让你头皮发麻的古琴曲《神人畅》This Ancient Guqin Piece Was Played to Summon Gods — It Still Gives You Chills

Shén Rén Chàng (Divine and Human Unimpeded)

The ancient qin piece Shén Rén Chàng is attributed to Emperor Yao, who composed it for the sacrifices to Heaven and Earth and to summon divine aid in taming the floods.

Xie Xiyi’s Qín Lùn (On the Qin), from the Six Dynasties period, records: “Yao played the qin, and a deity descended upon his chamber.” The Southern Dynasty’s Gǔ Jīn Yuè Lù (Records of Ancient and Modern Music) adds: “Yao offered sacrifice to Heaven and Earth. A voice spoke from the altar, saying, ‘The waters are rising to bring ruin. Send your son to save the people.’”

Before the Tang dynasty, only two qin pieces bore the character chàng (畅) in their titles. Shén Rén Chàng is one of them. Chàng means unimpeded — the sudden opening of a passage between gods and humans, between Heaven and Earth. And so this music came to be.

This piece is truly singular: it uses only five strings, yet its harmonics ring across all thirteen hui positions. The earliest surviving notation is found in the Ming dynasty anthology Xīlù Táng Qíntǒng (1549), compiled by Wang Zhi.

Years ago, we created a new arrangement of Shén Rén Chàng with dance. That version will appear onstage in What Is Qin: Zhan-Han · The Great Confluence.

This recording returns to a single qin and a pair of hands. It moves differently — more quietly. Perhaps it draws nearer to that ancient night when Yao played alone, and a god appeared in his chamber.

Based on the Xīlù Táng Qíntǒng, as interpreted by Gong Yi
Guqin: Bai Wuxia
Recording & Mixing: Tang Bin
Presented by Zi De Guqin Studio