今夕復何夕，共此燈燭光
“Oh, what night is this, that we come together to share the radiance of these candles?”
— Du Fu, Tang Poet
Invitation and Gathering Highlights – Recorded by Peiyou Chang
Date : 11/23/2024
Time: 1:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Location: Weehawken NJ
Attendance:
- Stephen Dydo 戴德 (NYQS 2nd President 紐約琴社第二任社長)
- John Thompson 唐世璋 (NYQS 3rd President 紐約琴社第三任社長)
- Jung Ping Yuan 袁中平 (Founding President of NYQS and the Chinese Guqin Association 紐約琴社及台灣中華古琴學會創社社長)
- Sarah Chen 陳麗如 (Secretary-General of the Chinese Guqin Association 中華古琴學會常務理事兼秘書長)
- Mingmei Yip 葉明媚 (Senior guqin musician and professor who teaches guqin at the China Institute and offers Chinese music classes at Bard College. 資深琴人, 教授古琴於華美協進社, 巴德音樂學院講師)
- Peiyou Chang 張培幼 (Current NYQS 4th President 紐約琴社現任, 第四任社長)
- Jane Long (Studying general surgery residency at University of Rochester Medical Center; Peiyou’s guqin student)
- Gary Yeh (Jane’s boyfriend)
- Hongmei Zhang 張紅梅 (Has learned guqin with Peiyou and has collaborated in singing qin songs with John and Peiyou’s qin playing)
- Su Guang 蘇光 (Hongmei’s spouse and a concert producer/event planner. During the yaji, Mr. Su assisted with the tea service and brought several prize-winning Chinese teas )
- Suzanne G Smith (Spouse of John and the wonderful host)
- Stephen B (Spouse of Peiyou)
- Hao Yang (a PhD candidate in Ethnomusicology at the CUNY Graduate Center, is a filmmaker and a friend of John )
- Dean Francis 郭德安 (From China, attended Mingmei’s guqin class at the China Institute)
- Nick Ma (A young Chinese friend of John and Suzanne)
- Brent Bianchi (Librarian for South & Southeast Asian Studies of Yale Library, friend of John)
The program began with self-introductions
Beginning with John, followed by Hao Yang, Jane and Gary, Sarah, Dydo, Jung Ping, Mingmei, Peiyou, Dean, Mr. Su, and Hongmei.
Music
1, John Thompson 唐世璋 – A combination of the Tea Song (茶歌) and Wind Mad ( 酒狂). Photo courtesy of Peiyou.
2, Yuan Jung Ping 袁中平 – Fishermen Song (漁歌), Misty Clouds Over the Xiao and Xiang River (瀟湘水雲). Photo courtesy of Peiyou.
3. Mingmei Yip 葉明媚 – Bubble Tea Fantasy (珍珠奶茶) ; Plunging into the mundane world (跌落江湖). Photo courtesy of Mingmei.
4, Stephen Dydo 戴德 – Heart Sutra (心經). Photo courtesy of Jung Ping.
5. Sarah Chen 陳麗如 – Spring Water Over Rocks (石上流泉). Photo courtesy of Peiyou.
6，Peiyou Chang 張培幼 – Ode to Mountain Dwelling (山居吟) dapu from SQMP (1425). Photo courtesy of Mingmei. In front of the qin is the hand-copied, brush-written qin tablature by Peiyou.
Refreshment
Macaron – bought by Dean Francis.
Italian dissert – bought by Jane Long and Gary Yeh.
Chinese tea and mung bean cake (綠豆糕), salted egg yolk mooncake.(蛋黃酥) – bought by Hongmei and Mr. Su.
Hand made Baguette – Stephen B.
Mingmei and others also bought something.
Dinner
Chinese food for dinner was ordered by Suzanne from Soo Chow Garden in Cliffside Park, NJ, and picked up by her and Stephen B while the yaji was still ongoing. The restaurant was quite far, so many thanks to them for their efforts.
After meal
Everyone chatted freely. Jung Ping is very playful and knows how to liven up the atmosphere. He brought a bottle of tequila (龍舌蘭酒), and many enjoyed the drink. Meanwhile, Sarah ground tea into thick ink, allowing Jung Ping to improvise calligraphy and dedicate his works to John and Stephen Dydo.
Around 6 pm, it got dark quickly. Mingmei had to leave, and Dean kindly offered her a ride. Peiyou and Stephen decided to join them to Manhattan and return to the hotel where they were staying. Saturday evening traffic in Manhattan was terrible, but by the time Dean returned to John’s place, many were still having fun. According to Hongmei, after Mr. Su drove Jung Ping and Sarah back to Manhattan and then to their home in NJ, it was already 11 pm.
This was a rare and valuable yaji. Looking back at the many guqin gatherings hosted by the New York Qin Society under John and Suzanne’s warm hospitality over the past 20 years, we see that, as time passes and circumstances change, opportunities for everyone to gather together have become increasingly rare. The beautiful sound of the guqin will continue to resonate, and we cherish every opportunity to come together in this shared tradition. All the records of the yaji will become a treasured part of the NYQS.
The Invitation
Dear Friends,
This Saturday, 11/23, we will host an in-person yaji at John Thompson’s home in Weehawken, NJ, starting at 1:00 pm. The NYQS founding president, Mr. Yuan Jung Ping, the 2nd president, Mr. Stephen Dydo, the 3rd president, Mr. John Thompson, and the 4th president, Mrs. Peiyou Chang, will gather with friends to share guqin music and engaging discussions.
Please RSVP and bring some refreshments to share. If you need directions to the location, feel free to let us know.
Thank you, and warm regards,
Peiyou Chang
親愛的朋友們，
本週六（11月23日），我們將在紐澤西州 Weehawken 唐世璋先生 家中舉行一場面對面的古琴雅集，時間是下午1點開始。屆時，紐約琴社創社社長袁中平先生、第二任社長 戴德 先生、第三任社長 唐世璋 先生，以及第四任社長 張培幼 女士 將與朋友們共聚一堂分享古琴音樂與對話。
請務必回覆是否參加，並攜帶一些茶點與大家分享。如果您需要前往雅集地點的指引，請隨時告訴我們。
感謝並致上誠摯問候，
張培幼
Feedback
From Mingmei: Dear Peiyou and all, Thank you for writing this report! The yaji was wonderfully hosted by John and Suzanne, it was also so nice to have Jung ping back like during old times. As we grow old /older, we treasure these in person gatherings more and more 人生難(不）相見，動如參與商，今夕復何夕，共此燈燭光！(As life scatters us far and wide, like the morning and evening stars fated never/ or difficult to meet; Oh, what night is this, that we come together to share the radiance of these candles?) Mingmei
From Dean: Hi Peiyou, This is such a wonderful write-up! Do you mind if I share the post on my XiaoHongShu account? Thanks, Dean
From Peiyou: After reading Mingmei’s feedback, I decided to use the last two phrases from Du Fu’s poem as the title of this yaji.
From Marilyn: Dear Peiyou 張培幼 and Qin Friends,
This is a wonderful report on the NYQS website about a rare and wonderful gathering. It was historic and is a marvelous ending to 2024 and your presidency. Thank you for letting us be there in spirit: for all the photographs and also for identifying the presidents, members and guest participants who attended in the group photo. We appreciated also the Pot Luck menu, and Mingmei for the shots of the dishes ordered from the outside. Lastly, did anyone manage to take a video of the performances, as well?
Since the calligraphy was not too clear in the photos, could you kindly write out and translate what Jung ping wrote for John and Dydo?
Also could you post your calligraphy of Ode to Mountain Dwelling (山居吟), your dapu from SQMP (1425)? In the photo, it looks like a rubbing (white writing on black)– did you write it in white ink (?) on black paper? We always appreciate whatever calligraphy you’ve been posting on your Facebook page, thank you !!
With warmest good wishes of the Season,
Marilyn 王妙蓮
Response from Peiyou: Thank you Marilyn for your feedback. I have added a description of JP’s calligraphy for John and Stephen to the site, along with two images: my hand-copied “Shanju Yin 山居吟” tablature and Stephen’s Heart Sutra 心經 notation. Please take a look again.
For my “Shanju Yin 山居吟,” I used gold ink on blue xuan paper. The golden ink was challenging to control—it doesn’t hold evenly in the brush hairs—so writing on blue xuan paper required more effort compared to using regular black ink on white xuan paper.
Mr. Hao Yang recorded the yaji. Perhaps we should check with John for more details about it. Sincerely Peiyou
From Stephen: What a wonderful gathering! Our greatest joy was to have Jung-ping here in great spirits and excellent health. And to relive our many wonderful in-person yajis, so many of which were held in John and Suzanne’s gracious hospitality, was something we have longed for over so many years. I hope this is not the last time we do this. Maybe our next one could be in Taipei!Regarding the calligraphy: First of all, Ms Chen (Sarah) was not doing anything unusual with the ink, just adding tea (brewed) to the stone as she ground the ink. Then the choice of characters for the Xin Jing scroll followed a discussion. J-P asked me what were the four most
important characters in the sutra, and I immediately said “
波羅蜜多”, Prajnaparamita or Perfection of Wisdom; this is not only the title of the sutra but also the syllables which receive unusual attention in the version I played. But J-P countered with “心無罣礙”, and I couldn’t agree more. Removing attachments is indeed the heart of the Heart Sutra! In fact, the beginning of Xin Jing, positing that form and emptiness are neither the same nor are they different, sets us up with a kind of koan which is resolved by removing all attachments. I look forward to mounting the calligraphy and finding a prime spot by my qin table.
We will carry the joy and wisdom of this gathering for a long time!
I also want to add that it was a special treat to see Mingmei again. She taught me everything I know about Xin Jing!
Many thanks to all,
Stephen Dydo