Taihe zhengyin pu 太和正音譜

Taihe zhengyin pu 太和正音譜 is a treatise on operatic airs (qu 曲) written during the early Ming period 明 (1368-1644) by Zhu Quan 朱權 (1378-1448), who was the sixteenth son of the dynastic founder, Emperor Taizu 明太祖 (r. 1368-1398), and Prince of Ning 寧, then of Nanchang 南昌.. He used the styles Quxian 臞仙, Hanxuzi 涵虛子 or Danqiu Xiansheng 丹丘先生. His posthumous title is Prince Xian of Ning 寧獻王. Apart from this book and the zither score collection Shenqi mipu 神奇秘譜, he wrote the agricultural treatise Quxian shenyin shu 臞仙神隱書 and the song collections Wutou jiyun 務頭集韻 and Qionglin yayun 瓊林雅韻, and composed the play Wenjun sibeng Xiangru 文君私奔相如.

The Taihe zhengyin pu, comprising 2 juan, was completed in 1398. It is divided into eight sections. The contents may be divided into two parts: dramatic theory and historical materials, and the musical notation of northern zaju 雜劇 drama. The first part comprises seven headings: "Forms of arias" (Yuefu tishi 樂府體式), "Formats of arias by worthies past and present" (Gujin yingxian yuefu geshi 古今英賢樂府格式), "The twelve categories of plays" (Zaju shi'er ke 雜劇十二科), "Plays compiled by distinguished figures" (Yingxiong suo bian zaju 群英所編雜劇), "Those skilled in song" (Shan ge zhi shi 善歌之士), "Modes and pitch systems" (Yinlü gongdiao 音律宮調), and "Essential knowledge of the lyric grove" (Cilin xuzhi 詞林須知). These sections address theatrical institutions, schools and lineages, methods of song composition, classifications of zaju themes, the origins and development of roles in early drama, and evaluations of playwrights from the Yuan period through the early Ming. They also include a catalogue of zaju plays.

In terms of vocal and musical theory, the work contains discussions of singing techniques, the characteristics of modal systems, the origins of songs, and fragmentary historical materials on singers of successive dynasties. The section titled Cilin xuzhi is largely based on the Changlun 唱論 by Yannan Zhi'an 燕南芝庵 (before 1341), but with additions and further elaboration by the author.

The second part of Taihe zhengyin pu presents musical notation organised according to the twelve modal systems (gongdiao 宮調) of northern airs (beiqu 北曲). For each tune pattern (qupai 曲牌), it classifies and presents the metrical and structural schemes of the verses, with detailed indications of the four tones and level–oblique patterns (ping ze 平仄), and with markings distinguishing principal and auxiliary lines. Each tune pattern is illustrated with examples drawn from zaju plays or sanqu 散曲 works by Yuan-period authors or early Ming playwrights. In total, 335 tune patterns are included.

The book records 187 dramatists from the Yuan period and 16 from the Ming, each accompanied by critical commentary. These evaluations reflect the author's aesthetic judgements while preserving important biographical information about major playwrights. The collection includes a large number of zaju play titles, with a total of 789 plays, demonstrating the great flourishing of the dramatic world. As the author was a towering figure in theatrical circles, his critical assessments of playwrights are of considerable value and have been highly regarded by later generations of drama theorists.

The earliest extant versions of Taihe zhengyin pu include a facsimile of the original print of the Hongwu-period 洪武 (1368-1398), once held by the Wang family of Changzhou 長洲汪氏 during the Qing period, and another facsimile of a Hongwu imprint formerly part of the collection of the Shen family of Shanyin 山陰沈氏. In addition, there are the Xiaoyupu 嘯余譜 edition compiled and printed by Cheng Mingshan 程明善 (fl. 1616), as well as the Daiyu Studio 黛玉軒 edition printed during the Chongzhen reign-period 崇禎 (1628-1644). The version included in the series Zhongguo gudian xiqu lunzhu jicheng 中國古典戲曲論著集成 (1959) was newly collated and reprinted on the basis of the earliest extant facsimile manuscript of the original Hongwu imprint preserved in the collection Hanfenlou miji 涵芬樓秘笈, and was further collated against the Xiaoyupu edition printed by the Liuyun Hall 流雲館 in the 1619, with detailed textual collation notes appended.