The real name of "Pure Heart Universal Good Mantra" is "Pu'an Mantra", which was composed by Zen Master Pu'an. Pu'an Mantra and Qin Music

The score of Pu'an Mantra is on the piano Very common. From the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty to the early Republic of China, more than 40 collections of guqin music scores were published. Because some musical scores are either titled "Shi Tan Zhang" or "Pu'an Curse", and the formats of the scores are also different. This caused a lot of suspicion among people. Are they different songs with the same name? Same song but different name? Or a different name? In fact, the "Shi Tan Zhang" or "Pu'an Mantra" in most collections of qin music are derived from Zen Master Pu'an's mantras, and they are qin songs that can accompany the mantras. In the process of nearly 400 years of transmission, successive generations of qin players have either refined, shortened or modified the qin, thus evolving into three types of Pu'an Curse qin music today: 21 sections of "Shitan Zhang" that can be accompanied by chanting of incantations; It can be accompanied by the thirteen-section "Pu'an Curse" that is chanted and sung; as well as the purely instrumental music "Pu'an Curse".

There is a concept that needs to be clarified here: the title of the Qin music "Shi Tan Zhang" is derived from the original title of Zen Master Pu'an's mantra: "Pu'an Dade Zen Master Shi Tan Zhang", so most of the piano scores are based on this For the name. As for the appendix that often appears on piano scores: "Pu'an Mantra", it should refer to the content of the music, that is, the appendix is ??the mantra of Zen Master Pu'an. There is not another song titled "Pu'an Curse".

Pu'an Cursed Qin Music in the Ming Dynasty

A collection of Pu'an Cursed Qin Music published in the Ming Dynasty is shown in Table 3. It can be observed from 〖Table 3〗:

1. Most of the music played in the Ming Dynasty were named "Shi Tan Zhang" and were accompanied by incantations. Among them, only "Song Xian Guan Qin Pu" is titled "Pu'an Curse", and the Qin Pu and Ci Curse are divided into categories. In addition, "Tao's Qinpu" is titled "Xitan Zhang", which is actually the sound transposition of "Shi Tan Zhang".

2. Regardless of whether there are marked paragraphs or not, each score completely conforms to the structure of Zen Master Pu'an's mantra; that is, the Buddha's head, the beginning of the mantra, the first chapter, the second chapter, the third chapter and the Buddha's tail. The incantation can be subdivided into two parts: the beginning of the curse and the body of the curse - the tail; each chapter is divided into six sections, the first five sections are the combination of the body and the tail, and the sixth section is the repetition of the body and the tail. It should be noted here that a unique ending section connects the incantation and each chapter.

In order to have a thorough understanding of the origin of Pu'an's cursing music, it is necessary to conduct a detailed analysis of several original music scores from the Wanli to Tianqi years of the Ming Dynasty. Here we select the music scores published in six collections of "Three Religions Tongsheng", "Yangchuntang Qinpu", "Songxianguan Qinpu", "Taiyin Xisheng", "Bo Ya Xinfa" and "Lingli Yuanya" The musical score of Pu'an Curse is divided into sections according to the structure of the mantra. Table 4 is compiled based on the main playing methods of each section and the range of the tones. In addition, the music themes of the main sections are made into "Notation 3", "Notation 4" and "Notation 5". (Unless otherwise noted, the guqin score book based on this article is based on the "Collection of Guqin Music".) Through unified comparison and comparison, the following points can be found:

1. Starting the curse and each chapter The music in this section is very similar in melody and rhythm. (〖Music 3〗Take the body of the curse, the ending and the turn around in the first chapter as examples) The difference between each spectrum is only in the application of fingering and the difference in picking up the notes. Among them, "Three Religions Tongsheng", "Yangchuntang Qinpu" and "Songxianguan Qinpu" have little change between paragraphs, and most of them are repeated. "Tai Yin Xi Sheng", "Bo Ya Xin Fa" and "Rational Yuan Ya" have obvious differences in the interweaving of overtones and the movement of notes between each section.

2. The music of Buddha Head (Music Score Four) obviously has two different melodies: "Three Religions Tongsheng", "Yangchuntang Music Score", and "Songxianguan Music Score" are One group, "Taiyin Xisheng", "Bo Ya Xinfa", "Rational Yuanya" form another group. The fingering techniques in the first group are mainly hook and tick, while the fingering techniques in the second group are all ensembles.

3. The last part of the Buddha's part is "Part Five". The melody of "Bo Ya Xin Fa" and "Rational Yuan Ya" are basically the same, while the ending sentence of "Tai Yin Xi Sheng" is the same as the first two scores. As for the other scores, there are no similarities. In terms of fingering, "Three Religions Tongsheng" mainly uses hook and tick. The first half of "Yangchuntang Qinpu" is an ensemble, and the second half is changed to overtones; the other scores are all overtones.

4. Observe according to the rigor and systematicness of each spectrum: As time goes by, spectrum patterns change from simple to complex; from loose to rigorous; from casual to deliberate. From this we can see that the above-mentioned genealogies are inherited and developed according to two systems.

System 1: "Three Religions Tongsheng"..."Yangchuntang Music Score"..."Songxianguan Music Score"

System 2: "Taiyin Xisheng"..."Bo "Ya Xin Fa"... "Rational Yuan Ya"

There were also several qin scores published in Pu'an mantra music during this period: "Yexian Qin Pu" is exactly the same as "Bo Ya Xin Fa". "Tao's Qinpu" is also the same as "Bo Ya Xin Fa" except for some slight differences in the tail of the Buddha. These three spectra can be regarded as the same. In "Guyin Zhengzong", except for the melody of Buddha's Head, which is based on System 1, its main part is based on System 2. In particular, the tail of the Buddha is completely the same as the "Bo Ya Heart Method". This is undoubtedly the beginning of the integration of the two systems.

"Three Religions in Tongsheng" and "Taiyin Xisheng" Qin music "Shitanzhang"

"Three Religions in Tongsheng" was written by Zheng Bangfu in the Renchen year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (A.D. 1592). It is said that Zhang Dexin, the compiler, "is very good at playing the piano, and anyone who can recite and chant satire can wear it on silk." This affirms Zhang Dexin's ability to use the piano to accompany the lyrics. The "Ming De Yin" and "Kong Jing Jing" published in the same music score, and the Qin Ge with the same words were published in "Revisiting the Zhenzhuan Qin Music Book" written by Yang Biaozheng (Wanli Yiyou Year, 1585 AD), titled "University Chapters". The words of the two songs are exactly the same, but the piano accompaniment is different. As for the other song "Qingjing Sutra", it is not found in other piano scores. From this point of view, it is very likely that these pieces of music were composed by Zhang Dexin. As emphasized in the preface, "If you want to unite the three religions with one voice, what is your ambition?" Zhang Dexin purposefully selected the representative texts of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism to put them on the qin to make it known to the world.

"Taiyin Xisheng" was published in the fifth year of Qi tomorrow (AD 1625) and was compiled by Chen Dabin of Qiantang. Chen Dabin studied under the late Zhejiang school Li Shuinan (from Deqing, Zhejiang) and played the piano for more than 50 years. Because Chen Dabin was a poor scholar, "Taiyin Xisheng" was funded and printed by a group of gentry, and it was written in his later years. 〖Note 7〗 This is the reason why the "Shi Tan Zhang" published in "Bo Ya Xin Fa" compiled and printed by Yang Luan in the Jiyou year of Wanli Ming Dynasty (1609 AD) came out later than it.

According to the title explanation written by Chen Dabin in front of the score of "Shi Tan Zhang": "This music was composed by Li Shuinan. It did not have this rhythm at first. It was followed by the worship of virtue, Xizhou Lu Xuanjun, a good Buddhist monk, and Shuinan composed the music according to the rhythm. , has not been passed down to the world. It has not been long since the Wanli Wuyin disaster, so it can be widely spread. "Wanli Wuyin is 1578 AD, so Li Shuinan should have written "Shi Tan Zhang" before. Li Shuinan is good at composing music, and has other works such as "Hearing the Bell on a Clear Night", "Rain on the Cangjiang River", etc. (according to the "Catalog of Songs Transmitted by Sages" in "Taiyin Xisheng"). In addition, "Taiyin Xisheng" also published "Jingye Tan Xuan" written by Li Shuinan. This is a perfunctory creation based on Taoist scriptures. According to its title, it was created in the Bingchen year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty (AD 1556). It can be seen from this that Li Shuinan should have been active during the Jiajing and Wanli years of the Ming Dynasty.

It seems that the theory that Li Shuinan composed "Shi Tan Zhang" is also credible, and the song may have been composed earlier than Zhang Dexin. Is there any inheritance relationship between this? Comparing the two scores, the obvious difference between the Buddha's head and the Buddha's tail is no longer trivial; although the main part of the music is similar, the details are very different. Especially in terms of musical notation, Zhang Dexin's musical score, which may have appeared later, is more original than Li Shuinan's musical score. There is no question of who inherits whom. It is believed that these two pieces of music were created independently, in isolation from each other.

Another question arises here: why has the Pu'an Mantra been recited for nearly 400 years before the inspiration to use the piano to accompany the mantra suddenly appeared in the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty, and caused many qin players to compete? Teaching? Are there some external factors?

Some people may say that this is the rise of Buddhism in the Ming Dynasty, which gave rise to the trend of using sutras and mantras to enter the harp. However, according to the existing collection of musical scores from the Ming Dynasty, it seems that apart from Pu'an Curse Music, the only Buddhist musical compositions related to the musical instrument are the "Heart Sutra" in Taiyin Xisheng. On the contrary, there are more musical instruments and Confucian and Taoist classics. In the preface of "Three Religions Tongsheng", Zhang Dexin mentioned his doubts when he used the piano to accompany the Pu'an mantra: "I am a Confucian and a Taoist, and I have been accustomed to the piano for a long time. Talking about the score of the chapter does not violate the original purpose." This should be the concept of ordinary qin players or scholars at that time. This also proves that Zhang Dexin first tried to use Buddhist mantras to enter the piano in order to "unify the three teachings with the same voice".

As for Li Shuinan's writing of "Shi Tan Zhang", it was not out of his own intention. The explanation of the title of "Taiyin Xisheng" states: "The following is due to Chongde Xizhou Lu Xuanjun, a good Buddhist monk, who ordered Shuinan to compose the sounds according to the law, but it has not been passed down to the world." He was entrusted by others to compose the Pu'an mantra in On the piano, I didn’t pay much attention to it afterwards. Instead, it was learned by Chen Dabin and then spread.

Fujian Nanyin "Pu'an Curse" and Pu'an Curse Music

Speaking of 'external factors', we must revisit the Fujian Nanyin "Pu'an Curse" discussed in Chapter 1 Curse>. Try putting the two "Shi Tan Zhang" music scores of "Three Religions in Tongsheng" and "Taiyin Xisheng" together with the score of Fujian Nanyin's "Pu'an Curse" together [Music Six]. Their melodies are so similar. It can be said that they are Pretty consistent.

Although we do not know the exact age when the Fujian Nanyin "Pu'an Curse" was produced, we can be sure that its appearance must be earlier than the Pu'an Curse music from the following points:

1. The Buddha head and tail of Fujian Nanyin's "Pu'an Curse" have no musical accompaniment, and the musical structure is more primitive than that of Pu'an Curse music.

2. The title and text of the Fujian Nanyin "Pu'an Curse" are directly imitated in the form of the temple's sutras and mantras.

3. The musical material of Fujian Nanyin's "Pu'an Curse" is directly derived from Nanyin's "Zibei" rolling door.

This also means that from another perspective, the main music of Pu'an Curse Qin music comes from Fujian Nanyin; while the music of Buddha's head and Buddha's tail were added later by the Qin player. It is because of this that two systems of Pu'an mantra music appeared in the Ming Dynasty: namely, Zhang Dexin's "Three Religions Tongsheng" (Shi Tan Zhang) system and Li Shuinan's "Tai Yin Xi Sheng" (Shi Tan Zhang) system. >system.

The situation at that time was probably as follows:

1. Chongde Xi Zhou Lu Xuanjun had heard the Fujian Nanyin "Pu'an Curse", so he commissioned Li Shuinan to play it on the piano. Li Shuinan is from Zhejiang, neighboring Fujian. He should be no stranger to Nanyin, so he directly absorbed the Fujian Nanyin "Pu'an Curse" and composed it into a piano piece "Shi Tan Zhang".

2. Zhang Dexin is from Xin'an and belongs to Anhui, a little far from Fujian. However, Zheng Bangfu, who prefaced "Three Religions in Tongsheng", was the deputy envoy of the Fujian Ancha Department at that time; and Zhang Daming, the editor of "Yangchuntang Qinpu" who directly inherited "Three Religions in Tongsheng" (Shitanzhang), was from a family in Jianxi, Fujian; does this mean that Zhang Dexin was probably active in Fujian at that time and came into contact with Nanyin? Therefore, when he wanted to compose "Three Religions in Tongsheng", it was natural for him to compose the Qin music "Shi Tan Zhang" based on Fujian Nanyin's "Pu'an Curse".

Summary

At this point, we can make a simple conclusion about the enjoyment of Zen Master Pu'an's mantra: As mentioned in the preface, during long-term recitation of Zen Master Pu'an's mantra, Because of its smooth sound and regular rhythm, it is very beautiful and may form a melody. However, it is very difficult to transform a mantra chanting into a fixed music, especially instrumental music. According to Hu Yao's "Buddhism and Musical Art" (Tianjin People's Publishing House): "The chanting tone of "Pu'an Mantra" is different in different temples. It can be roughly divided into two streams: North and South: the northern school is represented by Mount Wutai in Shanxi; The southern style is represented by Tianning Temple in Changzhou, Jiangsu. The tone and rhythm of the two are quite different." This is a good explanation.

Pu’an Zen Master’s incantation began in the Southern Song Dynasty and has been circulating for nearly four hundred years. It was not until the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty that Pu’an’s incantation music appeared. The first one that appeared was "Pu'an Curse" in Fujian Nanyin. This was chosen by a thoughtful person because of its regular structure, and was composed with the Nanyin "Zibei" rolling door music. The motive was to add a new piece of music with Buddhist content to coincide with the Hokkien Nanyin performance held on the Buddha's birthday in the temple. Later, this song became popular at that time and formed the finger sleeve.

Fujian Nanyin is an elegant and simple music genre. Its "Pu'an Curse" makes people feel more solemn and solemn, which has influenced qin players to follow suit, playing on silk tung and composing music on qin. superior. Thus came the creations of Zhang Dexin and Li Shuinan. The motive was also religious: Zhang Dexin chose it for qin to compose "Three Religions with the Same Sound"; Li Shuinan was entrusted by Lu Xuanjun, who was fond of Buddhism and Taoism, to compose it for qin.

Later, due to the geographical environment at that time, the transmission system of "Three Religions Tongsheng", "Yangchuntang Qinpu", "Songxianguan Qinpu" was formed; as well as "Taiyin Xisheng", "Bo Yaxin" Another systematic transmission of teachings "Fa" and "Rational Yuan Ya". This situation lasted from Wanli to the late Ming Dynasty, and the two systems began to merge. It was not until the early Qing Dynasty that unified Pu'an cursing music appeared.