Chapter 393: Half-Translated, Half-Copied

Li Jingting is forty-nine this year, and Wan Fengyun is half a cycle older than him, exactly fifty-five.

Therefore, as the two looked at Lin Sicheng's face, they felt particularly moved: it was as if they were looking at a student from school, or a nephew from their own family?

Recalling the past, what were they doing when they were his age?

Subconsciously, their tone became increasingly gentle, and their attitude increasingly courteous.

Cheng Nianjia was still there, so Li Jingting did not bring up the matter of the work, only saying that Director Yan had personally arranged for Professor Wan to come over to see if she could help Lin Sicheng with anything.

But one who understands the strings knows the elegant intent; it was the same as when Yan Zhidong saw the manuscript and immediately knew what Lin Sicheng wanted to do.

Lin Sicheng likewise knew the subtext of Director Yan: the ox's body is already in, so a tail doesn't matter; since we are doing this, I will help you make the momentum bigger. This is a good thing, and Lin Sicheng agrees with both hands and feet.

He readily agreed, saying he would consult Li Jingting and Wan Fengyun at any time.

After all, this was the territory of the China Song and Dance Troupe, and it was not appropriate to steal the limelight; Li Jingting spoke very cryptically, but how could Cheng Nianjia not hear it?

Seeing that Lin Sicheng actually did not refuse, she was exceptionally curious: for just one Six Yao Score, could Lin Sicheng promise it to two parties?

Even a fool knows that things aren't done this way, not to mention that this kid in front of her is like a human spirit.

Just as she was pondering, with a "creak," the door was pushed open, and a crowd of several people swarmed in.

Just like Cheng Nianjia before, as soon as she entered the door, Liu Hao was stunned: she wasn't surprised that Li Jingting was there, but who was this?

Eh, Wan Fengyun?

After a brief thought, she guessed seven or eight out of ten: Director Yan's speed and boldness were not a bit slower than the old lady's.

They often collaborated and frequently participated in activities together, so the two sides were not strangers, and there was another round of pleasantries.

Afterwards, Liu Hao introduced another person to Lin Sicheng: Ren Zhuo, a director from the First Office of the Folk Music Troupe.

At first listen, he was just a director, with the same rank as Cheng Nianjia, but upon hearing the name, Lin Sicheng's eyelids twitched slightly: he had never met the person, but the name was like thunder to his ears.

He was a disciple of the late composer, music historian, and theorist, Mr. Fu Jingwei, who was the head of the Music Working Troupe of the Central Conservatory of Music and the deputy head of the Central National Orchestra.

Not to mention how amazing his teacher was, just look at him: after graduating from the Central Conservatory of Music, Ren Zhuo entered the China Song and Dance Troupe and participated in the creation of large-scale national musical dramas such as *Yishou Guo Pu*, *Yangyang Guofeng*, *Xingge Zuoyue*, and *Jiangshan Ruciduojiao*.

However, there were a bunch of people with more seniority and greater fame than him, so for more than ten years, Ren Zhuo remained in a state of obscurity.

It wasn't until 2010 that he resigned in anger and became an independent creator, and then, he became unstoppable.

In 2012, he composed the ancient-style symphony *Daya*, which won the Munich International Music Festival Silver Award (Classical).

In 2013, with the classical opera *Li Sao*, he won the Gewenmeier Zuoqu Dajiang (Classical) awarded by the University of Louisville in the United States. In 2015, the Chinese classical opera *Bi; Xing* he created won the Gold Award at the Domingo World Opera Competition.

In 2017, he won the Composition Grand Prize at the Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition, and in 2018, he won third place at the International Tchaikovsky Competition... It can be said that as long as it was related to classical opera and was a famous international comprehensive competition, he had almost won all the awards. Besides composing and dance drama directing, he was also an Expert in the field of translation and restoration of Han Dynasty and Tang Dynasty classical music and dance, specializing in the restoration of Tang Dynasty sitting-troupe music. When Lin Sicheng was gnawing on murals at the Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, he had even seen the draft of *Bi; Xing* that Ren Zhuo had left behind at the Artifact Research institute.

Therefore, this person's ability was not just ordinary; he was a true big shot.

Of course, it would still be a few years, and he was still not very famous now. But Editor-in-Chief Lan must have known his ability, otherwise, she wouldn't have passed over so many editors-in-chief and famous masters to invite a little director whose name she had barely heard.

Sure enough, after an introduction, Li Jingting and Wan Fengyun had no impression of Ren Zhuo.

However, their attitude was still okay; they did not look down on people through the crack of a door.

Liu Hao introduced the remaining few to Lin Sicheng.

One was a music director, relatively young, who must have just joined the troupe, saying she could help Lin Sicheng with chores, such as transcribing scores, checking materials, and so on.

Two were instrumentalists from the Folk Music Troupe; there was no ancient instrument they were not proficient in.

Liu Hao also mentioned that she had already helped contact the Folk Music Troupe; if Lin Sicheng needed a venue, or even more so, needed a large orchestra to test the music, it could be arranged at any time.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the two groups sat to the side.

Lin Sicheng arranged for Li Zhen and Fang Jin to prepare materials, including mural images, literature research, and so on.

They were all experts, and at a glance, they knew this was about deconstructing dance texts, such as tracing the origins of the subject matter, and restoring or reconstructing the rhythm and music. Having all seen the original score, most people tended toward reconstruction.

The high degree of incompleteness of the original score was one aspect, but the key was: the original score was Yanyue Banzi Pu, the predecessor of Gongche Notation, and this thing was not generally difficult to translate. But the difficulty was not the notation symbols, that is, the so-called "Yanyue Banzi"; this was not difficult: by comparing it with Japanese and Korean, at the very least, one could translate a third of it.

Moreover, there were many surviving documents; as of now, the deciphering rate of the Banzi characters had reached about seventy percent, much higher than that of dance notation characters. But translating Yan Music scores was not just about translating characters into Chinese characters and parsing the pronunciation; the key lay in the pitch, rhythm, technique, and even intonation. To put it bluntly: the inheritance was severely interrupted after the Song Dynasty, forming a cultural gap, and the key chain was missing in the middle.

For example: the "Seven Modes and Twenty-Eight Keys" recorded in the *Records of the Grand Historian*, *History of Liao*, and *History of Song*—as long as one was researching classical music, one basically understood the theory.

But if compared with actual score examples, one would find that they were like a donkey's lips not matching a horse's mouth; nothing matched: the seven-tone scale recorded in the literature was a five-tone + altered tone scale in the surviving music scores.

The *Records of the Grand Historian* recorded twenty-eight keys and eighty-four pitches, but in actual score examples, most only had nineteen keys, and the highest was no more than twenty-one. There was also the pitch: the literature recorded the pitch as Tang Huangzhong (G key), but the actual score was Dalu (A4).

The most critical point: the adaptability of rhythm to dance. If one translated directly according to the rhythm of the original score, all the ancient actors would have to be equipped with motors.

Therefore, whether in the historical or literary circles, it was suspected that the "Twenty-Eight Keys" of the Sui and Tang Dynasties were actually an ideal model. They only existed in literature, and their actual application was very rare.

Therefore, the current translation of ancient scores generally followed the method of speculative restoration: one did not have to blindly seek the ancient, nor did one pursue the restoration of the original appearance, but rather made appropriate adaptations.

And most of the time, this "appropriate" was over ninety percent.

How did that saying go? What is suitable is the best!

Therefore, so-called ancient score restoration was actually not much different from re-construction and re-choreography.

It was also because of this that these few were not just ordinarily curious: they wanted to see what kind of piece Lin Sicheng could compose that would be worthy of the name *Six Yao*.

The initial work was just that; besides checking materials, it was checking materials, dry and boring.

After taking a rough look and feeling it was meaningless, the group chatted in low voices.

They were all in dance and music, so the topic naturally could not leave this category. After saying a few words, they talked about the twenty-four dance posture diagrams that Lin Sicheng had translated. Li Jingting flipped through the manuscript: "Using this as a core, expanding it into a classical dance work is definitely no problem. The accompaniment is actually not difficult; it's just for a corporate comfort performance, just pick a segment from existing soft-waist style ancient dance music, and it's a masterpiece."

Why, are you in a hurry?

Liu Hao smiled but didn't smile: "What if Little Lin wants to win an award?"

"Then it must be re-composed!" Li Jingting said without hesitation, "It is best to base it on the original score, focusing on analysis and construction. Whether it is the movement system or the musical structure, it must contain a considerable proportion of the core intervals from the original score... If you can do this, whether it is the Wenhua Award or the Lotus Award, you can take it as you please..."

After a slight pause, Li Jingting made a joke: "Believe it or not, by then, they won't even want to give you a silver award?"

Suddenly, Liu Hao couldn't laugh.

She understood the logic, of course, only because this was *Six Yao*.

But it was very, very difficult: just the pentatonic scale deformation alone could make arrangers who were already good enough to be called composers, like Wan Fengyun and Ren Zhuo, worry until they tore their hair out. "It doesn't necessarily have to be a major music award!" Ren Zhuo flipped through the manuscript, "Can other major awards work?"

Everyone was stunned for a moment: this was classical dance music; if you didn't win a music award, what other award could you win?

Immediately, Wan Fengyun's eyes lit up, staring at the page Ren Zhuo had flipped to: Tang Dynasty Dance Notation Character Comparison (Pending)?

Huh, don't say that?

The late music historian, music theorist, authority on ancient scores, professor at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, and Consultant to the Chinese Music History Society and the Chinese Music Theory Society, Mr. Chen Yingshi, once won two awards: the Second Prize for Outstanding Achievements in Humanities and Social Sciences in National Universities, and the First Prize for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Culture.

Especially the second one; that is a bona fide National Level scientific research award, the kind that is at the very top. And what Professor Chen relied on was "Dunhuang Yuepu Jieyi Bianzheng".

Because Professor Chen's research breakthrough: it broke the awkward situation where the "Dunhuang Dance Scores", which were originally only used as dance music, could only be listened to after being translated but could not be used to accompany dance, and it realized the mutual verification of dance and music.

To put it simply: Professor Chen slowed down the tempo of the original scores, so actors don't need to be fitted with motors to perform them.

It can be called a milestone breakthrough. If one were to compare, relying solely on this still-uncertain score character comparison table, it seems it is still far off? But they are all experts; they can fully deduce from Lin Sicheng's twenty-four dance posture diagrams that the accuracy of this table is at least over eighty percent. And the original deciphering rate of the dance score characters was less than forty percent. A sudden doubling is also considered a milestone breakthrough. The key lies in the fact that it is a unique copy like "Six Yao Score", which has left its name in history and has become a lost masterpiece.

It doesn't need to be many, but if he can decipher just one or two more, Lin Sicheng could completely publish a book: "Ancient Lost Dance Music Interpretation and Verification". The key is, this kid really has them in his hands...

Thinking of this, Li Jingting's eyes lit up, and he let out a "Huh": he finally knew why Director Yan was so certain that as long as Lin Sicheng was willing, he could definitely help the academy win a major award.

Not just him, but also Liu Hao, and Ren Zhuo.

Only now did they understand Lin Sicheng's intention: having already had the song and dance troupe fully cooperate, why let Beijing Dance Academy participate as well? This kid not only wants to win an award, but he wants to win a National Level scientific research award.

It turns out that from beginning to end, he never intended to get any music-related art awards; he was just using them as compensation for the cooperation with the song and dance troupe and Beijing Dance Academy. Tsk tsk, this ambition is big enough, isn't it?

Liu Hao pondered for a moment: "How high is the possibility?"

"It depends on to what extent he can restore the 'Six Yao Score', and it also depends on whether there are breakthrough contributions, whether key difficult problems are solved... Otherwise, relying solely on one 'Six Yao', it might not be enough!"

Ren Zhuo thought for a moment, "It would be best if he could restore another similar work, one that is not inferior to 'Six Yao' in terms of both popularity and influence..."

Popularity and influence not inferior to "Six Yao"?

Liu Hao tried hard to think: "Yuyi Nishang?"

Wan Fengyun was stunned for a moment and sighed: "Editor-in-Chief Liu really knows how to joke!"

Although "Six Yao" has been lost, there are many Cultural Relics remains, just like these stone carvings, murals, and documents that Lin Sicheng has researched.

There are even some dance diagrams passed down.

But "Yuyi Nishang" has truly become a lost echo...

Huh, no, that's not right, without "Yuyi Nishang", will others work?

Suddenly, Cheng Nianjia remembered the first time she met Lin Sicheng: Group Leader Cheng, if you help Brother Jing choreograph a dance, I will give you three lost ancient scores: "Six Yao", "Yizhou", "Liangzhou"...

The reason "Yuyi Nishang" is famous is only because it is the music of a fallen nation, written about too much by poets, spread too widely, and too famous. While "Yizhou" and "Liangzhou" are clearly recorded in documents as the core banquet music of the secondary and sitting troupes among the seven troupes of the Tang Dynasty. The former was only performed during imperial banquets and receptions of foreign guests, while the latter was only performed during the New Year's Day Grand Court and when offering sacrifices to heaven and earth.

For these two types, their value is not limited to music and art, but is also reflected in the levels of ancient ritual systems and the integration of ethnic regions.

Of course, the premise is that Lin Sicheng can restore them.

Not many people know that Lin Sicheng also has the "Yizhou" score and "Liangzhou" score, so Cheng Nianjia did not dare to speak recklessly.

Several people gathered together again to discuss the possibility of whether Lin Sicheng could win an award and how big an award he could win.

Just as they were chatting, a "Zheng" sound rang out.

A group of people subconsciously turned their heads and were all stunned in unison:

Lin Sicheng was sitting upright on a chair, wearing artificial nails on his fingers, holding a... Pipa in his arms?

They were not surprised at all that Lin Sicheng could do this: how could someone engaged in classical dance music research not know how to play an instrument?

It was merely a question of whether he played well or not.

What they found strange were the two music stands in front of Lin Sicheng: one on the left with a staff notation sheet pasted on it.

One on the right with a blank score sheet pasted on it.

The key lay in this staff notation sheet on the left.

Walking closer to take a look, several people were stunned in unison: Dunhuang Musical Scores: "Urgent Tune", translated by Chen Yingshi.

They were just talking about Chen Yingshi and the Dunhuang Musical Scores, and Lin Sicheng had dug out another translated score by Chen Yingshi.

What is he trying to do, copying?

But that's impossible.

The average rhythm of "Urgent Tune" is 0.3 seconds per beat; if this piece is used to accompany a dance, fitting an actor with a motor wouldn't be enough, they would need to be fitted with a full-power engine...