徐leisurely
Pinyin: xú
Terms and marksPlay or move the finger at a leisurely, unhurried pace; not the same as pausing or dragging.
How it is played
Asks for an unhurried motion. Jieshi Diao Youlan writes “press up leisurely” for a left-hand slide that should push up gradually; later scores use xu for a whole phrase played expansively. Some handbooks say expressly that xu means playing on at leisure and is not slow: the aim is a continuous, unfolding line, not a dragging tempo. The common pairing “light and heavy, swift and leisurely” sets xu against ji.
In the classical handbooks
大指徐徐抑上八上一寸许急末取声Gist: The thumb presses up leisurely to the eighth hui and about an inch above, then quickly plucks mo to take the note.
或章句舒徐。或緩急相間。Gist: Phrases may be unhurried and leisurely, or alternate slow and quick.
Easily confused with
- 慢màn· slowMan slows the tempo; xu stresses unhurried unfolding, and some handbooks say outright that xu is not slow.
- 疾jí· swiftJi (疾) is swift, the opposite of xu.