Nanci yinzheng 南詞引正

Nanci yinzheng 南詞引正 is a treatise on the Kun Opera (Kunqu 昆曲) written during the late Ming period 明 (1368-1644) by Wei Liangfu 魏良輔 (1522-c. 1586), courtesy name Shangquan 尚泉, from Yuzhang 豫章 (today's Nanchang 南昌, Jiangxi). He is known as the "father" of the Kun Opera.

Previously, it was known only that Wei had authored a book called Qulü 曲律, but the Nanci yinzheng was unknown. In 1960, Lu Gong 路工 (1920-1996), a book-surveying official of the Ministry of Culture (Wenhuabu 文化部), discovered the Nanci yinzheng in the second volume of the Zhenji rilu 真跡日錄, a Qing-era 清 (1644-1911) manuscript collection. This clarified that Wei's Qulü was actually an abridged version of the Nanci yinzheng. The version in the Zhenji rilu was transcribed from a manuscript by Wen Zhengming 文徵明 (1470-1559), titled Loujiang Shangquan Wei Liangfu Nanci yinzheng 婁江尚泉魏良輔南詞引正. At the end of this version is a postscript by Cao Hanzhai 曹含齋 from Jintan 金壇, written in 1547. While this afterword mentions 20 paragraphs, the transmitted version covers only 18 chapters.

This edition was obtained by Wu Xinlei 吳新雷 (b. 1933) in 1960 during a visit to Lu Gong in Beijing. He then submitted it to Qian Nanyang 錢南揚 (1899-1987) for collation and annotation, and it was published in the combined July–August 1961 issues of the Xijubao 戲劇報 (later included in Qian's Han shang huan wencun 漢上宦文存, Shanghai Wenyi Chubanshe 上海文藝出版社, 1980). Lu Gong's own punctuated edition is included in his Fangshu jianwen lu 訪書見聞錄 (Shanghai Guji Chubanshe 上海古籍出版社, 1985). Additionally, Wu Xinlei produced a collated version that corrects the omissions in both Qian's and Lu's editions; this version appears in his Zhongguo xiqu shi lun 中國戲曲史論, Jiangsu Jiaoyu Chubanshe 江蘇教育出版社, 1996).

Although the Nanci yinzheng is only slightly over a thousand characters long, it is extremely important because it preserves the original form of Wei Liangfu's manuscript. A comparison with the Qulü edition shows that the fifth and eighth chapters were omitted in the latter. The fifth chapter records the origin and development of Kunshan 昆山 tunes. It notes that the Southern Opera (Nanxi 南戲) had five major styles (shengqiong 聲腔), namely Kunshan, Haiyan 海鹽, Yuyao 余姚, Hangzhou 杭州, and Yiyang 弋陽, of which only the Kunshan style was deemed the orthodox one. The text states that the Kunshan style was founded by Gu Jian 顧堅 (fl. 1368) during the Yuan period 元 (1279-1368). He excelled in "bringing out the essence of southern tunes". This information provides unprecedented documentary evidence for the study of Kun Opera history, pushing the origin of the Kunshan style back to the Yuan era, two hundred years earlier than previously thought.

The eighth chapters records that Northern tunes include the Zhongzhou 中州 style of Henan and the Jizhou 冀州 style of Hebei, as well as the "lesser Jizhou style" (xiao Jizhou diao 小冀州調), the ancient Huangzhou style (gu Huangzhou diao 古黃州調), the "grinding tune" style (modiao 磨調), and the "string-and-rope tune" style (xianxuo diao 弦索調), and other styles. These styles are not found in any other historical sources, making this paragraph a highly valuable source of documentary evidence.

As for the other chapters, most are preserved in the Qulü edition. They primarily discuss Kunqu singing techniques, emphasising clear enunciation, pure tones, and correct rhythmic patterns, "singing according to the principles and meanings of each tune" (chang chu ge yang qu ming li qu 唱出各樣曲名理趣). They stress the five notes and four tones (wuyin sisheng 五音四聲), and the principle that "southern tunes must not mix northern styles, and northern tunes must not mix southern characters" (nanqu bu ke za beiqiong, beiqu bu ke za nanzi 南曲不可雜北腔，北曲不可雜南字).

Overall, the singing principles and methods proposed in Nanci yinzheng remain guiding standards for Kun Opera performers today, used for both learning and advanced study.