Last week, a musician played and sang Jiang Kui's "An Xiang" for me. It was the
first time I had heard that song played on the guitar and found it unbearably sad.
I think Jiang Kui would
have been surprised and delighted that an Italian musician, nearly a thousand
years after his time, played this timeless melody.
Some things can only be
understood firsthand. When I was young, I heard someone playing the slower
melody of "Lament in the Pavilion”. I liked it very much, so I enrolled in a
guqin class, but it was too far away. At that time in my life, I was stressed,
so I had to give it up. Perhaps only people
who move frequently can understand the travels in Jiang Kui's mid and later
life.
"But now your poet is getting old, and he has forgotten the love and
lyrics; yet, he still resents the few flowers beyond the bamboo, for their
chilling fragrance has crept into his chamber."