Dapu (Realisation) 

 

 

“Jianzipu 打譜 is a kind of tablature in which only the fingering and string but not pitch and rhythm are notated, allowing thus the performer to freely interpret not only the latter but also other elements such as tempo and dynamics of the piece. As a matter of fact, traditional qin scores serve only as a reminder to the performer. It is not a detailed set of notes that exist for sight-reading, but one that leaves much room for the performer's own creativity. 

There exist, however, scores which have not been played for a long time. It is, therefore, essential that learned qin scholars research on these scores, annotate and interpret them by providing not only help such as in fingering, tonality, phrasing, rhythm and tempo, but also an understanding for the music. This effort is known as dapu, or realisation. Through this effort scores that exist merely as notations can be turned into those that can be performed.

 

The whole repertory of qin music consists of approximately 150 compilations, which altogether contain some 3,000 works. Excluding duplications and different names for the same works, the number is reduced drastically to around 600 only. Of these, about a hundred are playable nowadays. These include works which were realised through the dapu process over the past 50 years.” (Chan Hing Yan)