Page 56 - 2020 December 1 Bonhams Hong Kong, Eternal Music in Chinese art

The present lot is remarkable for its association with Zhu Houjue 銘文：
(1506-1550), King Gong of Hui, who was a notable patron of the 琴背：寒泉
arts and guqin music in particular. Underneath the instrument, to the 龍池納音右：嘉靖癸巳春
left and right of the ‘dragon pool’ sound box, in archaic seal-script 龍池納音左：徽府造
calligraphy is inscribed, ‘Jiajing kuisi nian’, and Hui fu zao, ‘Made by 龍池下方兩方印：中嵩子印；英廟玄孫
the Princely House of Hui, in the Kuisi year of Jiajing, corresponding to
1533.
亞額式，水晶徽，硬木岳山、龍齦、軫足，髹黑漆，琴面發流水斷及
Patronising and practicing music, particularly the guqin, was 少量梅花斷，琴腹發牛毛斷，琴腹陰刻填漆行書「寒泉」二字，龍池
synonymous to governing and rule. As Craig Clunas noted, ‘music was 納音左右硃砂書金文八字，右為：「嘉靖癸巳春」，左為：「徽府
understood by all Ming intellectuals to be central to the right ordering 造」。
of the state and the world, and so work on pitch can be seen as
heavily implicated in what we might at its broadest reach describe as 銘文字體為硃砂書金文字體，十分少見。嘉靖癸巳年，即十二年，公
power’; see C.Clunas, Screen of Kings: Royal Art and Power in Ming 元1533年。徽府即徽王府，時徽恭王朱厚爝（1506－1550）在位，
China, London, 2013, p.182. 厚爝為明英宗曾孫，英廟玄孫即是厚爝之子，徽悼王朱載埨（1526
－1556），此琴製作年代為1533年，時載埨僅七歳，由此可知此琴為
Zhu Houjue (1506-1550) was originally enfeoffed as Prince of Anyi (in 厚爝時所製，後由載埨加刻印文。
southwest Shanxi). In 1526 his enfeoffment was transferred to Junzhou
(now Yuzhou in Henan) and he was bestowed with the title King of 明代藩王多有嗜琴者，常見有寧王，衡王，益王和潞王，潞王造琴最
Gong Hui. He was a particular admirer of the guqin and he compiled 多，益王次之，寧王和衡王較少，而徽王琴目前所見僅此一床。嘉靖
the Feng xuan xuan pin, ‘Classical and Civilizing Guqin Music’ (1539), 帝篤信道教，同輩藩王附和者眾，兩代徽王皆因攀附皇帝身邊道士得
the first such text to be annotated with illustrations of performance 以敕封真人名號。徽王封地在河南鈞州，靠近中嶽嵩山，中嵩子之道
techniques. Zhu Houjue’s own preface notes: 號應與此地理有關。徽王嗜琴以致聲名不佳，《明史》有載：「厚爝
好琴，斲琴者與知州陳吉交惡，厚爝庇之，劾吉，逮詔獄。都御史駱
I collected tablature from all the schools and examined them. Some 昂、御史王三聘白吉冤。帝怒，並逮之，昂杖死，三聘、吉俱戍邊。
had mistakes in the tablature so the text was confused; in others 議者不直厚爝。」此事後來延禍，竟致徽悼王身死國除，沈德符在《
the text was wrong so the tablature did not make sense [...]. So I 萬曆野獲篇》中評到「以一琴細故，餘殃再世，覆磐石之宗，埨雖有
consulted specialists to make cross references and examine the 罪得禍，亦不應至此，哀哉！」 徽恭王雖然嗜琴毀譽，但是於琴學頗
editions so that the music and text would fit [...]. 有造詣，於嘉靖十八年（1539）編纂刊行《風宣玄品》，實琴學之一
大貢獻，所採琴曲多首仍然廣為流傳彈奏。
The book was therefore a collation of the current qin pieces of that
day. The original book was printed on very high quality paper and cut 此琴目測短窄，然絃距離標準，按走輕鬆，音色鬆透、洪亮，不類一
finely. It is still an important reference for guqin tablature and essays on 般明琴。亞額式頗為少見，並非明琴主流式樣。宋明兩代崇儒，故琴
the instrument. 式多以仲尼式居多，此琴為亞額式，或與徽王府崇尚道教有關，用於
道教儀式或未可知。目前所見最早記載亞額式的琴譜為正德年間袁均
Such was the King’s enthusiasm for the guqin and guqin makers that 哲《太音大全集》，書中記載此式因琴額似「亞」字，故稱亞額。見
Shen Defu, a late Ming writer deeply interested in the Imperial clan, 袁均哲編，《太音大全集》，卷二，北京，1961，頁12。公私收藏亞
notes that the King came into conflict with the prefect Chen Ji over 額式古琴可參考旅順博物館藏一件無名琴，見《中國古琴珍萃》，北
an unnamed guqin maker he favoured. In the end the Jiajing emperor 京，1998年，編號103，頁213。
had the officials punished, causing some to think badly of Zhu Houjue.
See C.Clunas, Screen of Kings: Royal Art and Power in Ming China,
London, 2013, p.181.

Aside from the royal connection, the present guqin is also rare for its
unique shape, known as the ‘Ya’e style’. At present, the earliest record
for this style of guqin is from the Zhengde period ‘Taiyin daquan ji’ by
Yuan Junzhe. The book notes that the name derives from the unusual
shape of the instrument which resembles the character ya (亞).
Compare with a related ‘Ya’e’ style guqin in the Lushun Museum,
Dalian, illustrated in Zhongguo guqin zhen cui, Beijing, 1998, p.213,
no.103.

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