Ancient China · Legendary Musician

Kui 夔

Legendary antiquity

Passages: 1
Chapters: 1
Histories: 1

Overview

Kui was a Legendary Musician.

Life and dates

Attested activity

legendary antiquity
Directly stated · Book of Later Han 40, passage 167

Assessments and attributes

Assessment exemplar of ancient music, yet new airs keep arising · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · Book of Later Han 40, passage 167

References in the histories

Book of Later Han, Chapter 40Volume 35: Biographies of Zhang, Cao, Zheng · 1 passage

且樂非夔、襄，而新音代起，律謝臯、蘇，而制令亟易，修補舊文，獨何猜焉？ Music was never only Kui and Master Xiang, yet new airs keep coming; pitch was never only Gao and Su, yet scales and edicts change fast—why shrink from revising old texts?