Through High Mountains Flowing Water Found the Friendship of Music 高山流水遇知音
During Mid-Autumn Festival one year, BoYa was on a diplomatic mission to the State of Chu on behalf of the king of Jin. While sailing along River Hanyang, he ran into a fierce storm. Unable to move forward, the stranded BoYa got ashore and waited out the storm in the nearby woods near Hankou (modern Wuhan).
At some point the rain stopped and the sky cleared. Silvery moon beams shone through the clouds and set a mood of serenity in the surroundings filled with the freshness of air cleansed by the rain. Inspired by the picturesque setting, BoYa took out his qugin and started playing in his boat.
Thoroughly immersed in the scenery and his melody, BoYa was startled out of his dreamy retreat when he noticed someone was hiding in the shadows. In his shock, he overused the strength of his finger and caused one of his guqin strings to snap.
Annoyed and embarrassed, he shouted out to the distant darkness and asked who was hiding in the shadows. To which someone replied, “Excuse me for being inappropriate, but I was stranded by the rain. I heard some beautiful music and was thoroughly absorbed by it.”
BoYa looked in the direction of the voice, and saw a man dressed like a woodcutter, with a hat over his head and straw rain cape over his body, standing in the shadows and holding onto a shoulder pole. Curious,
BoYa asked if he understood what he was playing. To which the woodcutter replied, “Please forgive my ignorance, as my music knowledge is quite limited. Just now I think you were playing Returning Gaze With Teary Eyes. You were at the fourth verse when the cord broke. I hope I guessed it right.” BoYa was pleasantly surprised that the woodcutter named the song correctly. Seeing that the woodcutter was polite and proper, he invited him onto his boat.
BoYa asked the woodcutter if he would be able to describe the songs he played. The woodcutter said, “Music comes from the inner soul. The sounds reverberating from the cords are a reflection of what you feel in your mind. A true listener, of course, would be able to pick it up.” Encouraged, BoYa replaced the broken cord. After a brief moment of settling silence, rolling sounds began to come out of his fingers. The woodcutter, upon listening to the music, sighed and said, “Sounds of towering peaks…like high mountains.” BoYa was slightly shocked, but decided not to respond but continue to play along. At some point, the woodcutter said, “Gently flowing sounds…like a running river.”
Overwhelmed with joy, BoYa stood and formally introduced himself: “Indeed I had high mountains in mind when I played the first song and running river in the second. You really understand my music. May I ask your name? ” The woodcutter told BoYa his name was Zhong ZiQi （鐘子期）.
To BoYa’s shock, ZiQi also happened to be a well known official in the royal court who grew weary of the corrupt society and decided to quit politics and lead the simple life of a woodcutter.
The two were overjoyed by this chance encounter and talked all night. From then on, they became good friends and often arranged to travel together.
The two friends cherished their friendship and wished they had met sooner. BoYa was especially delighted to have found someone who appreciated his music, often mentioning to him that life would have been extremely lonely without his music friend. The two tremendously enjoyed the time spent together and dreaded the moment they had to depart. As part of every farewell, they never failed to set the date for their next meeting.
Several years later, BoYa returned to the pre-arranged meeting place, looking forward to seeing his good friend again. To his horror, he learned that ZiQi had passed away some time ago. Devastated by the loss, BoYa came in front of his grave and howled. Exhausted from his grief, he took out his guqin and played the music they used to share. As the music slowly came through, he was overcome with anguish, realizing that there would no longer be another person in the world who would understand his music. And, without finishing the song, he pulled apart the cords and smashed the guqin in front of his grave, saying to himself, “Dear friend, your brother will never again play guqin.”
Since then, the sounds from BoYa’s guqin forever vanished from this world, leaving behind only the touching story of a friendship built upon the love of music. Over time, the phrase “high mountains flowing water” also evolved into a Chinese metaphor for enduring friendship. To commemorate their fabled encounter, a memorial called the Lute Platform (古琴台, also called BoYa Platform) was erected during the Song Dynasty where the two were believed to have first met near Hanyang (part of modern day Wuhan). The platform was ravaged multiple times, but was managed to be fully restored during the Qing Dynasty. It is nowadays one of the tourist highlights in the area.
The yearning for friends who truly understand each other and who one can share is not only a desire of past scholars which dissolved with the passage of time. The need for friends who mutually resonate each other’s feelings remains as strong in modern days, beneath the veneer of an over-abundance of online followers, ‘likes’ and apparent outpours of ready approvals.
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