Ancient China · Musician and Writer

Music Master Kuang 師曠

Shi Kuang

Attested BC 558 - BC 532

Passages: 5
Chapters: 5
Histories: 3

Overview

Music Master Kuang was a Musician and Writer.

Life and dates

Attested activity

legendary antiquity
Directly stated · Book of Northern Qi 33, passage 149; Book of Later Han 92, passage 5
BC 550 師曠之調鐘
Dated from the passage context · Book of Han 99, passage 148
BC 557 to BC 532 師曠雜事
Dated from the passage context · Book of Later Han 34, passage 28
BC 558 to BC 532 牙、旷清耳于管弦
Dated from the passage context · Book of Han 117, passage 273

Key source chapters

Career and standing

musician 乐人
Directly stated · Book of Han 117, passage 273

Learning and skills

Skill music / strings and pipes 管弦 · Level master
Directly stated · Book of Han 117, passage 273

Works and attributed material

Master Kuang's miscellaneous tales 師曠雜事
Relation Attributed author
Directly stated · Book of Later Han 34, passage 28
Shi Kuang's writings 師曠之書
Relation Author
Directly stated · Book of Later Han 92, passage 5

References in the histories

Book of Northern Qi, Chapter 33Volume 33 Biographies 25: Xiao Yuanming; Xiao Zhi (Liang); Xiao Tui; Xiao Fang (Liang); Xu Zhicai · 1 passage

珽目疾，故以師曠比之。 Ting suffered from an eye ailment, so Zhicai compared him to Music Master Kuang.

Book of Han, Chapter 99Volume 87b: Yang Xiong 2 · 1 passage

師曠之調鐘，俟知音者之在後也； Shi Kuang tuned the bells in hope of a later connoisseur.

Book of Han, Chapter 117Volume 100a: Afterword and Family History 1 · 1 passage

若乃牙、曠清耳於管絃，離婁眇目於豪分； When Ya and Kuang tune their ears to music, or Li Lou splits a hair's breadth;

Book of Later Han, Chapter 34Volume 30a: Biographies of Su Jing; Yang Hou · 1 passage

論者若不本之於天，參之於聖，猥以《師曠雜事》輕自眩惑，說士作書，亂夫大道，焉可信哉？ If disputants ignore Heaven and the sages and cheaply let odd tales like Master Kuang’s miscellany dizzy them, while scribblers churn out doctrine that derails the true path—why credit any of it?

Book of Later Han, Chapter 92Volume 82a: Biographies of Alchemists 1 · 1 passage

至乃《河》、《洛》之文，龜龍之圖，箕子之術，師曠之書，緯候之部，鈐決之符，皆所以探抽冥賾、參驗人區，時有可聞者焉。 Then there are the River and Luo documents, the tortoise-and-dragon diagrams, Jizi's methods, Shi Kuang's writings, apocryphal weft-books, and talismanic slips—all tools to sound the hidden depths and test them against the human world, and occasionally something credible surfaces.