#but envisioning an arts-centric hua cheng being presented with a score and realising its as legible as his handwriting to him

[lenglengflames]

assuming the timeline of tcgf takes place in the zhou dynasty and beyond, xie lian would’ve been educated in the six arts (bc the six arts was established in the zhou dynasty.)

the six arts include (also addressed in mdzs, iirc): rites, music, archery, calligraphy, chariotry and mathematics.

we already known xie lian excels in calligraphy, and given feng xin's dexterity with his bow, it probably isn't too hard of a stretch to say that xie lian also received training in archery even if he heavily favours the sword. i believe rites refer to taoist rituals, because the six arts stemmed from confucianism. (confucianism ≠ taoism, but both follow the tao (道).) anyway, xie lian is a taoist priest/ cultivation is a concept stemmed from taoism, so he'd naturally be competent in the rites of taoism. we'll assume he's decently skilled in chariotry and mathematics.

so that just leaves music.

here's the thing: the guqin was almost exclusively played scholars, generals, nobility, etc, by men of rank, prestige and privilege.

xie lian is royalty so there's a high chance he could play the guqin, and who else in the mxtx universe is also incredibly adept at playing it? lan wangji.

xie lian x lan wangji guqin duets with hua cheng and wei wuxian as their audience. (or consider, wei wuxian joins in with chenqing and hua cheng has an internal breakdown in an attempt to read the scores they're using.)