Bo Ya

Mural of Bo Ya playing a lute in the Long Corridor of the Old Summer Palace, Beijing

Bo Ya (伯牙) was a qin player from the Spring and Autumn period or the Warring States period. He was known by his first name of "Boya", although his surname may have been Yu (俞), thus his complete name is sometimes given as Yu Boya (俞伯牙). The Lute Platform in Hanyang, Wuhan, China was where musician Yu Boya is said to have played. He is associated with the guqin pieces Gao Shan 《高山》 ("high mountains") and Liu Shui 《流水》 ("flowing water").

According to Qin Shi, Liezi said:

"Bo Ya was good at playing the qin. Zhong Ziqi was good at listening to the qin. When Bo Ya's will was towards high mountains in his playing, Zhong Ziqi would say, 'How towering like Mount Tai!' When Bo Ya's will was towards flowing water in his playing, Zhong Ziqi would say, 'How vast are the rivers and oceans!' Whatever Bo Ya thought of Ziqi would never fail to understand. Bo Ya said, 'Amazing! Your heart and mine are the same!' When Ziqi died, Bo Ya broke the strings [of his qin] and vowed never to play [the qin] again. Thus, there was the melody of High Mountains Flowing Water."

Bo Ya's story exemplifies the Chinese ideal of friendship. The term Zhiyin (知音，literally "to know the tone") has come to describe a close and sympathetic friend.

References

Please see: References section in the guqin article for a full list of references used in all qin related articles.

Guqin (古琴)
Aesthetics Construction Contemporary players History Literature Notation Playing technique Popular culture Qinpu Schools Societies Strings Tuning Yaji
Melodies	Ao Ai Guangling San Hujia Shiba-pai Jieshi Diao Youlan Liu Shui Meihua Sannong Pingsha Luoyan Xiao Xiang Shuiyun Yangguan Sandie
Schools	Guangling Jiuyi Lingnan Mei'an Pucheng Shu Yushan Zhe Zhucheng
Societies	Jinyu Qin Society London Youlan Qin Society New York Qin Society North American Guqin Association
Historical personages	Bo Ya Cai Yan Cai Yong Confucius Guo Chuwang Ruan Ji Emperor Song Huizong Xi Kang Zhu Quan
Players	Cheng Yu Gong Yi Guan Pinghu Li Xiangting Lin Youren Wu Jinglüe Wu Zhaoji Zeng Chengwei Zha Fuxi Zhang Ziqian