias, he identified the musical features described here. To avoid cross-cultural confusion of musical terms and concepts, I refrain from using Western musical terms, and rely on, as far as possible, Chinese and traditional terms to describe Kunqu music—they more effectively explain the underlining concepts and practices of the genre. Long experience has taught me that describing the music of Kunqu with Western and modern musical terms tends to introduce unnecessary complications.

47 Traditionally, Kunqu musicians used ten gongche signs to explain their music and performance practices. The signs for individual and relative tones in the musical system are: he 合, si 四, yi 一, shang 上, che 尺, gong 工, fan 凡, liu 六, wu 五, and yi 乙, which are comparable to the Western solfège system of sol, la, ti, dol, re, mi, fa, sol, la, and ti. Together the tones and signs denote a common and fundamental range of an octave and a half. Tones lower or higher than that range can be indicated by additional strokes to the gongche signs. The actual pitch level of the tones, as performed and heard, are specified by a system of modal and organological labels known as the dise 笛色 (flute timbres). Flute performance practices and their organological features anchor Kunqu theories; gongche notational signs are also tablatures that specify finger holes on the Kunqu flute (qudi 曲笛) that must be covered to produce specific musical tones.

48 The musical examples for this paper are can be found in the supplemental material for this article available at www.maneyonline.com/doi/suppl/10·1179/0193777414Z.00000000022.

49 For a description in English of these kinds of performative and vocal ornaments as used in specific Kunqu singing techniques, see Richard Strassberg, “The Singing Techniques of K’un ch’ü and Their Musical Notation,” CHINOPERL Papers 6 (1976): 45–81.

50 The musical examples for this paper are can be found in the supplemental material for this article available at www.maneyonline.com/doi/suppl/10·1179/0193777414Z.00000000022.

51 See Yu Weimin 俞為民, Kunqu gelü yanjiu 崑曲格律研究 (Research on the prosody of Kunqu; Nanjing: Nanjing daxue, 2009), p. 318.

52 For a concise description of the tianci process, see Hong Weizhu 洪維助, “Kunqu de dingpu” 崑曲的訂譜 (Setting words to music in Kunqu), Kunqu gongdiao yu qupai 崑曲宫調與曲牌 (Musical mode and qupai in Kunqu; Taipei: Guojia chubanshe, 2010), pp. 120–29.

53 Photo-reprint in Wang Qiugui 王秋桂, ed., Shanben xiqu congkan 善本戲曲叢刊 (Collectanea of rare editions of indigenous Chinese drama; Taipei: Xusheng shuju, 1984), series 6, vols. 87–104.

54 See for instance, the version from the 1770 edition of Zhui bai qiu 綴白裘 (Patched white fur), in Wang Xieru 王協如, ed., Zhui bai qiu 綴白裘 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2005), collection 2, juan 2, pp. 92–101.

55 Reproduced in Liu Chongde 劉崇德, Zhongguo gudai yuepu daquan 中國古代樂譜大全 (Complete collection of ancient Chinese musical scores), 5 vols. (Shenyang: Liaoning renmin, 2009). On its compilation and circulation, see Lin Chiayi 林佳儀, “Lun Feng Qifeng Yinxiang tang qupu zhi bianji yishi ji dingpu liuchuan” 論馮起鳳吟香堂曲譜之編輯意識及訂譜流傳 (On the compilation and circulation of Feng Qifeng’s Yinxiang tang qupu), Nanyi xuebao 南藝學報 (Southern arts journal) 7 (2013): 1–39.

56 Photo-reprinted in Wang Qiugui, ed., Shanben xiqu congkan, series 6, vols. 82–86. For Ye’s remarks on JGDC, see Ye’s preface to his collection, available in Cai Yi, comp., Zhongguo gudian xiqu xuba huibian, p. 151.

57 Shanghai: Zhuoyi tang shuju, 1920.

58 Shanghai: Commercial Press, 1925.

59 On the differences between recital and theatrical singing of Kunqu, see Joseph S. C. Lam, “Notational Representation and Contextual Constraints: How and Why Did Ye Tang Notate His Kun Opera Arias?,” in Yung and Lam, eds., Themes and Variations: Writings on Music in Honor of Rulan Chao Pian, pp. 26–35.

60 See Zhu Jinhua, “Changsheng dian yanchu jianshi,” p. 328; Qu Guilin, “Changsheng dian yanchu biannian,” p. 587; and Zhang Peiheng, Hong Sheng nianpu, p. 363.

61 See Cao Xueqin 曹雪芹 and Gao E 高鄂, Honglou meng 紅樓夢 (Beijing: Renmin wenxue, 2000), p. 11·157 (chapter 11, p. 157).

62 Lu Eting, Kunqu yanchu shigao, p. 335.

63 Sang Yuxi 桑毓喜, Kunqu Chuanzibei pingzhuan 崑曲傳字輩評傳 (The lives of the “chuan” generation of Kunqu masters; Shanghai: Shanghai guji, 2010), pp. 173 and 216.

64 For a biographical sketch by Zhu Fu 朱復 of Tao, see Wu Xinlei 吳新雷, ed., Kunju da cidian 崑劇大辭典 (Great dictionary of Kunqu; Nanjing: Nanjing daxue, 2002), p. 398. On his recordings from Tanci, see the third appendix in Kunju da cidian, Zhu Fu 朱復, comp., “Kunqu changpian mulu” 崑曲唱片目錄 (A catalogue of Kunqu phonograph recordings), p. 960, where they are dated to around 1930. For the track posted online, see http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/AF6V6jngkgA/, accessed May 15, 2014.

65 For a biographical sketch by Wang Zhenglai 王正來 of Putong, see Wu Xinlei, ed., Kunju da cidian, pp. 424–25. In that same volume, Zhu Fu, comp., “Kunqu changpian mulu,” p. 959, lists a recording of two of the arias from Tanci by Zhang Mouliang and dates them to somewhere between 1920 and around 1926. Zhang’s recording is also mentioned on p. 785, after cipher notation versions of six of the arias from Tanci. I have not been able to locate a copy of his version of either aria.

66 A representative version of Ji’s Tanci can be found in the readily available DVD recording of the 2007 production of CSD: Changsheng dian quanju 長生殿全劇 (Full CSD), Zhongying yinxiang (2008), ISRC CN-A02-08-0056-0/V.J9., Track 7 (omits three of Hong Sheng’s arias). A representative audio recording is Ji Zhenhua changqiang jingcui 計鎮華唱腔精粹 (The finest of Ji Zhenhua’s singing), Shanghai shengxiang, CD-1514, Tracks 6 to 15 (omits two of Hong Sheng’s arias). Several audio-visual clips of Ji’s performances are also available on-line. A condensed version featuring only Li Guinian and Li Mo is: “Changsheng dian Tanci Ji Zhenhua” 長生殿彈詞計鎮華; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v = kzY0yco7B9I; uploaded by CCTV-11 on October 13, 2011; accessed on May 15, 2014. To see Ji perform together with his students (Ji enters at 37’30” and sings the last aria), see the opening sequence of “Kunqu jiyu huazhang Ji Zhenhua chuancheng zhuanchang” 崑曲計語華章–計鎮華傳承專場; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v = XTM5cbwlYD4; uploaded by mjledme on Feb 20, 2012; accessed on June 1, 2014.

67 On Ji Zhenhua and Tanci, see Wang Yanfei 王燕飛, “Kunju diyi laosheng Ji Zhenhua” 崑劇第一老生計鎮華 (The number one Kunqu laosheng actor Ji Zhenhua), in Ye Changhai 葉長海 and Liu Qing 劉慶, eds., Hunqian Kunqu wushi nian 魂牽崑曲五十年 (Souls enchanted by Kunqu for half a century; Beijing: Zhongguo xiju, 2004), pp. 57–83; and Yao Xufeng 姚旭峰, “Lishi cangsang de huisheng—Changsheng dian Tanci he Ji Zhenhua di biaoyan” 歷史滄桑的回聲—長生殿彈詞和計鎮華的表演 (Echoes of massive historical change—Tanci and Ji Zhenhua’s performance), in Ye Changhai, ed., Changshengdian yanchu yu yanjiu, pp. 76–83.

68 Yao Xufeng, “Lishi cangsang de huisheng,” p. 81.

69 See the articles by Wang Yanfei and Yao Xufeng referenced above, and Ji Zhenhua 計鎮華, “Changsheng dian Tanci” 長生殿彈詞, in Zhong Lunrong 锺論榮 et al., eds., Kunqu baizhong dashi shuoxi 崑曲百種大師說戲 (One hundred Kunqu masters explain plays; Changsha: Hunan dianzi yinxiang and Yuelu shushe, 2014), pp. 235–52.

70 A clip of Cheng Weibing’s singing of Variation 9 of Tanci is available on-line: “Kunju Changsheng dian Tanci ‘Huolang’er Jiuzhuan’” 崑劇長生殿彈詞貨郎兒九轉, www.youtube.com/watch?v = qtfQA0EGWjw; uploaded by Yangwenli on April 5, 2010; accessed on May 1, 2014. A full recording of Cheng’s performance is available on DVD: Baizhe Kunju wutai yishu pian 百折崑劇舞台藝術片 (One hundred films of the stage art of Kunju), Zhejiang wenyi yinxiang, ISRC CN-E-14-05-0038-0/V.JB, Track 1.

71 The phrase occurs at 9’35” to 9’45” of the DVD recording of the Shanghai Kun Opera Troupe 2007 production referenced above. What renders Ji’s performance so distinctive is the ways he melodically and rhythmically connects the primary and notated tones for the two words, a musical distinction that can be experienced by comparative listening of performances by different performers. How their performances differ can be examined and illustrated even more clearly with the help of computer-aided sonographic analysis, a topic that I plan to investigate in the near future.