Page 114 - Christie's July 9th 2020 Hong Kong Important Chinese Works of Art

THE PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN
2863

AN IMPORTANT ‘HUOLIN’ CONFUCIUS- 南宋 仲尼式「獲麐」琴
STYLE LACQUERED QIN 來源
SOUTHERN SONG DYNASTY (1127-1279) 移雲齋
The qin is of Confucius type, gracefully waisted along two ends of 硯琴齋，1998年前入藏
the body, the upper surface gently convex and inlaid with thirteen 香港佳士得，2016年6月1日，拍品3136號
mother-of-pearl studs, hui. The underside has two rectangular
sound holes, termed as the ‘Dragon Pool’ and the smaller as 展覽
the ‘Phoenix Pond’. The name of the qin is inscribed above the 香港大學美術館，《古琴薈珍：硯琴齋宋元明清古琴展》，
‘Dragon Pool’, Huo lin, ‘The capture of lin’. Above the ‘Phoenix 1998年10月14日至12月5日，香港，編號12
Pond’ is carved a four-character seal mark, Jinshen Yuzhen, ‘The
sound of bronze and echo of jade’. The instrument strings are 著錄
threaded through seven tasselled tuning pegs, zhen. Each string is 《古琴薈珍：硯琴齋宋元明清古琴展》，香港，1998年，
arranged over the upper surface and tied to either of the two larger 頁88，圖錄編號12
pegs, yanzu, ‘Wild Geese Feet’. The lacquer surfaces are suffused 《中國古琴民間典藏》，北京，2013年，圖錄編號70
with fine burst ice cracks interspersed with ‘snake belly’ crackles.
44 ¬ in. (113.7 cm.) long 全長 113.7 cm.
有效弦長 106.2 cm.
HK$4,800,000-6,000,000 US$630,000-780,000 肩闊 16.8 cm.
尾闊 12.7 cm.
PROVENANCE
Yiyun Zhai 仲尼式，蚌徽，黑色間栗殼色漆。琴面渾圓，琴㡳微隆，通體皆現蛇腹，
Yanqin Zhai, acquired prior to 1998 牛毛和冰裂等斷紋。琴軫、嶽山、承露、焦尾、冠角和雁足等，皆為紫
Sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 1 June 2016, lot 3136 檀木所製。 琴底頸處刻有篆書 : 「獲麐」是為琴名，龍池下刻有一大方
粗邊篆印 : 「金聲玉振」，狀其聲也。
EXHIBITED
The University Museum and Art Gallery, The University of 此琴原為移雲齋之舊藏，幾經琴家輾轉割愛，或相互易琴，後歸硯琴齋。
Hong Kong, Gems of Ancient Chinese Zithers: Shum’s Collection of
Ancient Qin from the Last Millennium, Hong Kong, 14 October - 5 此琴比一般常見宋明琴略短，但其尺寸尤合南宋《楊祖雲琴製》之所記。
December 1998, no. 12 後世琴家因崇尚琴體寬長之制，此短小制式逐微。楊祖雲活躍於 1210
年前後，詳見《大音大全集》、《琴書大全》。此琴名「獲麐」。「麐」
LITERATURE 同「麟」，為麒麟雌獸。相傳，麒麟只於太平盛世或世有聖人時方才現
Gems of Ancient Chinese Zithers: Shum’s Collection of Ancient Qin 世。《漢書·武帝紀》謂：「元狩元年，冬十月，行幸雍，祠五畤，獲
from the Last Millennium, Hong Kong, 1998, p. 88, no. 12 白麟，作《白麟之歌》。」白麟降世被武帝視為祥瑞之兆，因而作歌詠嘆。
Catalogue of Chinese Ancient Qin in Private Collections, Beijing, 2013, 《史記》曾記載，魯哀公十四年春，叔孫氏於西狩捕獲一獸，以為不祥
Cat, no. 70 將之遺棄而死，孔子得知前往觀看，辨其為麟後落淚曰：「吾道窮矣」，
認為麒麟降世卻無人知曉，實世道不興、不幸也，並藉此聯想到自身的
In Confucian philosophy the practice of rituals and music, notably the
playing of the qin, are inextricably linked to the pursuit of lofty ideals 懷才不遇。傳世有《獲麟》琴曲，收錄於明朱權《神奇秘譜》，傳為孔
of a learned scholar. The form of the present qin is of Confucius style 子所作。曲分為六段：傷時、西狩、獲麟、長嘆、幽憤、絕筆，將事件
as characterised by its austere shape with simple straight sides, and 發生的過程及孔子感嘆悲憤的情緒以音樂完整又婉轉得表達出來。此琴
differs from a type known as Fuxi which is rounded on the side closest 名為「獲麐」，或許反映了某任琴主相仿的人生歷程。
to the tuning pegs. The style Fuxi was named after the mythological
king who was reputed to have made the first musical instrument from
the wutong tree. In most cases this type of instruments was given
poetic names as in this instance, Huo lin, ‘The capture of lin’. Lin is a
female qilin, which is a mythical animal purported to appear only during
the reign of a virtuous Emperor or the appearance of a Sage. According
to Book of Han, the Emperor Wu (r. 141BC-87BC) once captured a
white lin and composed a song to commemorate the event. The name
Huo lin, however, is associated with an event recorded in Records of
the Grand Historian, where a mysterious beast was captured but left
to die for it was regarded as inauspicious. Confucius later identified
the animal as lin, and expressed great sorrow over people’s inability in
recognising this virtuous animal, for it reflected the lack of discernment
amongst rulers and also pointed to his own lack of recognition in life. A
qin composition inspired by this event and titled Huo lin, is included in
Shenqi mipu, an anthology of ancient qin compositions compiled by Zhu
Quan of Ming dynasty, where it is recorded to have been composed by
Confucius himself. The name of the current qin may reflect the similar
life story of one of the previous owners, if not the original owner of this
instrument, a life punctuated by disappointment and lack of recognition,
as experienced by many of the literati in ancient China.

112