琴之為物,
乃聖人治世之音,
修身養性之器。
"The sage-kings
used its tone to order the world. It is the tool for
cultivating character and nourishing the fundamental
nature. Such is the qin."
余嘗謂彈琴與人聽,
固不足言;
彈琴及同志小集,
僅供研究,
亦不足言;
彈琴至我彈與我聽,
庶乎可言矣。然仍不如我雖彈我並不聽,
手揮目送,
純任自然,
隨氣流轉,
不自知其然而然,
斯臻化境矣,
斯可言琴矣。然此亦僅可與知者道耳。
"I have
said before that playing the qin for others to hear is
hardly worth speaking about. Playing it at small gatherings
of the like-minded only provides for discussion and
conferral, and is likewise not worth speaking about.
Playing while I alone listen is almost worth speaking
about, but it is not equal to playing
without
listening. My
hands and thoughts move effortlessly together; in purity I
rely on the spontaneous, following the circling flows of
the cosmic breath; I know not that I am so but am simply
so—such is to reach the realm of transformation,
and this alone can be called
the qin. It can be spoken about
only with those who truly
understand."
- Zhang
Ziqian
張子謙 (1899-1991)
Welcome all! This
site is very preliminary; it's not especially pretty yet,
but I hope that won't detract from the essays that are its
hard center. My ideas about the qin
(and everything
else) change regularly, so you can expect many revisions
and updates as the months and years tick by.