Guan shan yue 關山月
Played by Tao Zhusheng 陶筑生
Recording by Robert Garfias
Seattle, 1977
Commentary
The following excerpt is part of Lieberman’s analysis of the composition in his work A Chinese Zither Handbook - the Meian Qinpu (pages 86 to 88 of the 1983 print edition).
This composition is not known to have been included in any other qin handbooks prior to the Meian qinpu, and in the Meian score it carries no attribution. Mosts scholars assume, however, that Wang Yanqing either composed it or arranged it for the qin from a northern folk melody. Nevertheless, the title is not new and conjures up a host of classical allusions. Guan shan yue 關山月 is the name of a song from the Han dynasty and was used for serveral songs and poem-songs of the yue fu 樂府 genre by many later poets. The most famous poem bearing this name was written by Li Bai.1
Bright moon over Tian shan
vast expanse ocean of clouds
great wind from faroff lands
blows through Yumen pass
Han march down Baidang
Hu reconnoitre Qinghai bay
returning from places of battle
no-one yet has been seen
frontier guardians watch borders sadly
homeward thoughts many bitter faces
in boudoirs on this night
only sighing and no rest
…
- The poem refers to places associated with the seemingly endless battles of the Chinese people (Han) against the Western Barbarians (Hu 胡). The place-names used evoke distant sites in Gansu 甘肃 province: Tian Shan 天山 a famous mountain, a famous mountain; Yumen 玉门 a mountain pass; Baidang 白荡 a mountain with a winding road; Qinghai 青海 a large lake (also known as Koko Nor) in a province of the same name south of Gansu, bordering on Tibet.