New York Qin Society July Meeting Summary
Saturday July 17, 2010


From left to right: Peiyou, Marilyn, Yuni, Jung Ping, Matthew, Henry and Jason

On Saturday July 17, 2010, New York Qin Society members and guests convened a meeting on the occasion of a visit to New York by former founding President of NYQS Yuan Jung Ping. He had completed a qin workshop at Chung Dao Tang 中道堂 in upstate NY.

Those attending the meeting were:
Yuan Jung Ping
Yuni Han, guest
Marilyn Wong Gleysteen
Pei-you Chang
Judy Shih-hua Yeh, guest
Jason Ginsberg, guest
Matthew Flannery
Henry Chan

Preliminaries
At first we met from 3pm to 4pm at the Radiance Tea House on 55th street. Even though this seemed an attractive place to meet, it turned out to be an unfortunate choice for music because it was not a quiet place and the management has a policy not to allow any live music to be performed there. A last minute enquiry to the Asian department at the Metropolitan to perform in the garden was negative, but resulted in the consent of curator Mike Hearn to do so in the future, but to give him several months' notice so that he can mobilize appropriate staff.

After everyone had a few dumplings and discussed where else to meet, Henry invited us all to move to his photography studio in Washington Square. The studio is a workplace which on the weekend is quiet enough for playing and talking. Marilyn had attended the week-long workshop with Jung Ping at Chung Dao Tang and had to return early to Washington DC, so she spoke first by showing us the guqin she had acquired during her 2005 trip to Beijing. Her qin was given the name "Xuan Yun" (玄蘊 ) by a family friend and is related in meaning to her Chinese name ( 妙蓮). The calligraphy of two large characters and the dedication was written by a well-known Chinese connoisseur of antiquities Wang Shixiang who died in 2009 (王世襄) The calligraphy was then carved by the qin maker Wang Peng (王鵬 ) in Beijing before he sent it to Marilyn in Washington, DC. The Xuan Yun qin is in banana leaf style 蕉葉式 with gold flecked lacquer and artificially-induced cracks (斷文) which are said to improve the sound. At the workshop Jung Ping told us something about its construction and the special qualities of Wang Peng's construction methods.

Performance
Peiyou then tried out Marilyn's qin by performing Xiao Xiang Shui Yun 瀟湘水雲. She concluded that it felt good and enjoyed playing on it. Later Jung-ping took out a new qin which he said was made in Yangzhou 揚州 China. This qin is in Zheng He Style 正合式, one of the traditional styles that has a comparatively simple shape (simpler than Confucius style) so that even nowadays, it still looks modern, like the design of the modern piano.

Jung Ping played a piece that he had recently reconstructed dapu from Xi Lu Tang Qin Tong, the "Li Sao“ 離騷. This piece is in the qiliang mode 淒涼調 with a raised 2nd and 5ith string. Shihua then tried this qin by playing Ao Ai 欸乃. This qin is quite resonant with a loud sound quality that would be good in performance.

Discussion of Future Meetings in Taiwan
Jung ping was eager to talk about two meetings he was organizing. The first will take place in October of this year. It is an exhibition and performance by qin players who are also artists. On display will be art works by each artist, plus some antique qins.Then there will also be performances and talks by the artists. It will take place at the Taiwan Folk Arts Museum in Beitou 北投文物館.

The second meeting will be an international meeting that will take place sometime in the fall of 2011 (exact date to be announced). It will consist of a symposium of presented papers, an exhibition of antique qins, and qin performances. It will focus on Ming dynasty Guqin music, mainly Xi Lu Tang Qin Tong (XLTQT 西麓堂琴統). Jung Ping would like to mobilize members' interest and participation. He invites anyone who is interested to help in the organization, to attend and to publicize this meeting and to start preparing for it.

Dinner
At 7:30 the meeting was adjourned and everyone trooped over to the nearby Grand Szechuan Restaurant. Here the chef is an old friend of Jung Ping. The chef cooked a special feast for our table that was totally memorable and agreed upon as the best Sichuan food in the US. The dishes were cooked just for Jung Ping's table and cannot be found on the regular menu. The dinner ended at 9:30 pm.

Photos of the meeting (Photographer: Henry Chan)


Marilyn and her Xuan Yun Qin


Peiyou Plays Xiao Xian Shue Yun 瀟湘水雲


Shih-hua Plays Ao Ai 欸乃. This qin is in Zheng He Style 正合式


The "Li Sao“ 離騷 Notation from XLTQT 西麓堂琴統


Jung ping Plays "Li Sao“ 離騷

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