One piece of guqin music can look quite different on the page. This score of Yu Qiao Wen Da (“Dialogue Between the Fisherman and the Woodcutter”) shows the same passage in three notation systems used in guqin learning and performance.
At the top is numbered notation, widely used in China and known as jianpu. Numbers 1–7 represent scale degrees, corresponding to do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, and si. Dots indicate higher or lower octaves, while lines and other markings show duration. A marking such as “1=C” provides the pitch reference. This system became widespread in China in the modern era.
In the middle is jianzipu, the guqin’s reduced-character notation, whose origins are generally traced to the Tang dynasty. Its symbols tell the player which string to use, where to press, and which finger technique to apply. They can also describe movements after a string is plucked, allowing the sound to glide or gently fluctuate.
Earlier guqin scores described these actions in full written sentences. Jieshi Diao You Lan, introduced in our article on You Lan, preserves this older prose notation.
Below is staff notation, familiar to many Western readers. The positions of notes, together with clefs and other markings, indicate pitch; note values show duration.
Why place them together? Staff and numbered notation help you follow the melody and rhythm. Jianzipu shows how the hands produce the sounds.
Three ways of writing, each offering a different entrance into the same music.
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