Three Variations On the Plum (梅花三弄, Mei  Hua  San Nong,  Guqin, 古琴)  made  its earliest appearance in the handbook Shen Qi Mi Pu（神奇秘譜）(preface dated 1425).  Also called Mei-Hua-Yin（梅花引）or Yu-Fei-Yin（玉妃引.  It was originally a flute piece composed by Huan Yi（桓伊）who lived during the Eastern Jin dynasty (317-420).  As the story goes,  Huan Yi  played this tune for Wang Huizhi（王徽之）, who was the son of the great  calligrapher Wang Xizhi（王羲之）(307-365),  when they happened to meet on the road. During the Tang dynasty (618-907), Yan Shigu（颜師古）rearranged it as a piece for the guqin.

Length: 7’12”

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Download MP3 of Three Variations On the Plum  (梅花三弄,  Mei Hua San Nong,  Guqin, 古琴)

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梅花三弄：古琴曲。又名《梅花引》、《玉妃引》，是中国传统艺术中表现梅花的佳作。《神奇秘谱》记载此曲最早是东晋桓伊所奏的笛曲。

桓伊还是一位出色的音乐家。《晋书》中称他“善音乐，尽一时之妙，为江左第一。”桓伊尤擅长吹笛，有一次，王徽之（我国著名书法家王羲之的儿子）在路上偶而遇见桓伊，因久慕桓伊大名，便请他吹奏一曲。桓伊为人谦逊，当时虽已显贵，两人又素不相识，仍下车为王徽之吹奏了一支曲子，这首乐曲据传就是著名的《梅花三弄》。到了唐代，相传琴人颜师古将《梅花三弄》改编为同名琴曲，从此这首乐曲便在古琴音乐中保存下来。

琴曲《梅花三弄》全曲表现了梅花洁白，傲雪凌霜的高尚品性，并借物咏怀，通过梅花的洁白、芬芳和耐寒等特征，来赞颂具有高尚节操的人。
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