Autumn Water (秋水, Qiu Shui , Guqin, 古琴) is also known as  Shenhua Yin 《神化引》 (“Becoming an Immortal” or “Metamorphosis”).  The melody is based on Zhuang Zi’s story of dreaming he was a butterfly and questioning whether he was dreaming of the butterfly, or was the butterfly dreaming of him. This piece has a feeling of emptiness and transcendance of emotion. It is what is called ‘dan’ or tasteless, plain, pure, without embelishment and captures the moment when one becomes a celestial being, removed from worldly pleasures and desires.
古琴曲《秋水》, 取《庄子》篇名，又叫《神化引》，借庄周迷梦蝴蝶的典故，表现道家天人合一的哲学思想。飘逸虚渺的音韵，给人以洒脱尘滓之感。

Length: 8’09”

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Download MP3 of Autumn Water (秋水, Qiu Shui, Guqin, 古琴)

Autumn Water (秋水, Qiu Shui, Guqin, 古琴) MP3 download link (right click, save link as)：Autumn Water (秋水, Qiu Shui, Guqin, 古琴) MP3

《庄子.秋水》 秋水时至，百川灌河；泾流之大，两涘渚崖之间不辩牛马。于是焉河伯欣然自喜，以天下之美为尽在己。顺流而东行，至于北海，东面而视，不见水端。于是焉河伯始旋其面目，望洋向若而叹曰：“野语有之曰，‘闻道百，以为莫己若’者，我之谓也。且夫我尝闻少仲尼之闻而轻伯夷之义者，始吾弗信；今我睹子之难穷也，吾非至于子之门则殆矣，吾长见笑于大方之家。”　　北海若曰：“井鼃不可以语于海者，拘于虚也；夏虫不可以语于冰者，笃于时也；曲士不可以语于道者，束于教也。今尔出于崖涘，观于大海，乃知尔丑，尔将可与语大理矣。天下之水，莫大于海，万川归之，不知何时止而不盈；尾闾泄之，不知何时已而不虚；春秋不变，水旱不知。此其过江河之流，不可为量数。而吾未尝以此自多者，自以比形于天地而受气于阴阳，吾在于天地之间，犹小石小木之在大山也。方存乎见少，又奚以自多！计四海之在天地之间也，不似礨空之在大泽乎？计中国之在海内，不似稊米之在大仓乎？号物之数谓之万，人处一焉；人卒九州，谷食之所生，舟车之所通，人处一焉；此其比万物也，不似豪末之在于马体乎？五帝之所连，三王之所争，仁人之所忧，任士之所劳，尽此矣！伯夷辞之以为名，仲尼语之以为博，此其自多也；不似尔向之自多于水乎？”

 

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