Taigu chuanzong 太古傳宗

Taigu chuanzong 太古傳宗 "Inherited masterworks of remotely antique music", also called Taigu chuanzong qupu 太古傳宗曲譜 or Taigu chuanzong pipa diao Xixiangji 太古傳宗琵琶調西廂記, is a collection of music tablatures for lute (pipa 琵琶) compiled during the Qing period 清 (1644-1911) by the music masters Tang Sizhi 湯斯質 and Gu Dejun 顧德峻. The book was finished in 1718, the preface dates from 1722, and the text was first printed in 1749, after revision by Xu Xinghua 徐興華, Zhu Tingliu 朱廷鏐 and Zhu Tingzhang 朱廷璋. Gu Dejun's paternal great uncle was the famous music teacher Gu Zishi 顧子式 from Suzhou 蘇州, Jiangsu, from whom Dejun inherited a book of music scores. Tang Sizhi was likewise a disciple of Gu Zishi and collected Yuan-period arias (Yuanqu 元曲).

The Taigu chuanzong consists of two parts. The first includes lute scores for 20 airs or suites written by the Yuan-period master Wang Shifu 王實甫 (c. 1260-c. 1336), author of the famous theatre play Xixiangji 西廂記 "The Western Chamber". The second part includes those for 45 suites in different modes (diaogong ciqu 調宮詞曲) written during the Yuan and Ming 明 (1368-1644) periods, both from suites in theatre plays (juqu 劇曲) as well as "concert arias" (sanqu 散曲). Among the former famous songs like Guan Hanqing's 關漢卿 (c. 1234-c. 1300) Guisi 閨思 or Bai Renfu's 白仁甫 Xiaoxiang bajing 瀟湘八景, or from less well-known plays like Qianjinji 千金記, Handanji 邯鄲記, Cailouji 彩樓記 or Wanjianglou 玩江樓. Part of the separate suites (santao 散套) can also be found in the collections Yongxi yuefu 雍熙樂府 and Cilin zhaiyan 詞林摘艷.

The repertoire includes northern airs (beiqu 北曲) as well as southern airs (nanqu 南曲). A smaller amount of pieces are arias from theatre plays (xiqu 戲曲) like Hongye yugou 紅葉御溝, Xuefang 雪訪 (Fangpu 訪普) or the famous Shimian maifu 十面埋伏.

Figure 1. Tablature from the Taigu chuanzong 太古傳宗

Tablature for lute accompaniment to the song Hunjiang long 混江龍 from the first act of the theatre play Xixiangji. From Chen (2023).

All scores are noted in one single mode, namely the xiaogong diao 小工調 (D major), but for actual playing, many pieces have to be transferred to other modes, like zhengdong diao 正宮調 (G major), chizi diao 尺字調 (C major) or yizi diao 乙字調 (A major).

A modern edition was published in 1996 by Shi Deyu 施德玉, with the title Taigu chuanzong: Pipa diao Xixiangji qupu zhi yanjiu 太古傳宗: 琵琶調西廂記曲譜之研究 (rev. ed. Guojia Chubanshe 國家出版社 2023).