Ancient China · Musician and Official

Kui 夔

Legendary antiquity

Passages: 3
Chapters: 3
Histories: 3

Overview

Kui was a Musician and Official.

Life and dates

Attested activity

legendary antiquity
Directly stated · Book of Han 98, passage 102; Old History of the Five Dynasties 145, passage 117; Records of the Grand Historian 2, passage 193

Key source chapters

Events and relationships

Performed Nine Shao
Ritual music · Performer
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 2, passage 193

Source notes

Historicity legendary
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 145, passage 117; Records of the Grand Historian 2, passage 2

References in the histories

Book of Han, Chapter 98Volume 87a: Yang Xiong 1 · 1 passage

陰陽清濁穆羽相和兮，若夔、牙之調琴。 Clear and turbid, high and low notes answer one another like Kui and Boya tuning a flawless lute.

Old History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 145Volume 145: Treatises 7 Music 2 · 1 passage

臣等竊以音之所起，出自人心，夔、曠不能長存，人事不能常泰，人亡則音息，世亂則樂崩，若不深知禮樂之情，安能明制作之本。 We hold that music arises from the human heart; masters like Kui and Kuang cannot endure forever, and human affairs cannot always prosper—when men die, music falls silent; when the age is chaotic, music collapses. Without deep understanding of ritual and music, how can one grasp the foundations of cultural order?

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 2Annals of Xia · 1 passage

於是夔行樂，祖考至，群后相讓，鳥獸翔舞，簫韶九成，鳳皇來儀，百獸率舞，百官信諧。 Then Kui played the Nine Shao; the ancestral spirits drew near; the lords yielded to one another; birds and beasts danced; phoenixes appeared; every creature joined the measure, and the officers moved in perfect accord.