Pingsha Luoyan (Wild Geese Landing on Sand)

This piece first appeared in a manuscript of the late Ming Dynasty. One of the most widely played pieces of the last three hundred years, it exists in scores of notational versions. The version in the Tianwenge Qinpu (Tianwenge Qin Handbook) (1876) bears a note that suggests programmatic content: “The autumnal sky is high and the air is clear; the wind is calm and the sand is smooth; the clouds stretch for ten thousand miles; the wild geese fly freely in the sky, sharing the thoughts of this wanderer.” This recording is played based on Jiao’an Qinpu (Jiao’an Qin Handbook) (1868) and is played by Siu Yat-tung with his own made Zhongni Style Qin (silk strings).

Date 2013
Maker's Note In a twist of fate, I acquired two old wooden doors from my secondary school classmate. The doors came from his ancestral home in Zhongshan and were cut into twelve pieces. When knocked upon, the fragrant wood produces a crisp, ringing sound. The qin was 90% complete in mid-1996 before I left Hong Kong for a few years and finally finished in 2012.
People Siu Yat-tung
Material Type Audio
Collection The Legend of Silk and Wood: A Hong Kong Qin Story
Source Intangible Cultural Heritage Office and Hong Kong Heritage Museum
Repository Intangible Cultural Heritage Office
Note to Copyright Permission for use in Hong Kong Memory is given by Intangible Cultural Heritage Office and Hong Kong Heritage Museum
Accession No. lcs-hkqs-0219
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    This piece first appeared in a manuscript of the late Ming Dynasty. One of the most widely played pieces of the last three hundred years, it exists in scores of notational versions. The version in the Tianwenge Qinpu (Tianwenge Qin Handbook) (1876) bears a note that suggests programmatic content: “The autumnal sky is high and the air is clear; the wind is calm and the sand is smooth; the clouds stretch for ten thousand miles; the wild geese fly freely in the sky, sharing the thoughts of this wanderer.” This recording is played based on Jiao’an Qinpu (Jiao’an Qin Handbook) (1868) and is played by Siu Yat-tung with his own made Zhongni Style Qin (silk strings).