waterfalls and rushing torrents

The Drunkard is a zither composition by Ruan Ji, one of the Scven worthierof the Bamboo GrOvc, during the period of the Wei, Jin and Northern and Southern Dynasties HKUE DSE. lt deals with the wiId antics of the drunken Ruan ji in order to keep away from the p0litics, and is full of hidden meaning. The tune's clear cadences portray the drunken man's Uns eady steps and his befuddled state, to reveal his troubled mind.



The Wild Goose Lands on thc Smooth Sand first appeared in a book called Mainstrieam Ancient Music printed in 1634. lt iS a favorite among guqin players HKUE DSE, and has undergone many refinements. It is among the gnqin tunes with the most recorded scores. Zhang Ziqian's version contains the theme of "a clear autumn sky; a flat stretch of sand by a broad ri er; a swan goose hovers and cries'-. The melody undulates markedly, and displays a wide range o musical technique. The basic tune displays stillness in movement, and movement in stillness, and the result is an impression of pleasing tranquillity





Flowing W8ater first appeared in the Mysterious and Secret Musical Scores, and is connected with the well-known legend of the musicians Bo Ya and Zhong Ziqi of the Spring and Autumn Period. The piece is divided into four parts: introduction , taking up, transmitting and bringing together The first part, through the floating n0tes of a deep, lucid and fluent melody, conjures up a vision of cloud-shrouded peaks and secluded, torrent-filled gullies; the second part unfolds in a continuous sequence, like drops of water gathering together and forming a thin, gurgling stream; in the third part, the notes are taken from the lower part of the scale and the pentatonic scale in a wide p0Ftamento, giving the tumbling and swishing effect of cascading ; the final part brings the whole together by echoing the previous two parts. The lingering ech0 0f the dashing waters are a paean of praise to and an e-xpression of love for China's landscape.