Appended recordings made for my MA in Traditional and World Music Dissertation, University of Sheffield, 2021. Dissertation accessed via Academia: https://www.academia.edu/75410450/The_Dapu_of_Zhang_Kongshan_s_Guqin_Scores_Reconstruction_and_Recreation. 

Abstract: The guqin (Chinese seven-stringed zither) has a long history of musical and cultural intangible oral heritage spanning millennia. One of the main preoccupations of guqin players and researchers has been the resurrection of old scores from ancient tablature collections through a process called dapu. This involves deciphering the old tablature symbols, and infusing rhythmic and temporal interpretation, in order to make these neglected scores come to life by imbuing them with musical force and agency. Although this activity has been ongoing for many years, there has never been a systematic look into the whole process of dapu, what is involved and what it really means.

In this project, which comprises of a folio of transcriptions, the process of dapu will be explored with a focus on three musical scores from the Tianwenge Qinpu (1876) attributed to Zhang Kongshan, the famous guqin player of the Shu School, that have not survived into the modern lineage tradition. This offers an opportunity to explore the reconstruction (attempting to strictly follow the tablature and play the pieces as close to how it was originally played at the time of creation) and recreation (aiming to use the original tablature as a basis but allow creative input into its interpretation) dynamics of transcription by making two transcriptions of the same piece in these two ways and enables reflection upon the whole activity of dapu in a new perspective.

The results demonstrate an evolving process where both dynamics play a part in determining the end, but ultimately the reconstructed transcriptions will stay as they are, whereas the recreated ones will continue to be revised, changed, and developed, as has always traditionally been done for guqin music.

Marked as 83/100 (High Distinction). Overall degree was awarded with Distinction (total average grade: 74).

Yuqiao Wenda – Transcription A: 漁樵問答 • 甲譜

Hua Die – Transcription B: 化蝶 • 乙譜

Xiao Xiang Yeyu – Transcription B: 瀟湘夜雨 • 乙譜

Hua Die – Transcription A: 化蝶 • 甲譜

Yuqiao Wenda – Transcription B: 漁樵問答 • 乙譜

Xiao Xiang Yeyu – Transcription A: 瀟湘夜雨 • 甲譜

Charles Rupert Tsua, BA (Wolv.), MA (Sheff.), BD (Lond.), FBS, FRAsiaS, FGMS, FFSC, guqin player and teacher of the British-Chuan School Lineage.  徐永裕，字長韻，英川派琴家。

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