Boyaziqi Legend
01 · Historical Records
The legend has a long history, going back more than two thousand years.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Boyaziqi legend is a folk legend about Yu Boya and Zhong Ziqi of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States period, current in Shishou city of Hubei, Haiyan county of Zhejiang, Lu'an city of Anhui and Tai'an city of Shandong and even in Japan, Korea, France and Germany. Within present-day Wuhan the Caidian and Hanyang districts are among the legend's core areas of circulation, radiating outward with Ma'an hill and the ancient Guqin Terrace as their centres. Yu Boya, a senior minister of the state of Jin, was sent on official business to the state of Chu and moored his boat at the mouth of the Han river to play his qin. The woodcutter Zhong Ziqi, sheltering there from the rain, heard the qin and cried out in praise. As it happened a string broke, and Boya, finding that someone was listening, invited Ziqi to talk over together the feeling of hearing and knowing the qin, and they became sworn friends. The next year Boya returned to the old place as agreed and, hearing that Ziqi had died, felt bitterly that the world held no more kindred spirit; he broke the strings and smashed the qin upon the sacrificial stone, vowing never to play again. The Boyaziqi legend is one of the most influential of our country's music-related legends, its main episodes unfolding around hearing the qin and recognizing a kindred spirit, playing the qin and meeting a kindred spirit, discussing the qin and becoming kindred spirits, and smashing the qin to mourn a kindred spirit. The geographical setting and place names described in the legend, such as Broken-Qin hill, agree with the geography of Hanyang county at the time, and the tomb of Zhong Ziqi and the Kindred-Spirit Pavilion and other historical remains survive, the ancient Guqin Terrace in particular providing historical testimony for the legend. The legend has a striking Chu-culture character and describes much of our country's guqin culture, displaying the musical achievements of the age when Chu culture flourished. The Boyaziqi legend has such varied forms of expression as historical materials, music, painting, xiqu, quyi, monographs and numerous ancient sites, which is truly uncommon among our country's folk legends.
Playing the Qin and Meeting a Kindred Spirit
The episode in which Boya moors his boat at the mouth of the Han river to play the qin and Ziqi shelters from the rain to listen.
Discussing the Qin and Becoming Kindred Spirits
Boya and Ziqi talk over the feeling of hearing and knowing the qin and become sworn friends.
Smashing the Qin to Mourn a Kindred Spirit
Ziqi having died, Boya breaks the strings and smashes the qin upon the sacrificial stone, vowing never to play again.
The Ancient Guqin Terrace, the Kindred-Spirit Pavilion and Zhong Ziqi's Tomb
The group of historical remains that corroborate the Boyaziqi legend.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Boyaziqi legend has evolved into a regional cultural symbol; within Wuhan the place names of the legend are still in use and many architectural remains survive, and most local people can recount its main content.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The Boyaziqi legend preserves the historical memory of pre-Qin culture, especially Chu culture, and involves much guqin technique and knowledge; the state of kindred spirits it expresses is one of the ideal states the Chinese have pursued steadfastly for a thousand years, expressing the ideal of harmony between man and nature and society and embodying the aesthetic feelings and ethical values of the Chinese nation, with relatively high historical, artistic, social and cultural value.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript; it mirrors the bilingual dossier. 阅读中文版，或返回 英文名录。