Zhang Wenshou (張文收)

Overview

The translated histories identify Zhang Wenshou as a musician, official, and writer. This record brings together 10 passages from 3 chapters across 3 histories, with names, dates, relationships, offices, and events preserved as source-backed claims.

Names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Personal	Zhang Wenshou	張文收	Zhang Wenshou
Given	Wenshou	文收	Wenshou
Personal name	Wenshou	文收	Wenshou
Surname	Zhang	張	Zhang
Personal name	Zhang Wenshou	張文收	Zhang Wenshou

Identity

Historicity: Historical
Identification: Named
Sex: Male

Sex: male
Explicit · jiutangshu:085:s0132, jiuwudaishi:145:s0054, xintangshu:113:s0005

Roles

Musician
Official
Writer

Life and dates

Death

Date Context: Source Date: Text: 咸亨元年 · Western Year: AD 670
Explicit · jiutangshu:085:s0143

Attested activity

Source Date: Text: AD 627-705 · Western Interval: Start: AD 627 · End: AD 705
Strongly inferred · xintangshu:113:s0005
Source Date: Text: 咸亨元年 · Western Year: AD 670
Explicit · jiutangshu:085:s0143
Source Date: Text: 唐太宗 · Western Interval: Start: AD 626 · End: AD 649
Explicit event contextual date · jiuwudaishi:145:s0054, jiuwudaishi:145:s0112
Source Date: Text: 貞觀十一年 · Western Year: AD 637
Explicit · jiutangshu:085:s0138
Source Date: Text: 貞觀十四年 · Western Year: AD 640
Explicit · jiutangshu:085:s0142

Family

Immediate source-linked family. Drag to pan, scroll or pinch to zoom, and select a person to open their record.

Kin of Zhang Wenzong (張文琮)
Kinship Term: paternal cousin / 從父弟 · Line: paternal · Intermediary Person Ids: Zhang Qianwei (張虔威), Father of Zhang Wenjun
Kinship Term: paternal cousin (younger) / 從父弟 · Line: paternal · Subject Relative Age: uncertain · Intermediary Person Ids: Father of Zhang Wenshou, Father of Zhang Wencong
Child of Father of Zhang Wenshou
Kinship Term: father / 父 · Parentage: biological
Child of Zhang Qianwei (張虔威)
Kinship Term: son / 子 · Parentage: biological

Career and standing

Label: Harmonizing Officer / 協律郎 · Action: appointed
Explicit · jiutangshu:085:s0137

Places and affiliations

Polity: Tang / 唐 · Relation: served
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:145:s0054

Learning and skills

Skill: music theory and pitch pipes / 音律 · Level: renowned
Explicit · jiutangshu:085:s0133, jiutangshu:085:s0136

Works and attributed material

Work: Auspicious Clouds and Clear River / Yan Music / 景雲河清樂 · Relation: composer · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 貞觀十四年 · Western Year: AD 640
Explicit · jiutangshu:085:s0142
Work: New Music Book / 新樂書 · Relation: author
Explicit · jiutangshu:085:s0144
Work: New Music Writings / 新樂書 · Relation: author
Explicit · xintangshu:113:s0138

Events and relationships

Kind: music-reform · Role: reviser · Action: corrected-court-music-with-zu-xiaosun · Other Person Id: Zu Xiaosun (祖孝孫)
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:145:s0054, jiuwudaishi:145:s0112

References in the histories

Open any source group to read the Chinese and English passage in context.

Old Book of Tang, Chapter 85Volume 81 Biographies 31: Cui Dunli, Lu Chengqin, Liu Xiangdao, Li Jingxuan, Li Yiyan, Sun Chuyue, Le Yanwei, Zhao Renben · 5 passages

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文琮從父弟文收，隋內史舍人虔威子也。 Wenzong's cousin Wenshou was the son of the Sui interior secretary Qianwei.

時太宗將創製禮樂，召文收於太常，令與少卿祖孝孫參定雅樂。 When Taizong was creating court music, Wenshou was called to the Imperial Sacrifices office to work with Zu Xiaosun.

文收吹律調之，聲皆響徹，時人咸服其妙。 Wenshou tuned them with his pipes until all rang clear, to general admiration.

十一年，文收表請厘正太樂，上謂侍臣曰：“樂本緣人，人和則樂和。 In year eleven he asked to reform court music; the emperor told his ministers, "Music follows the people—when people are at peace, music is in harmony.

十四年，景雲見，河水清，文收采《朱雁天馬》之義，製《景雲河清》樂，名曰“燕樂”，奏之管弦，為樂之首，今元會第一奏者是也， In year fourteen, when auspicious clouds and a clear Yellow River appeared, he composed "Auspicious Clouds and Clear River," called Yan Music—the piece still opened the New Year court.

Old History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 145Volume 145: Treatises 7 Music 2 · 3 passages

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唐太宗復古道，乃用祖孝孫、張文收考正雅樂，而旋宮八十四調復見於時，在懸之器，方無啞者，安、史之亂，京都為墟，器之與工，十不存一，所用歌奏，漸多紕繆。 Emperor Taizong of Tang restored the ancient tradition and had Zu Xiaosun and Zhang Wenshou revise the court music, so that the eighty-four circulatory modes reappeared and no instrument in the bell-chime ensemble remained mute. The An and Shi rebellion left the capital in ruins; scarcely one instrument or craftsman in ten survived, and the music performed grew ever more corrupt.

唐太宗爰命舊工祖孝孫、張文收整比鄭譯、萬寶常所均七音八十四調，方得絲管並施，鐘石俱奏，七始之音復振，四廂之韻皆調。 Emperor Taizong of Tang ordered veteran masters Zu Xiaosun and Zhang Wenshou to reconcile the seven-note, eighty-four-mode system of Zheng Yi and Wan Baochang; only then could strings and pipes sound together with bells and stones, the seven foundational tones revive, and harmony return to all four sides of the ensemble.

樞密使王樸，采京房之準法，練梁武之通音，考鄭譯、寶常之七均，校孝孫、文收之九變，積黍累以審其度，聽聲詩以測其情，依權衡嘉量之前文，得備數和聲之大旨，施於鐘虡，足洽《簫韶》。 Privy Council Commissioner Wang Pu drew on Jing Fang's pitch standard, mastered Emperor Wu of Liang's universal tones, studied the seven keys of Zheng Yi and Wan Baochang and the nine transformations of Zu Xiaosun and Zhang Wenshou, calibrated measures with millet grains, tested pitches against the Sound Poems, followed ancient standards of weight and measure, recovered the principle of numbered harmony, and applied it to bells and stands until it matched the legendary Xiao-Shao music.

New Book of Tang, Chapter 113Volume 113 Biographies 38: Tang, Zhang, Xu · 2 passages

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（文琮錫文收） (Wencong, Xi, and Wenshou)

文琮從父弟文收，終太子率更令。 Wencong's cousin Wenshou ended his career as commandant of the crown prince's rate-revision office.