元代末年,昆山巨富顾瑛构筑私家园林玉山草堂,邀请当时的知名士人在此开展诗文雅集,其中包含较多古琴活动。参加雅集者中既有顾瑛、杨维桢、倪瓒、陈惟允、袁矩等重要琴人,还有其他一些来自儒佛道三家的琴人和女性琴人。琴乐活动方式包括独奏、琴歌和琴与笙、瑟、箫等乐器配合运用的情况。玉山雅集中弹奏的琴曲较为丰富,较为推崇来自蜀地的琴器。和其他雅集相比,玉山雅集较具包容性,也具风雅和娱乐性。和元末及稍后的其他江南地区雅集相比,玉山雅集从参加者人数上来看规模更大、持续时间较长、诗文创作数量更多,其中的古琴活动也更丰富,对当时的古琴文化发展有较大影响,值得琴学界进行关注和研究。

In the late Yuan Dynasty, GU Ying, a wealthy magnate from Kunshan, constructed a private garden named Yushan Caotang, where he invited renowned literati of the time to hold refined gatherings dedicated to poetry and prose, with guqin playing as a central activity. The participants included prominent qin players such as GU Ying himself, YANG Weizhen, NI Zan, CHEN Weiyun, and YUAN Ju, as well as other musicians from Confucian, Buddhist, and Taoist traditions, and female qin practitioners. Qin performances encompassed various forms, including solo playing, qin songs (song accompanied by the qin), and ensemble pieces with instruments such as the sheng, se, and xiao. The repertoire performed at these gatherings was notably diverse, and particular esteem was accorded to qin instruments from the Shu (Sichuan) region. Compared to other contemporary refined gatherings, the Yushan gatherings were distinctive for their inclusiveness, elegance, and recreational nature. In contrast to other Jiangnan region gatherings of the late Yuan and early Ming periods, the Yushan gatherings were larger in scale, longer in duration, yielded a greater volume of poetic and prose compositions, and featured more extensive qin activities, thereby significantly influencing the development of guqin culture at that time. These gatherings thus merit serious attention and scholarly investigation within the field of qin studies.