Transcendental whistling
Donald Holzman says xiao "has a distracting range of meanings, clustered around the basic idea of 'producing sound through puckered lips', from the lion's roar to a man's whistling, passing through vocalization, chanting or wailing.
[7] Explanatory translations are more meaningful to English readers; the commonly used "transcendental whistling" was coined by Victor Mair[8][9] and adopted by other authors (e.g., and many famous whistlers were xian "transcendents").
The earliest usages in the Western Zhou dynasty (1046–771 BCE) Shijing "Classic of Poetry" described the sound of women expressing high emotion or grief.
The Warring States period (c. 475 – 221 BCE) Chuci "Songs of the South" used xiao and changxiao to mean a piercing whistle or call to summon back the spirit or a recently deceased person.
The (1st century BCE) Liexian Zhuan "Collected Biographies of Transcendents" first associated transcendental whistling with Daoism, as represented by the Madman of Chu who mocked Confucius.
For example, the Hou Hanshu (82)[14] biography of Xu Deng 徐登 mentions his companion Zhao Bing 趙柄 whistling to call up wind.
"In general, poets, hermits, and people of all types in the Six Dynasties utilized whistling to express a sense of untrammeled individual freedom, or an attitude of disobedience to authority or traditional ceremony, or to dispel suppressed feelings and indignation.
Since the ancient, lyrical language of the Shijing can be difficult to interpret, the English translations of James Legge,[18] Arthur Waley,[19] and Bernhard Karlgren[20] are cited.
The Lienu zhuan "Biographies of Exemplary Women" has a story about a secretly wise "Girl from Qishi 漆室 in Lu" (modern Zoucheng, Shandong).
Qin basket-work, silk cords of Qi, and silken banners of Zheng: All things are there proper for your recall; and with long-drawn, piercing cries they summon the wandering soul [永嘯呼些].
[37] Liu An's (c. 139 BCE) Huainanzi "Masters of Huainan", which is a compendium of writings from various schools of Chinese philosophy, has two xiao "howl; wail; moan" usages, which clearly exclude "whistle".
Sui, whose courtesy name was Zi'an 子安, was a native of Boma 白馬 in the Eastern Commandery 東郡 (present day Hua County, Henan).
[48] Should he then Imitate gong and drum, or mime clay vessels and gourds; here is a mass of sound like many instruments playing – Like reed pipe and flute of bamboo [xiao 簫] – Bumping boulders trembling, An horrendous crashing, smashing, breaking.
First, the hagiography of the Han dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE) fangshi Liu Gen 劉根 says he saved himself from punishment by changxiao whistling to summon the prosecutor's family ghosts who insisted on his freedom.
Shi Qi, stricken with fear and remorse, knocked his head until it ran blood and begged to take the punishment for his crime himself Liu Gen remained silent and made no reply.
[54] The (5th century) Shishuo Xinyu version of this whistling story about Ruan Ji visiting the unnamed Sun Deng, referred to as the zhenren "perfected person" in the Sumen Mountains 蘇門山.
Chi rehearsed for him briefly matters from antiquity to the present, beginning with an exposition of the Way of Mystical Quiescence [玄寂] of the Yellow Emperor and Shen Nung, and ending with an investigation of the excellence of the Supreme Virtue [盛德] of the Three Ages (Hsia, Shang, and Chou).
First, the (4th century) Wei Shi Chunqiu 魏氏春秋 version says, Juan Chi often went riding alone wherever his fancy led him, not following the roads or byways, to the point where carriage tracks would go no farther, and always he would return weeping bitterly.
When Juan Chi heard of him he went to see him and began conversing on the Way of Non-action [無為] of high antiquity, and went on to discuss the moral principles [義] of the Five Emperors and Three August Ones.
Chi had all his life been a connoisseur of music, and he borrowed the theme of his discussion with the Master of Su-men to express what was in his heart in a song, the words of which are: "The sun sets west of Mt.
"[57] Second, the Zhulin Qixian Lun 竹林七賢論,[58] by Dai Kui 戴逵 (d. 396) explains, "After Juan Chi returned (from the Su-men Mountains) he proceeded to compose the "Discourse on Mr. Great Man" [大人先生論].
[63] The anonymous (c. 8th century) Xiaozhi 嘯旨 "Principles of Whistling" is included in several collections of Tang dynasty literature, such as the Tangdai congshu 唐代叢書.
Laozi transmitted it to Queen Mother of the West, she to the Perfected Person of the South Polar Star 南極真人 [controller of human longevity], he to Guangchengzi, he to the wind god Feng Bo, and he to Xiaofu 嘯夫 Father of Whistling.
Shun transmitted whistling to Yu the Great, after whom the art declined until it was revived by the Jin dynasty (266–420) Daoist transcendent Sun Gong 孫公 of Mt.
Section 1 "First Principles" tells how to practice whistling, for instance, "regulate the respiration, correct the relative positions of lips and teeth, compose the sides of the mouth, relax the tongue, practise in some retired spot."
Victor Mair, who translated "Whistling" into English, says An old legend of the celebrated encounter between the two men has Ruan Ji visiting Sun Deng in his hermitage but not receiving any responses to his questions.
[13] "Whistling" tells how the famous poet Ruan Ji regularly came to visit the aged hermit Sun Deng on Su Gate Mountain 蘇門山 in present-day Henan, and play games of weiqi go.
Shielding his eyes from the strong light with one hand, he saw Ruan Ji standing on the peak of Su Gate Mountain beneath a solitary tree.
Sun Deng looked all around him, then quietly inserted his thumb and forefinger in his mouth—the extreme frailness of his body and the looseness of his teeth caused him to be unable to produce any sound.
It was like the sad wail of the poet who died long ago, penetrating through the barriers of time, continuing up till today, and sinking into the easily awakened dreams of a living person.
