Update on Shijing Scores – v.2

ShijingMusic <– Download here.

See both of our practice sessions on the four pieces here.

This exercise of reviving traditional music to one playable on modern instruments has been an especially difficult one for me, and the compromises I took were sometimes difficult to bear.

In this updated file, all scores are standardized to 3 lines: The orchestral line, the guqin tablature, and the sung verse plus rhythm, where x’s mark drum beats and the double ring mark denotes a bell or gong.

All pieces are set so that Huangzhong 黃鐘=D=1, with the exception to Cai Fan 采蘩 where 仲呂=F=1, the music for the archery ritual (upon consultation with Confucian scholar Wu Fei 吳飛 (net name: ufe), where Zou Yu 騶虞 was reserved for the King and Lords. The reason for this rather strange and non-unified transpositional shift is none other than for the convenience of Chinese musicians (of non-Guqin background) to perform while reading the Numerical Notation System (jianpu, 簡譜). Nonetheless, these pieces are rife with the use of non-anhemitonic pentatonic notes (denoted as 4# ‘fa-sharp’ and 7 ‘si’), but are in actuality a little lower for the 4# and a little higher than 7 compared to the  12-tET counterpart, as Chinese tonality is traditionally calculated in Pythagorean and Just Intonations.

For the performance on the 24th, due to technical limitations on modern instruments, this minor difference cannot be adjusted, and will be off by several hertz as desired, but should not impede on your appreciation of ritual music. I hope that professional musicians with access to the proper resources could perform these one day, with full historical accuracy and information.

Notice of event detail & time change for Sept.24 Ceremony

VERSION 1, ENGLISH.

To all who those who are interested on the September 24^th Coming-of-Age Ceremony;

 

Thank you for your continued attention on this event.
We regretfully inform that due to financial and venue difficulties, the original intended plan for a full Guan-Li (Chinese coming-of-age ceremony), followed by a She-li (Archery ceremony) on the 24^th of September at 2 to 4 PM is rescheduled.

The new time and location is now integrated with CSSAUO’s evening variety event on the same day (Sept.24, 2009) at 7PM, in Ryerson Theatre. Tickets to this event are priced at $10, purchasable from http://1ticket.ca/html/onshow/2009/0831/31.html.

To this end, we also regret to inform that due to timing constraints, we are only able to retain one Jia (adding headpieces, changing clothes) sequence from the originally intended three Jia. The Archery Ceremony is also forced to cancel due to the new venue’s technical restriction. However, this does not detract the upcoming ritual from its sacred properties, and is just as legitimate and authentic. Our participants are just as committed as before.

Our hope in this cooperation is to bring to the Toronto community-at-large the authentic spirit and face of traditional Chinese ritual, music and culture. This setback is by no means dented our determination to strive for this end. It is our intention that in the foreseeable future, we will again organize a similar event. If any individuals or organizations are interested in learning or interviewing about or actualizing traditional Chinese ritual and arts, please do not hesitate to contact the Toronto Guqin Society (TorGuqin) for consultation or partnership.

 

With a deep bow in sincere apologies,

Joshua Yushuai Cai, CUAUT (www.cuaut.org)
Juni Lefeuille Yeung, TorGuqin (https://torguqin.wordpress.com)

 

VERSION 1, CHINESE

致所有關注九月二十四日華夏傳統成人禮的人仕﹔

很感謝您們長久對這個節目的關注。
很遺憾地﹐我們因財政及場地等種種困難﹐原定在二零零九年九月二十四日下午二時到四時的三加冠笄禮(傳統華夏成人禮) 及射禮(傳統射箭項目) 將會受到時間變動。

新的時間安排是同一天的晚上﹐於安省中國學生學者聯誼會聯盟(CSSAUO) 的『中國風﹐海外情』晚會﹐即二零零九年九月二十四日晚上七時﹐於懷雅遜大學劇院(Ryerson Theatre) 中舉行。該晚會門票可在網上購得﹐地址為﹕http://1ticket.ca/html/onshow/2009/0831/31.html﹐價錢為十元。

於此﹐我們亦因為此更動後附上的時間限制﹐原定的三加(即換戴三套衣服及頭飾) 簡短為一加﹐射禮亦室內場地技術困難而被迫取消。但是﹐這並不代表儀式的神聖及莊重性質有任何的減省。我們的參禮者一直保持著對该节目的重視及熱誠。

我們兩個協會合作的宗旨是為了帶給多倫多廣大社區純正的華夏禮樂文化傳統。這次的挫折並沒有損耗我們履行這個宗旨的決心。我們打算在不遠將來再次籌辦一個類似的項目﹐若社區各界人士或組織有興趣學習﹐或專訪關於華夏傳統禮儀及藝術﹐請與多倫多古琴社提出咨詢或合作建議。

 

於此深切稽首致歉﹗

蔡寓帥Joshua Cai,  多倫多大學中國大學生聯合會 (www.cuaut.org)
楊儁立Juni Yeung , 多倫多古琴社 (https://torguqin.wordpress.com)