(b 1378; d 1448). Chinese musician and theorist. Born the 17th son of Zhu Yuanzhang, founder of the Ming dynasty, Zhu Quan was a prince of many talents and interests. In Chinese music history he is remembered as the author of two most important documents, the Shenqi mipu (Wondrous and secret notation, preface 1425), and the Taihe zhengyin pu (Song register of great harmony and accurate tones, preface 1398). Two music dramas by Zhu have also been preserved.
The Shenqi mipu is the earliest known extant anthology of qin music. In addition to the notated music of 64 qin compositions from the Song, Yuan, Ming and earlier dynasties, the preface describes how Zhu Quan spent 12 years compiling the document, collecting ancient scores, selecting music from a repertory of over 1000 pieces, and writing informative programme notes about individual works. Zhu himself is thought to be the composer of Qiuhong (‘Autumn Geese’), an extensive piece that appears at the end of the anthology.
The Taihe zhengyin pu lists 678 titles of Yuan and early Ming dramas and the names of their authors, classifies 335 labelled melodies (qupai) of ‘northern arias’ (beiqu) into 12 modally defined groups, illustrates phrase and linguistic-tone schemes of the arias, and provides a miscellany of notes on musicians and singing techniques.
See also Qin; China, §II, 5 and IV, 1(i) and IV, 4(ii)(a).
D.R. Jonker: ‘Chu Ch’üan’, Dictionary of Ming Biography, ed. L. C. Goodrich (New York, 1976), 305–7
G. Goormaghtigh and B. Yung: ‘Preface of Shenqi Mipu: Translation with Commentary’, ACMR Reports, x/1 (1997), 1–13
B. Yung: Celestial Airs of Antiquity: Music of the Seven-String Zither of China (Madison, WI, 1997)
JOSEPH S.C. LAM