Quick Answer: What Is the Qinqin?
The qinqin (秦琴, qínqín) is a Chinese plucked lute with a long fretted neck. A familiar version has a scalloped body. The instrument is used in Cantonese and Chaozhou music.[1][4]
- Shape: The Macao Museum records plum-blossom, circular and polygonal body outlines.[1]
- Strings: One documented plum-blossom form has three strings and seventeen frets.[2]
- Ensemble: A Cantonese trio pairs the lute with the bowed gaohu and the struck yangqin.[3]
Look at the neck and the ensemble credits as well as the body outline to identify it.
The shape can catch your eye before you hear the instrument. In performance, the qinqin’s plucked attack gives another clue. That attack becomes easier to hear when the lute sits beside a sustained bowed line.
Identify the Neck and Body
The Macao Museum holds a qinqin from the 1960s–1980s that measures 80 centimeters in height. Its catalog highlights a slender neck and several possible resonator outlines. The museum describes the qinqin as related to the ruan lute. If a round body resembles another lute, compare the neck length with the width of the body.[1]
The Chinese Music Archive describes the plum-blossom qinqin (梅花秦琴, méihuā qínqín) as a six-lobed form. It traces this form to a two-string instrument from Chaozhou called shuangqing and describes Cantonese musicians adapting the design in the early twentieth century.[2]
What the Strings and Frets Do
On the plum-blossom form described by the archive, three strings run along a neck with seventeen raised frets. A player plucks with one hand and stops a string at a fret with the other. Choosing another fret changes the length of string that vibrates and therefore the pitch.[2]
The Macao Museum describes a clear, mellow sound. When you listen, pick out the start of a pluck and follow its fading tone. A continued bow stroke can sustain a neighboring note for longer.[1]
Where the Qinqin Fits in Cantonese Music
China’s heritage inventory records the sanjiatou (三架头, sānjiàtóu), a trio of Cantonese fiddle, yangqin and qinqin. The gaohu is bowed, the yangqin is struck and the qinqin is plucked. An earlier lineup named in the record included yueqin and sanxian, among other instruments.[3][4]
The inventory names Autumn Moon over a Calm Lake and Rain Lashing the Plantains as part of the wider Guangdong repertoire. Use a recording’s instrument credits to confirm the lute. The piece title identifies the tune.[3]
How to Pick Out the Plucked Part
Follow the fiddle through one short phrase. Replay it and listen for the shorter attacks of the lute. A struck yangqin note can also begin sharply. In a video, look for the hands plucking or using mallets to connect what you hear with the correct instrument.[3][4]
In this ensemble tradition, players can ornament a shared melody in different ways. Listen for notes the instruments reach together at the start or close of a phrase, and how they get from one to the other. This shared outline gives you a starting point for hearing individual parts in Chinese traditional music.[4]
FAQs About Qinqin
Does every qinqin have a plum-blossom body?
The plum-blossom form is one shape. The Macao Museum also describes round and polygonal qinqin bodies.[1]
How is qinqin different from yueqin?
Check the neck relative to the body. Qinqin has a long slender neck, and the round-bodied yueqin typically has a short neck.[1][2]
Where can I hear a qinqin in a small ensemble?
Look for a Cantonese trio that credits qinqin, gaohu and yangqin. This is a documented lineup in Guangdong instrumental music.[3]
Sources
[1] Macao Museum. Qinqin, Object MM4354
[2] Chinese Music Archive. Plucked Instruments: Qinqin
[3] China Intangible Cultural Heritage. Guangdong Music
[4] Hong Kong Education Bureau. Listening to Chinese Music