Guqin

The guqin is a plucked, seven-stringed Chinese musical instrument.

It is a symbol of refinement and subtlety. For centuries, it has been favored by scholars and the literati. These educated people often viewed the instrument as a way to express deep thought. Some even call it "the father of Chinese music" or "the instrument of the sages."

It is important not to confuse it with the guzheng. While both are long, stringed instruments without frets, the guzheng uses moveable bridges under its strings. The guqin is a zither, though it is sometimes inaccurately called a lute or a harp.

Playing the guqin requires incredible precision and a wide variety of movements.

The instrument has a range of about four octaves. Its open strings are tuned in the bass register. The lowest pitch is about two octaves below middle C. This is similar to the lowest note on a cello. Musicians produce sound through three main types of tones. The first is san yin, or "unfettered sound." This is the fundamental frequency made by plucking an open string with the right hand.

The second type is fan yin, or "floating sound." This is an overtone harmonic created by tapping specific spots on the string.

The third major sound is an yin, also known as shi yin or zou yin. This is a "pressed sound" that involves the left hand. To play this, the musician stops a string at a specific pitch using their left fingers. They then strike the string with the right hand. While the left hand is pressing, the player can slide their fingers up and down. This creates a glissando, or sliding tone. This technique makes the guqin sound like a slide guitar or a fretless double bass. In fact, there are approximately 1,070 different finger techniques used for the guqin. This makes it possibly the most complex instrument in both Chinese and Western musical families.

To help the player find the right notes, the guqin features 13 markings called hui.

These are glossy white dots made of mica or seashell inset into the instrument's surface. The hui represent different positions along the string. By pressing different hui, the player produces specific sound keys. The instrument is also capable of many harmonics. There are 91 commonly used harmonics that are indicated by dotted positions on the instrument. These "crystal concordant" overtones can only be reached by tapping the strings precisely at these hui positions.

The history of the guqin is a mix of legend and recorded fact.

Legend claims the instrument is about 5,000 years old. It is said that ancient figures like Fuxi, Shennong, and the Yellow Emperor helped create it. While historians view this as mythology, the guqin is very old. Chinese writings mention it from nearly 3,000 years ago. Archaeologists have even found examples in tombs from 2,500 years ago. Traditionally, the instrument had only five strings. These strings represented the ancient Chinese music system: gong, shang, jue, zhi, and yu. Today, the modern form has stabilized into seven strings.

Throughout history, many famous people have been associated with the guqin. The philosopher Confucius is a notable figure linked to the instrument. During the Song dynasty, Emperor Huizong was a great patron of the arts.

He even had a special "10,000 Qin Hall" in his palace. There are many different schools, or qin pai, that have developed over the centuries. These schools often formed in areas with high musical activity. Some schools are named after specific people, like the Wu school. Northern schools often use more vigorous techniques, while Southern schools may differ. Today, many players belong to guqin societies. These societies hold "yagaji," or elegant gatherings, to play music and discuss the instrument.

The guqin holds immense cultural and economic value. There are more than 3,360 known surviving pieces of guqin music from ancient and imperial times. In 2010, a guqin from the Song period sold for $22 million. This made it the most expensive musical instrument ever sold. Because of its deep history, UNESCO named the guqin an Intangible World Cultural Heritage in 2003. It was also listed as a National Non-material Cultural Heritage in China in 2006.

This recognition honors the instrument's role in human history.

The guqin's reach even extends into outer space. In 1977, a recording of the piece "Flowing Water" was chosen for the Voyager Golden Record.

This gold-plated record was sent into space by NASA on the Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft. "Flowing Water" was the second-longest excerpt included on the disc. Scientists chose this music because the guqin's scale is derived from fundamental physical laws. The sounds are based on vibrations and overtones. By including the guqin, NASA shared the intellectual capacity of humans to understand the physics of music with the rest of the universe.