Quick Answer: What Is a Guqin?
A guqin (古琴, gǔqín) is a Chinese seven-string zither traditionally associated with solo music and the cultivated arts of scholars. Its strings run the length of a lacquered wooden body that lies flat while the player sits beside it.
- Look for thirteen marks: Small inlaid dots along the top show positions that the left hand can use.
- Listen for three basic sounds: An open pluck, a lightly touched harmonic and a firmly stopped note sound distinct.
- Watch how notes change: A finger can slide along a stopped string after the right hand has plucked it.
The guqin’s construction and sound differ from those of a guzheng, even though both are horizontal zithers. [1][2][3]
One note on a guqin may ring openly. The next may sound bell-like, and another may slide away from the pitch where it began. You can follow those contrasts by watching how the player’s left hand touches the strings.
Seven Strings and Thirteen Marks
Among Chinese musical instruments, the guqin belongs to the plucked zithers. Its thirteen position marks, known as hui (徽, huī), help locate harmonics and orient finger placement for stopped notes. They sit along the edge of the playing area. Each string stretches over the soundboard without a separate raised movable bridge. [2][3]
A mid-nineteenth-century guqin called *Xiangpu’s Treasure* shows a body shape with undulating sides. The catalogue calls this a banana-leaf pattern and records thirteen mother-of-pearl marks. The catalogue contrasts that outline with a double-waisted form associated with the Confucian style. Look for the position marks and the string arrangement before using the silhouette to identify the instrument. [3]
Three Ways to Sound a String
- Open sound: For sanyin (散音, sǎnyīn), the right hand plucks an open string. The left hand leaves it free to vibrate.
- Harmonic: For fanyin (泛音, fànyīn), the left hand touches a string lightly at a marked position while the right hand plucks. Listen for a light, clear overtone.
- Stopped sound: For anyin (按音, ànyīn), the left hand presses the string against the surface as the right hand plucks. The stopped finger can then travel to shape a slide or vibrato.
In a recording, listen for the different kinds of attack first. On a second pass, follow what happens after the pluck. The change may be as important as the initial pitch. [2]
The Guqin in Literati Culture
Guqin playing was associated with intimate settings and the cultivated activities of literati. It was grouped with calligraphy, painting and the game of go. Like literati painting, it can be understood as a practice that involved interpretation and personal expression alongside technique. In 2008, *Guqin and its music* entered the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. [1]
What Guqin Tablature Records
Traditional tablature tells the player which string and finger to use and where to place the left hand. One sign from an early twentieth-century handbook for *The Moon Over Mountain Guan* indicates that the left thumb stops near the seventh marker and the right middle finger plucks the fourth string inward. A modern recording of that piece played by Jiaoyue Lyu is available alongside the *Xiangpu’s Treasure* catalogue entry. The recording uses a modern instrument. [3][4]
For more on solo playing and how it fits among ensembles, theater and regional repertories, see Chinese traditional music.
FAQs About Guqin
How Is a Guqin Different From a Guzheng?
The guqin has seven strings and position dots. The guzheng has individual movable bridges and generally more strings. See the guzheng and guqin comparison for the difference in hand movements.
Are the Thirteen Marks Frets?
The marks are visual references. A player can press or slide a finger along the string between them. [2][3]
Does Guqin Tablature Give the Rhythm?
Traditional tablature primarily records fingerings. Rhythm was often taught in person or reconstructed when a line of transmission had been interrupted. Modern parallel scores can add rhythm in a second notation. [4]
Источники
[1] UNESCO. Guqin and its music
[2] UNESCO. Guqin and its music: playing techniques
[3] The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Xiangpu’s Treasure Guqin
[4] Hong Kong Music Office. The Art of the Guqin