Shi Kuang 師曠

Shi Kuang 師曠, courtesy name Ziye 子野, was a music master in the regional state of Jin 晉 who lived during the reign of Duke Ping 晉平公 (r. 557-532). Shi is actually not his family name, but means "teacher, master".

He is said to have been born blind, but with a sharp hearing and superb artistry as a master of the qin 琴 zither, being proficient in the instrument's tuning, adjusting the "five tones" (wuyin 五音), rectifying the "six pitches" (liulü 六律) and correctly tuning melodies and instruments (gong shang diao 宮商). He was an expert in tunes of the modal keys qingzheng 清徵 and qingjiao 清角. The zither tunes Yangchun 陽春, Baixue 白雪, and Xuanmo 玄默 are believed to have been composed by Shi Kuang.

He is said to have written six chapters of a book called Shi Kuang, which are now lost. The dictionary Shuowen jiezi 說文解字 quotes a phrase, "There is a bird in the south called the Qiang eagle" (nanfang you niao ming yue qiangjiu 南方有鳥名曰羌鷲), which is believed to be from the Shi Kuang's original text. This book dealt with the study of natural phenomena, divination, dream interpretation, and the prediction of omens and auspicious events. However, the historian Ban Gu 班固 (32-92 CE) noted that Shi Kuang's writings were "superficial". The book is mentioned in the book catalogue Hanshu yiwen zhi 漢書藝文志 in the section of novellas (xiaoshuojia lei 小說家類), and a second time in the section on military prognostication (bingjia yinyanglei 兵家陰陽類), with a length of 8 chapters. The latter seems to have been a different text. The existence of a mantic book is corroborated in the biography of Su Jing 蘇竟 (ch. 30) and the collective biographies of magicians (ch. Fangshu zhuan 方術傳) in the official dynastic history Houhanshu 後漢書. Li Xian's 李賢 (654–684) commentary explains that the book Shi Kuang was focusing on the interpretation of natural disasters and abnormal phenomena (zhan zaiyi 占災異). Any original text called Shi Kuang is lost, barring some fragments extracted by Hong Yixuan 洪頤煊 (1765-1837) from the astronomical/astrological text Kaiyuan zhanjing 開元占經. They are found in the series Jingdian jilin 經典集林.

Books of various types and genres report stories from Shi Kuang's life. While part of the texts might refer to historical facts, others belong to the genre of fiction. The Duke of Ping, for instance, made political and even military decisions following the advice of Shi Kuang, who used the effects of musical performance for divination. The Huainanzi 淮南子 therefore concludes that Shi Kuang was the informal Grand Counsellor (dazai 大宰) of the state of Jin.

The relation between Shi Kuang's music and birds is attested in several sources, like the Hanfeizi 韓非子, or the history book Shiji 史記. The chapter on music (24 Yueshu 樂書) reports the following story: Two cranes appeared and circled above the hall while Shi Kuang was playing the zither. Duke Ping was greatly pleased, stood up to offer Shi Kuang a toast, and then asked: "Is there a sound more sorrowful than this?" Shi Kuang replied, "Yes, the Emperors of ancient times used the sound to unite the spirits, but now your Majesty's virtue is too weak to hear it, and listening will bring ruin." The Duke said, "I am old, and my only joy is in music. Please, let me hear it." Shi Kuang, though unwilling, had no choice but to play again. The first note made the white clouds rise from the northwest; the second note summoned a great wind, followed by rain, as tiles flew from the eaves and people fled in fear. The Duke of Jin was terrified, hiding between the beams of the hall. The state of Jin then suffered a great drought, with barren land for three years.

An early book on birds, Qinjing 禽經, was therefore believed to have been written by Shi Kuang and is therefore circulating with the title Shi Kuang qinjing 師曠禽經.