In the great cold of Chang'an, snow piled six feet high. The blind musician siblings, Seren Snow and Plum Mel…
In the great cold of Chang'an, snow piled six feet high.
The blind musician siblings, Seren Snow and Plum Melody, played the guqin and flute under the ancient plum tree at Ba Bridge. When passing by, Masked Troupe Disciple Lan He stopped to listen and then took out his bamboo flute to join in harmony. Without exchanging a single word, their notes resonated, as if sharing a heartfelt melody.
The three drank and discussed music under the tree until it was deep into the night. Lan He, flushed with wine, said, "Though perfectly skilled after learning the bamboo flute for three years, I remain puzzled by one thing. The bamboo flute creates melodies with the wind, but the wind is the most elusive force in the world. How can one control it?"
Hearing this, the flutist Plum Melody gave a cloth pouch to Lan He, saying, "Blind since childhood, I am sensitive to the wind's movements, able to 'see' its flow. Knowing not how to describe it to others, I visualize it this way—burn the inner membrane of reeds to ash and place it inside the hollow of the flute to clearly show the flow."
Lan He tried it and saw the ash dance with the music: when he played the Gong note, the ash flowed like threads to the gong note, scattered like dust to the Shang note, and surged like a spring, blending with a thousand sounds to the Jue and Zhi notes.
"After years of studying, now I realize the truth—human melody aligns with the rules of the universe," sighed Lan He.
Discussing all night long, they composed the "Winter Trio." The sections for pine and bamboo came naturally, except for the plum blossom section. They agreed to meet later to complete the plum blossom melody.
As dawn approached and snow cleared, they parted, leaving the lingering echoes among the trees.