Object Literature
The Chinese province of Guizhou is famous for its excellent bamboo flutes which are a symbol of the Chinese scholar. Its sound was sacred and was traditionally said to be carried by one of the eight immortals called Han Xiangzi. Each flute is inscribed with a poem extolling the inspiring sound that it produces and of the beauty of the ‘Jade Lady’ who plays it:
‘Under the bright moonlight
to which family does this Jade Lady belong ?
playing a song under a quarter moon
the lofty thoughts of a scholar may match those of Sima Qian
the ancient flying tunes of a thousand years past
come alive in this Zhaoji studio’
Sima Qian was an ancient historian of the early Han dynasty (died 86 BC) and regarded as a paragon of scholarly virtues.