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Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute () are a series of Chinese songs and poems about the life of
Han Dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by th ...
(202 BCE – 220 CE) poet
Cai Wenji Cai Yan ( 178 – post 206; or 170–215; or died  249), courtesy name Wenji, was a Chinese composer, poet, and writer who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. She was the daughter of Cai Yong. Her courtesy name was original ...
, the songs were composed by Liu Shang, a poet of the middle
Tang Dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...
. Later
Emperor Gaozong of Song Emperor Gaozong of Song (12 June 1107 – 9 November 1187), personal name Zhao Gou, courtesy name Deji, was the tenth emperor of the Song dynasty and the first of the Southern Song period, ruling between 1127 and 1162 and retaining power as re ...
(1107–1187) commissioned a handscroll with the songs accompanied by 18 painted scenes.


Inspiration

Poet and composer Cai Yan, more commonly known by her
courtesy name A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theo ...
"Wenji", was the daughter of a prominent
Eastern Han The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...
man of letters,
Cai Yong Cai Yong (Chinese: ; 132–192), courtesy name Bojie, was Chinese astronomer, calligrapher, historian, mathematician, musician, politician, and writer of the Eastern Han dynasty. He was well-versed in calligraphy, music, mathematics and astrono ...
. The family resided in Yu Prefecture, Chenliu Commandery, in what is now eastern
Henan Province Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...
. Cai Wenji was born shortly before 178 CE, and was married at the age of sixteen according to the
East Asian age reckoning Countries in the East Asian cultural sphere (China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, and their diasporas) have traditionally used specific methods of reckoning a person's numerical age based not on their birthday but the calendar year, and what age one is ...
(corresponding to the age of 15 in Western reckoning) to Wei Zhongdao in 192 CE. Zhongdao died soon after the wedding, without any offspring. 194–195 CE brought
Xiongnu The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, the supreme leader after 20 ...
nomads into the Chinese capital and
Cai Wenji Cai Yan ( 178 – post 206; or 170–215; or died  249), courtesy name Wenji, was a Chinese composer, poet, and writer who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. She was the daughter of Cai Yong. Her courtesy name was original ...
was taken, along with other hostages, into the frontier. During her captivity, she became the wife of the Zuoxianwang ('Leftside Virtuous King' or 'Wise King of the Left'), and bore him two sons. It was not until twelve years later that
Cao Cao Cao Cao () (; 155 – 15 March 220), courtesy name Mengde (), was a Chinese statesman, warlord and poet. He was the penultimate grand chancellor of the Eastern Han dynasty, and he amassed immense power in the dynasty's final years. As one o ...
, the Chancellor of Han, ransomed her in the name of her father, who had already died before her capture. When Cai Wenji returned to her homeland, she left her children behind in the frontier.


Composition

A number of poems have been written to immortalize
Cai Wenji Cai Yan ( 178 – post 206; or 170–215; or died  249), courtesy name Wenji, was a Chinese composer, poet, and writer who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. She was the daughter of Cai Yong. Her courtesy name was original ...
's life story including her own. Liu Shang (c. AD 770), wrote a poem about
Cai Wenji Cai Yan ( 178 – post 206; or 170–215; or died  249), courtesy name Wenji, was a Chinese composer, poet, and writer who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. She was the daughter of Cai Yong. Her courtesy name was original ...
called ''Hujia Shiba Pai'' (胡笳十八拍; "Eighteen Songs on a
Nomad A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the po ...
Flute"). Liu Shang's poem accompanied by 18 scenes painted on a handscroll was commissioned by the first emperor of the
Emperor Gaozong of Song Emperor Gaozong of Song (12 June 1107 – 9 November 1187), personal name Zhao Gou, courtesy name Deji, was the tenth emperor of the Song dynasty and the first of the Southern Song period, ruling between 1127 and 1162 and retaining power as re ...
. Four fragments, presumed to be of the original, are in the
Boston Museum of Fine Arts The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works ...
, while the earliest complete copy, apparently from the fourteenth century and formerly in the C. C. Wang collection, resides in the
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
; these were published by the museum in 1974 in a book entitled ''Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute''.


Allegorical device

Chinese
allegorical As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory t ...
devices, as defined by
Erich Auerbach Erich Auerbach (November 9, 1892 – October 13, 1957) was a German philologist and comparative scholar and critic of literature. His best-known work is '' Mimesis: The Representation of Reality in Western Literature'', a history of represe ...
, are "something real and historical which announces something else that is also real and historical...the relation between the two events is related by an accord or similarity". There are obvious parallels between
Cai Wenji Cai Yan ( 178 – post 206; or 170–215; or died  249), courtesy name Wenji, was a Chinese composer, poet, and writer who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. She was the daughter of Cai Yong. Her courtesy name was original ...
's story and that of Gaozong's mother, the Empress Dowager Wei (韋太后), who was captured along with the rest of the imperial clan and held hostage in the north. She was not released until a peace treaty was concluded between the Song Dynasty and the
Jurchens Jurchen (Manchu: ''Jušen'', ; zh, 女真, ''Nǚzhēn'', ) is a term used to collectively describe a number of East Asian Tungusic-speaking peoples, descended from the Donghu people. They lived in the northeast of China, later known as Manch ...
in 1142.Hong Mai's Record of the Listener And Its Song Dynasty Context (S U N Y Series in Chinese Philosophy and Culture) by Alistair David Inglis (2006) p.26 Despite its allegorical development derived from
Cai Wenji Cai Yan ( 178 – post 206; or 170–215; or died  249), courtesy name Wenji, was a Chinese composer, poet, and writer who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. She was the daughter of Cai Yong. Her courtesy name was original ...
's story, her image today reverberates primarily with the feeling of sorrow.


See also

*
Chinese poetry Chinese poetry is poetry written, spoken, or chanted in the Chinese language. While this last term comprises Classical Chinese, Standard Chinese, Mandarin Chinese, Yue Chinese, and other historical and vernacular forms of the language, its poetry ...
* Han poetry *
Guqin The ''guqin'' (; ) is a plucked seven-string Chinese musical instrument. It has been played since ancient times, and has traditionally been favoured by scholars and Scholar-bureaucrats, literati as an instrument of great subtlety and refinemen ...
*
Music of China Music of China refers to the music of the Chinese people, which may be the music of the Han Chinese in the course of Chinese history as well as ethnic minorities in today's China. It also includes music produced by people of Chinese origin in som ...
*
Tang poetry Tang poetry () refers to poetry written in or around the time of or in the characteristic style of China's Tang dynasty, (June 18, 618 – June 4, 907, including the 690–705 reign of Wu Zetian) and/or follows a certain style, often considered ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eighteen Songs Of A Nomad Flute Chinese traditional music Tang dynasty poetry Chinese poetry collections Xiongnu Guqin