閒情秋韻 古琴雅集 Serene Moods, Autumn Resonance – Qin Gathering

 

Introduction to the Guqin 古琴

8/28/2025
3:15 - 4:45 pm
At Binghamton University Ethnomusicology class.

What is the Guqin (or simply the qin ) 

 - A seven-string fretless zither played in China for over 2000 years. 

 - Favored by Confucian scholars (儒) & Daoist practitioners (道) 

 - Traditionally for self-cultivation, meditation, and harmony with nature (天人合一). 

 Key Features 

 ● Strings and Hui Dots – 7 strings; 13 hui dots for harmonics 

 ● Size: ~120 cm × 20 cm (string length 110- 112 cm) 

 ● Soundboard: Paulownia wood; lacquered; top & bottom = Yin & Yang 

 ● Sound Types 

     散音 (Sǎn Yīn) – Open string 

     泛音 (Fàn Yīn) – Harmonics 

     按音 (Àn Yīn) – Pressed/ sliding tones 

 ● Tuning: Pentatonic & modal tunings (two demonstrated today) 

 ● Fingering Notation 指法譜 

 Cultural Concepts 

 ● 琴歌 Qín Gē – Guqin with singing; poetic & expressive 

 ● Daoist ideal: Silence (大音希聲), simplicity, harmony with nature 

 ● Confucian value: Balance, discipline, moral growth 

 ● Antique Qins – Preserving Historic Instruments and Their Beauty (like lacquer cracks 斷 紋 and inscriptions 題銘) 

 Music Performance 

1. 石上流泉 – Flowing Spring over Stone (1864) 5' 

2. 神人暢 – Harmony between Divine & Human (1525) 4' 

3. 竹枝詞 – Guqin with singing: Song of Bamboo Branches (Tang / 1771) 3' 

4. 瀟湘水雲 – Misty Clouds over the Xiao & Xiang River (1722) 12' 

The Art of Learning: Self-Taught and Master

On August 3, 2025, at the New York Qin Society Yaji, I gave a brief presentation on the topic "The Art of Learning: Self-Taught and Master."

The New York Qin Society has hosted several online yaji in recent years, focusing on the theme of guqin learning. I shared my own learning experience on July 18, 2021. If you visit the NYQS website and look up the events from 2021, you’ll find our discussion from that time. https://newyorkqin.com/events-in-2021/

Here I’d like to share a few personal reflections on The Art of Learning: Self-Taught and Master. Although the NYQS yaji theme this time was to talk about learning the guqin, I’d like to draw on my experience in another art form, seal carving, to illuminate the same principles. And I’d like to start by showing you an image of some seal carvings.

On the image above: The top three seals were carved by renowned masters; the bottom three were carved by someone who has been self-learning for four years. I'm sure that as soon as you see it, you can immediately sense the difference. Even without knowledge of seal carving, one can still notice the contrast in line quality. The seals by the masters are delicate, the lines are as fine as iron wire, consistent in thickness, and the black-and-white spatial balance is steady and harmonious. In contrast, the lower three clearly have lines that are not yet as fine or steady, and the overall composition still has room for improvement.

That “someone” is actually me. The three seals above were carved by the masters Wáng Zhuàng-wèi 王壯為(1909-1998) and Chiāng Chào-shēn 江兆申 (1925-1996). Both were highly respected figures in painting, calligraphy, and seal carving. 江兆申 even served as the Deputy Director of the National Palace Museum in Taipei. From a young age, both received guidance from their families, along with mentorship from accomplished teachers, in addition to self-study.

In contrast, my journey into seal carving began purely out of personal interest. I started at the age of 53, and have been entirely self-taught. I chose seal carving as an example primarily because it is the only artistic skill I have pursued without the guidance of a teacher. Through this personal experience, I hope to reflect on the differences I have felt between learning an art form with a teacher and learning one without.

Before I go into the main subject, I’d like to share an interesting side story.

Seal carving is relatively easy to get started with. As the Chinese saying about it goes: “a minor skill of carving insects, unworthy of a strong man” (雕蟲小技，壯夫所不為 Diāo chóng xiǎo jì, zhuàng fū suǒ bù wéi ).

This is a dismissive saying, suggesting that certain refined skills, such as intricate carving, may be clever but are ultimately trivial, and therefore unworthy of someone with great ambition or lofty purpose. In fact, Wang Zhuangwei was so moved by this sentiment that he changed his given name from Yuán-lǐ (沅禮) to Zhuàng-wéi (壯為), as a way to affirm that Chinese seal carving is indeed a noble art worthy of lifelong dedication.

Now, Let me highlight a few positive aspects of my self-learning experience:

1. Freedom to Explore, Unbound by Tradition

Being self-taught allowed me to experiment freely, trying out different scripts, layouts, and compositional styles.

鐵如意齋(江兆申)       安寧(江兆申)

無用之用(江兆申)  雙菩提樹龕(江兆申)

Although master 江兆申 initially learned seal carving from his family, he was largely self-taught in his later years. As a result, his style departed from traditional schools and developed a distinctive character of its own.

2. Hands-on Experience and Intuitive Learning

Over the past four years, I’ve carved dozens of seals by hand. Every failure, every revision has been a direct and invaluable learning experience. This kind of trial-and-error builds a kind of sensitivity and instinct that no textbook can teach. It is connected with the sense of touch, an intuitive path to knowledge.

自學的優點

1. 自由探索、不拘流派

自學讓我沒有包袱，也不怕試錯，我可以任意嘗試不同字體、不同布局。江兆申當年的篆刻雖啟蒙於家學, 但後來也都是自學, 風格也因此跳脫傳統門戶，走出自己的風貌。

2. 累積獨特的感受力與實作經驗
四年來我親手刻過數十顆印，每一次的失敗與修正，都是寶貴的經驗累積，也是創作直覺的養成過程

But with all that said, I also want to share some honest reflections, about the limits of self-learning.

1. Technical Bottlenecks  I often find myself asking: How can I carve finer lines? How can I compose more harmoniously? How do I preserve the spirit of the characters while sharpening the details? Without guidance, these questions linger. Trial and error alone can be discouraging and even drain one's passion.

2. Lack of Feedback and Evaluation Without a mentor, it’s hard to know if I’m truly improving. I might be repeating the same mistakes over and over without realizing it.

3. Time Becomes More Precious with Age Since I started seal caring in my fifties, I feel especially aware of how precious time is. A capable teacher could save me years of missteps, helping me focus, prioritize, and grow more efficiently.

自學的侷限與困惑

1. 技巧上的瓶頸
像是如何刻出更細緻的線條、如何讓章法佈局更平衡、或如何掌握筆意與刀法之間的關係，這些都難以僅靠自己琢磨得出明確的方向。試錯的時間代價可能會扼殺了興趣。

2. 缺乏回饋與評價
我常常不知道自己刻出的印章究竟是好還是不好。缺少老師或前輩的指點，進步速度變得緩慢，也容易陷入盲點。

3. 時間的珍貴
對於像我這樣年過半百才開始學習的人來說，時間格外寶貴。若能有一位好老師在適當的時機給予提點，便可以節省許多彎路與反覆。

This brings me to the value of mentorship. Interestingly, although 江兆申 was self-taught in seal carving throughout most of his life, he later studied painting and calligraphy under the renowned master Pǔ Hsīn-yú.溥心畬. This mentorship transformed his artistic development. His ability to fully develop in the four arts of poetry, calligraphy, painting, and seal carving was not only the result of self-study, but also thanks to the guidance of a teacher with profound cultural depth. A good teacher offers far more than just technique. They can open your eyes, sharpen your aesthetic sensibility, and share insights shaped by decades of experience, things that self-learning may never fully provide.

師承的價值

值得注意的是，江兆申雖然在篆刻方面大都是自學，但在書畫上，他卻曾拜溥心畬為師，從此脫胎換骨。他之所以能夠在詩、書、畫、印四藝之中全面開展，不僅靠自修，也得益於這樣一位深具文化底蘊的老師。良師的價值不僅在於技術傳授，更能指出盲點、提升審美、傳遞系統性的藝術觀念。這些，是自學者往往難以獲得的寶貴資源。

My Guqin and Calligraphy Teacher, Master Yuan Jung-ping袁中平 once shared a meaningful framework for understanding the deeper aim of learning traditional Chinese arts. He described it as a striving for excellence on three levels:

1. Artistic Level 藝術層次 – Mastery of technique: such as pitch and fingering in music, brushwork in painting and calligraphy, structure, and carving technique.
2. Aesthetic Savoring Level 品味層次  – The cultivation of aesthetic sensibility: understanding styles, history, and the spirit of tradition.
3. Spiritual Level 精神層次- The inner cultivation: embodying the Dao, cultivating sincerity, stillness, and depth. And To be more connected with nature—to befriend it, and to dwell in its rhythm.

學習的深層目標: 三層次的極致追求

"藝術層次"：對技藝與形式的掌握, 如音準、指法, 筆法、章法、刀法；
"品味層次"：對審美與風格的理解, 知古今、識流派、有鑑賞力；

"精神層次"：對藝術背後的思想與人格修養, 道、氣、靜、真。"跟大自然做朋友."

Advancing through these three levels is difficult through self-study alone. Especially at the Aesthetic Savoring and Spiritual levels, it’s easy to fall into superficial imitation or to develop a personal style that lacks connection to traditional lineage. That said, if one’s goal is simply to pursue a personal style, that is certainly a valid path. A good teacher, however, can guide a student toward discovering and refining their own unique voice, and help them cross into deeper artistic and spiritual territory.

In conclusion

Over these four years, my self-taught journey in seal carving has brought me valuable experience and personal growth. But more and more, I feel the need to break through, not just in terms of technique, but toward deeper artistry.

I often ask myself: Is what I’m making truly “art” in the fullest sense? A wise teacher could help me refine not only my skills, but also my perspective. So I believe the best path is this:

First, to build passion and intuition through self-learning.

Then, to deepen that foundation through the insight and guidance of a mentor.

With both, we advance with confidence and reach greater distances. Whether in guqin, seal carving, or any traditional Chinese art, learning is not merely a technical endeavor. It is a journey of aesthetic sensibility, spirit, and self-cultivation. And along that journey, to have a good teacher by your side, someone who can point the way and lift your gaze, is one of the greatest blessings of all.

總結與感想

就我自己在篆刻的學習而言，四年來的摸索，讓我累積了一些技術，也激發了創作的熱情；但我越學越覺得難以突破到更深的層次。常常懷疑自己的作品是否真的達到了藝術的境地。若有一位真正了解篆刻精神的老師能指點一二，我相信不只是技術上的提升，更能讓我的思想與品味邁入更高的領域。

因此，我認為最理想的學習方式是：以自學培養熱情與直覺，以師承提升格局與眼界。

學習古琴、篆刻，甚至任何藝術形式，其實都不只是技術的磨練，更是一場關於品味與精神的修行。而在這條路上，若能有一位真正懂得藝術精神的老師同行，引領我們走向更高的藝術境界，將會是一種無比珍貴的福分。

Image sources

Background painting and seals - Peiyou Chang

https://twfineartsarchive.ntmofa.gov.tw/QuarterlyFile/B002906.pdf?193215649  國立台灣美術館

翰逸神飛 (汪中教授書藝紀念展) Brilliant Talent (A Commemorative Exhibition of Prof. Wang Chung's Calligraphy Art) 國立國父紀念館2020年出版 yatsen.gov.tw

References

高雄市立美術館 https://collections.culture.tw/kmfa_collectionsweb/author.aspx?AID=MYMAMPME

【島嶼傳燈人】王壯為 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goMxSS8z63I

【島嶼傳燈人】江兆申 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qm0ECkpj_Ac

Recommend

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWKnioQHeFg&list=PLv_IUW41nxfKV-gx6WZQoO1GY0bVx2Jzx

【島嶼傳燈人】The series of "those who pass on the light on an island" produced by The General Association of Chinese Culture (GACC)  中華文化總會 in 2016.

May 25, 2025 Student Guqin Recitals via Zoom

Time: Sunday, May 25 at 2:00 PM EST

Program

1. Ralph Knag – O Lu Wang Ji (鷗鷺忘機), Innocent Seagulls
    

2. Dan Reid – Qin performance of Ping Sha Luo Yan (平沙落雁), Wild Geese Flock to Sandy Shores
    

3. Tracy Li – Shen Ren Chang (神人暢), Harmony Between Human and Spirit (1525)
     

4. Esmie Herrero – Stories from her recent adventures in China
     

5. Alex Merck – Video sharing of White Snow (白雪) (1425)
     

6. Andrea Lioy – Wu Ye Ti (烏夜啼), Raven’s Cry at Night (1425)
    

7. Peiyou Chang – Talk on “Ancient Flavor” through the eyes of the Ming Dynasty qin master Wāng Zhī (汪芝), followed by qin music appreciation: the last four sections of Master Yuan Jung-Ping's Li Sao (離騷)

April 29, 2025 — Lecture and Qin Performance at UC Berkeley

April 29, 2025 | 9:15 am – 11:15 am
The C.V. Starr East Asian Library, UC Berkeley

The New York Qin Society will present:

Elegant Resonance of the Ming — A Concert of Guqin Music and Literati Thought from the Ming Dynasty
(「風雅明韻」— 明代古琴音樂與文人思想展演)

Peiyou will join the New York Qin Society to present a paper and give a guqin performance as part of this event.

 

Brief Introduction of Presenters and Performers 

The New York Qin Society was founded in 2000 by Jung-ping Yuan and a group of qin players and sinologists to explore and enjoy the music and culture of the qin. Its members have enjoyed regular meetings at least every two months since then. For more information, please visit https://newyorkqin.com/ 

2025 is a significant year for the qin tradition — one that has two oldest surviving Ming dynasty handbooks, the Shenqi Mipu (神奇秘谱) of 1425 and the Xilutang Qintong (西麓堂琴统) of 1525; celebrating 600 and 500 years since their publication, respectively. As such, the New York Qin Society is dedicating this event in part, to commemorate this momentous year. 2025 serves as a poignant reminder of not only the legacy of the qin's deep roots but also the Society’s role in helping to maintain and transmit this ancient tradition for future generations. 

1. Dongting Qiu Si (洞庭秋思); “Autumn Thoughts at Lake Dongting” - Alan Yip will perform Zha Fuxi 's famed transmission of the piece. Learned from two of Zha's highly-esteemed students, Masters Gong Yi and Wu Ziying; with his own transcription (2008) mentored by Master Gong of the earliest version of the Ming score from Xilutang Qintong. 

2. Reconstructing melodies from Ming dynasty tablature, a methodology John Thompson, having reconstructed over 300 melodies mostly from Ming dynasty sources over the past 50 years, will play several of his reconstructions and discuss this work, which begins with a search for melodic structures and only then looks for “inner significance” (趣) of what they are expressing. Talk and demonstration by John Thompson. 

3. Interpreting Xilutang Qingtong (《西麓堂琴統》) - Unveiling Wang Zhi's Vision Through Tang Gao's Preface. Talk by Peiyou Chang. 

4. Cai Zhen You (采真游); “Exploring the True” - Peiyou Chang will perform the score from Xilutang Qintong. 

5. Chun Si (春思); “Spring Feelings” - Alan Yip will perform Master Chen Changlin's 1998 transcription of the Ming score from Xilutang Qintong. 

6. Guiqu Laici (歸去來辭); “Come Away Home” - Transmission of Lui Puiyuen, performed by Mark Jonhson. 

7. Oulu Wangji (鷗鷺望機); “Forgetting Seagulls “- a duet with erhu, transmission of Wu Zhaoji's from the Wumen Qinpu, Peiyou Chang on qin, Alan Yip on erhu. 

Peiyou Chang (張培幼) was born in Taipei, Taiwan. She began music at age three with the piano and took up the guzheng at eight. After a pause during college, she rediscovered her passion at thirty through the guqin, which has since become her lifelong focus. Since 2000, she has studied guqin and calligraphy under Mr. Yuan Jung-Ping (袁中平) of Taipei, following the musical lineage of Master Wu Zhao-Ji (吳兆基 1908–1997) of Suzhou and the calligraphic tradition of Li Ruiqing (李瑞清), Hu Xiaoshi (胡小石), and Leon Long-Yien Chang (張隆延). Peiyou’s contemplative and scholarly approach is rooted in tradition yet open to exploration. She has performed and lectured in the U.S., U.K., Taiwan, and China at institutions including Yale, Eastman School of Music, SOAS University of London, SUNY Binghamton, and the China Institute in NYC. A former President of the New York Qin Society (2021–2024), she is currently working on her first book, a philological study of a Ming dynasty guqin handbook. Visit: www.peiyouqin.com 

Mark Johnson (張叔夜) is a hand tool woodworker and former technology executive. He first encountered the guqin in 2016 at a store in Southern California. Despite his lack of musical background, he was immediately captivated. Within two weeks, he had researched and purchased his first guqin and found a teacher: Master Lui Puiyuen (吕培原). Four years of diligent practice later, Master Lui encouraged him to begin teaching the instrument to others. He has been performing and sharing his knowledge of the qin ever since. 

John Thompson(唐世璋), with the largest recorded repertoire for the guqin silk-string zither, is certainly one of the most listened to players today: since May 2007 his website has averaged thousands of hits a day, many of them from people listening through China's music downloading websites to his recordings, unaware that he is not a Chinese master playing their most ancient surviving music. In all, he has reconstructed and recorded over 300 melodies from 15th through 17th century guqin tablature, and his website complements each melody with extensive musicological, historical, and philosophical commentary. As a result, he is the best-known musician giving historically informed performances of early guqin music. After a college degree in Western musicology (early music) and graduate studies in ethnomusicology, Thompson began in 1974 to study the modern guqin tradition from Sun Yü-Ch'in in Taiwan. Moving to Hong Kong in 1976 to consult with Tong Kin-Woon, he turned his focus to early repertoire, gradually gaining a reputation for the fidelity, fluency and feeling of his performances. In 1992 the National Union of Chinese Musicians invited him to Beijing as the focus of a seminar on reconstructing music from the earliest surviving guqin handbook, Shen Qi Mi Pu (1425 CE). While based in Hong Kong as artistic consultant to the Festival of Asian Arts Thompson performed throughout East Asia, and published seven CDs of his musical reconstructions as well as four books of music transcriptions. Since 2001, when he moved to New York (and including 2009-2013, when he was based in Mumbai and Singapore), he has continued to perform, teach, research and lecture on the guqin, creating new music as well. In 2019 veteran Hong Kong film director Lau Shing-hon completed a two-hour documentary about this work. John served as president of the New York Qin Society from 2012 to 2021. 

Alan Yip (葉沛霖) was born in Los Angeles, California where he studied erhu (二胡) under acclaimed maestro and honored National First-Class Performer (國家一級演員) in China, He Wangbao (何王保). With more than two decades of erhu performance experience, he has actively delved into many regional and contemporary styles of playing, ranging from solo instrumental, orchestral, ensemble, to traditional Cantonese music and Cantonese opera. Intrigued by its sound and history, Alan began his studies of guqin as a disciple of famed pipa and guqin virtuoso, Lui Puiyuen (吕培 原). Eager to broaden his technique and aesthetics on guqin, he has since studied under leading masters as Gong Yi (龔一), Wu Ziying (吴自英), Chen Changlin (陳長 林), and Dai Xiaolian (戴曉蓮). He has been invited to numerous concerts in such countries as USA, China, and Malaysia, and is an active promoter of Chinese music in the United States and abroad. Besides Chinese classical music, he has studied Chinese court-style painting under the tutelage of Aisin-Gioro⋅Puxian (愛新覺羅⋅溥仙) - cousin of the last emperor of China, Puyi (溥儀). Alan holds a Master's degree in Horticulture and Agronomy from the University of California, Davis. Alan serves as president of the New York Qin Society and is musical instruments consultant to @fineguqins. He is based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Visit https://alanyip.art for more information.

Event organized by:

UC Berkeley Guqin Music and Kunqu Forum