3rd September 2005

This, the 15th meeting of the London Youlan Qin Society, was held at the home of Cheng Yu in central London. 

Programme

  1. Yip Mingmei: talk on qin and Buddhism; Ping Sha Luo Yan, Fenghuang Daishang Yi Chuixiao, (Playing the Flute on the Phoenix Terrace - qin song by Li Qingzhao), Meihua San Nong*
  2. Marnix Wells: Guangling San*
  3. Cheng Yu: Ping Sha Luo Yan
  4. Wang Tingting: Huangying Yin (The Golden Oriole - qin song), Guanshan Yue (qin song), Jiu Kuang
  5. Charlie Huang: Liu Shui
  6. Dan Nung Ing: Dongting Qiu Si
  7. Sarah Moyse: Kongzi Du Yi
  8. Christopher Evans: Yi Guren
  9. Julian Joseph: Xian Pei Ying Feng
* Played on a qin with silk strings

Introduction

Cheng Yu began the proceedings and introduced our guest speaker.

Qin and Buddhism

A talk by Yip Mingmei

Some scholars have asserted that there is no connection between Buddhism and the qin, and that the qin has a place only in Confucianism and Daoism. However as mentioned by van Gulik, the qin does have a place in Buddhism, and literati did accept foreign influences on the qin, provided that they did not harm it. Indeed, there are several Buddhist pieces in the qin repertoire, such as Shitan Zhang. The main focus of Dr Yip's research has been on Chan (Zen) Buddhism. There are a few references to this in treatises on qin aesthetics, but not many. The reason, she believes, is most probably that Buddhist and Daoist texts have much in common. For example, both refer to the stringless qin. It is therefore hard to say which influence came from Buddhism and which from Daoism. Buddhism came later than Daoism.

Confucianists and Daoists were very much against Buddhist monks playing the qin. This was because they were the antithesis of both Confucian and Daoist traditions. Buddhist monks shaved their heads to show their detachment from the world; Confucianists wore their hair long because to damage any part of their body ran contrary to their concept of filial piety. Daoists also wore long hair because they took care of all parts of their body. Buddhist monks were also peceived as wearing strange clothes, even baring their shoulders, and one of the rules of qin playing was that it was not permissible to play in front of anyone not correctly attired. There are a number of stories about this in qin texts. However, in the Song dynasty there was a long lineage of  Buddhist monks who played qin, and some of them were famous players. There is much less information on Buddhist nun qin players than on monks.

There is not much Buddhist influence evident in qin literature, except in discussions on aesthetics. However the qin is frequently mentioned in Buddhist sutras, such as the Fahua Jing (Lotus Sutra). The subject of these references is not aesthetics, but its use for religious purposes. The same applied to other musical instruments, such as the se, pipa, various percussion instruments such as bo cymbals, konghou (a type of harp), horizontal and vertical flutes. The qin was used to preach the dharma, praise the Buddha and the virtue of the Boddhisattvas, musical offerings to the Buddha and even sometimes for entertainment. The Buddha once asked a monk what he did at home. The monk replied "I play the qin". "What happens if the strings are too loose?" "There is no sound." "What happens if the strings are too tight?" "They break." "And what if they are neither too loose nor too tight?" "Then I can learn the Buddhist Way". So the qin can be used as a metaphor for learning the Buddhist path.

Because of this link between the qin and Buddhism, there is also a link between the two philosophies, despite the opinion of many scholars to the contrary.



Christopher Evans plays Yi Guren
 Sarah Moyse plays Kongzi Du Yi
 Wang Tingting plays Huangying Yin



Copyright the London Youlan Qin Society, 2005. All rights reserved.