反复括号repeat brackets
Pinyin: fǎn fù kuò hào
Terms and marksAlso written: 前括号, 后括号, ┌, ┘, 「
Frames the stretch to repeat: a 「 marks the start, and on reaching “again” you go back.
How it is played
Old scores mark a repeat only at its start; where it ends is shown by where “again” is written. Qinxue Rumen draws a 「 beside the character; other handbooks draw a vertical line at the start. The Lingxian editor splits this into a pair of brackets: type 前括号 (┌) at the start and 后括号 (┘) at the end, followed by 再作, and playback repeats the bracketed notes once; the phrase circle 。 can also serve as the closing mark.
In the classical handbooks
從「再作也。譜字傍用「者，從此「字起，再作一遍，共二遍也。Gist: From 「, again: where 「 is used beside a jianzi in the score, play again from that 「, two passes in all.
Where sources disagree
How the start of a repeat is marked in old scores
- Draw a 「 beside the starting jianzi and play again from that character. Source: Qinxue Rumen (Introduction to Qin Studies), vol. 1, left-hand symbols(opens in a new window) · View the original page
- The start of the repeat is shown by a vertical line. Source: Yihe Qin Society, “Jianzipu: a short guide to technique symbols”(opens in a new window)