Chapter 27 Translated by Zheng/The Law Scholar Who Redefined the Eighty-Four Tune

Zheng Yi (540-591), a musician from the end of the Southern and Northern Dynasties to the beginning of the Sui Dynasty.word justice.Kaifeng (now Henan) people.During the reign of Emperor Xuan of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, he served as a doctor of internal history and was granted the title of Duke Pei.When Yang Jian (later Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty) took power in the Northern Zhou Dynasty, he served as the chief minister of Shangzhu State and Xiangfu.After the Sui Dynasty unified China, he served as governor of Longzhou and governor of Qizhou. The Southern and Northern Dynasties was a period of turmoil and the so-called "decay of rites and music". The court music was already quite chaotic.After Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty unified China, he hoped to formulate the elegant music of the Sui Dynasty.Yan Zhitui suggested referring to the elegant music of the Liang Dynasty to determine Sui music, but Gaozu refused, saying: "The music of the Liang Dynasty is the sound of a subjugated country, why should I use it?" So he called Zheng Yi, Niu Hong, He Tuo and others to discuss A matter of joy.

Zhengle's affairs were discussed and discussed, but they could not be settled. Gaozu was furious and said, "I have been mandated by heaven for seven years, and Yuefu still sings about the merits and virtues of previous generations?" So the relevant officials should be punished.Zheng Yi said that among the seven tones of Gong, Shang, Jiao, Zheng, Yu, Biangong, and Bianzheng used by Yuefu, three of them are inconsistent, but there has been no solution.Later, I met Su Zhipo, a Kucha musician who accompanied the Turkic empress to the Zhou Dynasty. He was a master at playing the Kucha pipa. He heard his playing, and there were seven notes in each. The law of the palace has obtained eighty-four tunes.

He Tuo, who was discussing music together at the time, was jealous of Zheng Yi and wanted to spoil the matter.He took advantage of Gao Zu's trust in him, and knew that "Gao Zu never liked learning, and he didn't know how to enjoy it", so he said that Zheng Yi's exam was wrong.He advocated only using the Gong tone and not the Seven tones, and even opposed the Xuan Gong, which is a very conservative point of view.At that time, some supported Zheng Yi and some supported He Tuo, but they could not reach a consensus. Therefore, it was agreed that the band should play according to the opinions of the two schools, and Emperor Wen of Sui Dynasty should decide.Before playing, He Tuo said to Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty: "In the melody, the yellow bell symbolizes the virtue of the king." With this preconceived understanding, when the band played in the tune of Huang Zhong, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty said: "This tune is full of momentum. It’s big, very elegant, and it suits me very well.” Since it was the emperor’s opinion, Zheng Yi and the others naturally had no choice but to adopt He Tuo’s opinion. Other tunes.

Until the Tang Dynasty, Zu Xiaosun, Zhang Wenshou and others proposed the theory of eighty-four tones, which was finally accepted by everyone, but in actual use, the eighty-four tones were not exhausted.