段section
Pinyin: duàn
Terms and marksAlso written: 一段, 二段
The large divisions of a qin piece, numbered “section one”, “section two” and sometimes given subtitles.
How it is played
Ming and Qing scores usually divide a piece into several sections, marking “one”, “two” and so on at the head of each; some give every section a subtitle, as in Yang Biaozheng's Chongxiu Zhenchuan Qinpu where the first section of Oulu Wangji is headed “Scheming stops”. A section is larger than a phrase and is often separated from the next by a longer pause; “the top” in “from the top, again” usually means the head of the section. Ming discussions of a piece's layout are precisely about the pacing of its sections.
In the classical handbooks
一曲中分作三段。一慢。二紧。三缓。从缓入。紧至煞意而成一曲是也。Gist: One piece is divided into three sections: the first slow, the second tight, the third easy. From slow in, tight through to the close: that makes a piece.
故句中有遲速之節。段中有遲速之分。Gist: So within the phrase there is a rhythm of slow and quick, and within the section a division of slow and quick.
References
- 殆知阁《鸥鹭忘机》（辑录各本题解与分段标题）(opens in a new window)Primary source
- 铭乐堂《古琴入门识谱小知识》（谈琴曲散起、入调、入慢、尾声的结构）(opens in a new window)Qin community