A piano teacher asked me which song I was working on. I showed her the notation. She asked what language it was, and I said it was Mandarin Chinese, but written in the Wade–Giles romanization system. She then asked the name of the song. I answered, “Secret Fragrance.” “Sha Baoliang’s?” she asked. “Jiang Kui’s.” “Such an old song,” she said. “From the Southern Song dynasty.” Indeed. Every single winter, I can’t help myself from reciting Jiang Kui’s “Secret Fragrance.” “I sigh that the road is too long to send a blossom, and the evening snow begins to pile up.” She asked what instrument he had originally composed it for. I said, “The xiao flute.” “Jiang Kui was truly talented,” she said. “But it’s rare for someone as young as you to admire him so much.” “You can’t fully understand his lyrics,” I said, “unless you’ve experienced the life of an unemployed wanderer.” Then she played another score that Jiang Kui had rediscovered (Nishang Zhongxu Diyi). I especially love the lyrics to this one, which he wrote when he was nearing his end.

A piano teacher asked me which song I was working on. I showed her the notation. She asked me what language it was, I said it was Mandarin Chinese but written in Wade–Giles Pinyin system. She asked what the name of the song was, I answered "secret fragrance". "Sha Baoliang's?". She asked. "Jiang Kui's." she said "such an old song, from the Nan (Southern) Song dynasty." indeed. Every single winter, I can't help myself from reciting Jiang Kui's "secret fragrance". "I sigh that the road is too long to send a blossom, and the evening snows begins to pile up." she asked me what the musical instrument he played originally for this song. I said "Xiao (flute)". she said "Jiang Kui was really talented. but it's rare for such a young person like you like him so much," I said "you wouldn't understand his song lyrics, if you haven't experienced in unemployed wandering." and she played another score which was rediscovered by Jiang Kui (nishang zhongxu diyi). I especially like the lyrics for this song, which was written when he was almost at his end.