20220630 Culture 6

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• 20220630_Culture_1 papers 1-10: 1: 英语笔译 卞王倩 Bian Wangqian 202170081563 Europeanized Chinese and Cultural Factors Behind it, 2: 英语笔译 曹姣 Cao Jiao 202170081564 Research on court culture in the Tang Dynasty from the perspective of poem -- take Changhenge for example, 3 英语笔译 陈路瑶 Chen Luyao 202170081565, 4 英语笔译 崔晓凡 Cui Xiaofan 202170081566, 5 英语笔译 邓阳林 Deng Yanglin 202170081567, 6 英语笔译 高智慧 Gao Zhihui 202170081568, 7 英语笔译 何丽娜 He Lina 202170081569, 8 英语笔译 胡良明 Hu Liangming 202170081570, 9 英语笔译 黄琼 Huang Qiong 202170081571, 10 英语笔译 邝雨琪 Kuang Yuqi 202170081572
• 20220630_Culture_2 papers 11-20: 11 英语笔译 黎溢佳 Li Yijia 202170081573, 12 英语笔译 李思敏 Li Simin 202170081574, 13 英语笔译 李思源 Li Siyuan 202170081575, 14 英语笔译 李婷 Li Ting 202170081576, 15 英语笔译 李欣 Li Xin 202170081577, 16 英语笔译 李颖 Li Ying 202170081578, 17 英语笔译 李媛 Li Yuan 202170081579, 18 英语笔译 李梓婕 Li Zijie 202170081580, 19 英语笔译 梁思婷 Liang Siting 202170081581, 20 英语笔译 廖诗韵 Liao Shiyun 202170081582
• 20220630_Culture_3 papers 21-30: 21 英语笔译 刘唱 Liu Chang 202170081583, 22 英语笔译 刘乐乐 Liu Lele 202170081584, 23 英语笔译 刘双英 Liu Shuangying 202170081585, 24 英语笔译 刘婷 Liu Ting 202170081586, 25 英语笔译 刘瑶 Liu Yao 202170081587, 26 英语笔译 刘珍 Liu Zhen 202170081588, 27 英语笔译 龙翰良 Long Hanliang 202170081589, 28 英语笔译 罗姚林 Luo Yaolin 202170081590, 29 英语笔译 马艳焕 Ma Yanhuan 202170081591, 30 英语笔译 聂薇 Nie Wei 202170081592
• 20220630_Culture_4 papers 31-40: 31 英语笔译 孙丽君 Sun Lijun 202170081593, 32 英语笔译 仝雨梦 Tong Yumeng 202170081594, 33 英语笔译 童略雅 Tong Lueya 202170081595, 34 英语笔译 庹树梅 Tuo Shumei 202170081596, 35 英语笔译 王思琪 Wang Siqi 202170081597, 36 英语笔译 王亚娟 Wang Yajuan 202170081598, 37 英语笔译 肖冬晴 Xiao Dongqing 202170081599, 38 英语笔译 肖佳莉 Xiao Jiali 202170081600, 39 英语笔译 谢晓莹 Xie Xiaoying 202170081601, 40 英语笔译 熊嘉玲 Xiong Jialing 202170081602
• 20220630_Culture_5 papers 41-50: 41 英语笔译 颜媛 Yan Yuan 202170081603, 42 英语笔译 杨心怡 Yang Xinyi 202170081604, 43 英语笔译 杨紫微 Yang Ziwei 202170081605, 44 英语笔译 张国浩 Zhang Guohao 202170081606, 45 英语笔译 张姣玲 Zhang Jiaoling 202170081607, 46 英语笔译 张瑞 Zhang Rui 202170081608, 47 英语笔译 赵宇翔 Zhao Yuxiang 202170081609, 48 英语笔译 郑冬琴 Zheng Dongqin 202170081610, 49 英语笔译 钟青 Zhong Qing 202170081611, 50 英语笔译 周皓熙 Zhou Haoxi 202170081612
• 20220630_Culture_6 papers 51-60: 51 英语笔译 周哲 Zhou Zhe 202170081613, 52 英语笔译 朱丽娟 Zhu Lijuan 202170081614, 53 英语口译 段小蝶 Duan Xiaodie 202170081615, 54 英语口译 方楚晗 Fang Chuhan 202170081616, 55 英语口译 胡雯雯 Hu Wenwen 202170081617, 56 英语口译 黄天琪 Huang Tianqi 202170081618, 57 英语口译 兰绮 Lan Qi 202170081619, 58 英语口译 李丹 Li Dan 202170081620, 59 英语口译 李立飞 Li Lifei 202170081621, 60 英语口译 莫雨婷 Mo Yuting 202170081622
• 20220630_Culture_7 papers 61-70: 61 英语口译 彭慧璇 Peng Huixuan 202170081623, 62 英语口译 时友洁 Shi Youjie 202170081624, 63 英语口译 伍佳惠 Wu Jiahui 202170081625, 64 英语口译 夏晶 Xia Jing 202170081626, 65 英语口译 向师琦 Xiang Shiqi 202170081627, 66 英语口译 向望 Xiang Wang 202170081628, 67 英语口译 徐舞 Xu Wu 202170081629, 68 英语口译 张静芝 Zhang Jingzhi 202170081630, 69 英语口译 张旻丰 Zhang Minfeng 202170081631, 70 日语笔译 曹梦然 Cao Mengran 202170081632
• 20220630_Culture_8 papers 71-80: 71 日语笔译 胡梦琪 Hu Mengqi 202170081633, 72 日语笔译 张白鹭 Zhang Bailu 202170081634, 73 朝鲜语笔译 刘安莉 Liu Anli 202170081635, 74 朝鲜语笔译 王思佳 Wang Sijia 202170081636, 75 朝朝鲜语笔译 徐盖 Xu Gai 202170081638, 76 朝鲜语笔译 徐文慧 Xu Wenhui 202170081639, 77 外国语言文学 Akira Jantarat 202121080009, 78 比较文学与跨文化研究 Mahzad 202021080004, 79 英语语言文学 Mimi 2020GBJ002301

英语笔译 刘珍 Liu Zhen 202170081588

Chinese Guqin and It's Development in the Song Dynasty Liu Zhen

Introduction

First of all, no matter how much traditional culture guqin carries behind it, it is still a musical instrument from a material level. Since it is an instrument, the musical development of the guqin is an important aspect of its cultural nature. The development of guqin in Song Dynasty is a comprehensive process and also a process of multiple factors. First of all, we should admit that the development of guqin in song Dynasty is based on the development of guqin culture in previous generations. From the Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period to the Wei, Jin, Sui and Tang dynasties, ancient guqin players emerged one after another. These contributions include the material production skills of guqin, the artistic performance techniques of guqin, and the spiritual accumulation of traditional guqin culture. Secondly, we should also see that the guqin music of the Song Dynasty has made great progress and yielded fruitful results based on the development achievements of the previous generations. Due to the large number of guqin music and culture lovers, many skilled guqin players have emerged on this basis, and a number of high-level guqin music works like Xiaoxiang Shuiyun have emerged in the creation of guqin music. On the systematic theory of guqin, a number of works on guqin, such as Cui Zundu's "Qin Jian" and Zhu Changwen's "Qin History", have the characteristics of The Times and play a foundational role. Under the influence of various music forms in the Song Dynasty, guqin music and song Ci music exchanged with each other and changed at the same time, finally forming the first important school in the history of guqin development in the Southern Song Dynasty -- Zhejiang school. It embodies the height of guqin music in the song Dynasty in terms of skills and culture.

Guqin and It's Development

The Guqin (literally "ancient stringed instrument") is the modern name for a plucked seven-string Chinese musical instrument of the zither family. It has been played since ancient times, and has traditionally been favored by scholars and literati as an instrument of great subtlety and refinement, as well as being associated with the ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius. By tradition the qin originally had five strings, but ancient qin-like instruments with 10 or more strings have been found. The modern form has been standardized for about two millennia.

Origin: Guqin players historically have had different theories about the origin of the guqin, when it first appeared and who invented it, with no conclusive theory to this very day. Generally, from existing historic writings, we see that several significant figures were believed to have created the guqin, for example: Fúxī（伏羲）, Shénnóng（神农）, Emperor Yán（炎帝）, the Yellow Emperor（黄帝）, Emperor Yáo（尧）, Emperor Shùn（舜）. Tales of the above figures have been passed down through legend and folklore for the past four to five thousand years, and are all related to the creators of Chinese nationality. Although no one can prove which of these figures created the guqin, they have at least provided us with two insights. First, the guqin has a very long history. Second, the guqin is closely related to highly intelligent, respected and honorable figures, figures that played crucial roles of importance in the development of Chinese history and culture. Ever since the guqin was created, it has occupied a unique position in the hearts of Chinese people and in Chinese culture, and so it has been honored as the “instrument of the sages”.

In comparison with other theories, the one involving Emperor Shun’s （舜）creation of the guqin is more descriptive and detailed in historical records. The chapter “Record of Music” in the Book of Rites, and the “Treatise on Music” and the “Annals of the Five Emperors” in the Records of the Grand Historian, amongst others, have clearly recorded Emperor Shun and the origin of the guqin. In addition, ancient Chinese began to develop and industrialize silk farming during the era of Emperor Shun. Due to silk’s high durability and flexibility, it was used for guqin strings and gave the guqin an alias “silk and parasol wood (si-tóng)”. Therefore, it is widely believed that the guqin originated from Emperor Shun’s era and was created by him.

Development: Roughly around the later periods of the Western Zhou era to the beginning periods of the Eastern Zhou era, the guqin was played by different people and for different purposes after one era transitioned into another. Due to the increase in numbers of the scholarly class, more and more scholars began to play the guqin while singing “ya” （hymns） in the Classic of Poetry as a type of hobby. The qin became known as ya-qins （grace）, and famous scholars of that era – such as Confucius, Bo Ya, Zou Ji – became the most famous qin- players. There is a Chinese idiom saying that without a good reason, scholars do not stop practicing the qin. Therefore, the qin gradually became a popular item amongst academics and scholars.

After the Pre-Qin and Han dynasty, the guqin eventually became a necessary instrument for scholars to express themselves, cultivate one’s character, develop their interests and sentiment, and to find others with like interests. It has become so crucial for scholars that the ability to play the guqin is a necessity. The increase in qin players also allowed qin music to become more diverse. Over time, qin music became more societal, ideological and applicable to everyday life. During the period from the Three Kingdoms to the Jin and the Southern and Northern dynasties, the scholars became even more intimate with the qin. Using Ji Kang and Ruan Ji as reference, the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove were the most symbolic representation of the closeness between scholars and the qin.

Qins gradually went from being a privilege of the temple priests, lords and masters during special occasions to an instrument the scholars, common folk, and the society could enjoy playing in everyday occurrences. This reflected the qin’s artistic value, its unique attractiveness and a timeless artistic vitality. While listening to qin music, Zhuo Wenjun met Sima Xiangru and were thus married happily ever after. Zhuge Liang also played the qin gently, ultimately leading to the successful play of his empty castle tactic, demonstrating the guqin has played a special part in our lives and in past societal conflicts.

In 1977, a recording of "Liu Shui" 【流水】 (Flowing Water, as performed by Guan Pinghu, one of the best qin players of the twentieth century) was chosen to be included in the Voyager Golden Record, a gold-plated LP recording containing music from around the world, which was sent into outer space by NASA on the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecrafts. It is the longest excerpt included on the disc. In 2003, guqin music was proclaimed as one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.

Performance: In the performance, the player of a qin will use a variety of techniques to bring out the full potential of the instrument. They would read the specialist and unique tablature that was developed over the centuries and amass a repertoire of popular and ancient tunes for the qin.

Playing Technique: The music of the qin can be categorized as three distinctively different "sounds." The first is san yin (散音), which means "scattered sounds." This is produced by plucking the required string to sound an open note. The second is fan yin (泛音), or "floating sounds." These are harmonics, in which the player lightly touches the string with one or more fingers of the left hand at a position indicated by the hui dots, plucks, and lifts, creating a crisp and clear sound. The third is an yin (按音/案音/實音/走音, or "stopped sounds." This forms the bulk of most qin pieces and requires the player to press on a string with a finger or thumb of the left hand until it connects with the surface board, then pluck. Afterwards, the musician's hand often slides up and down, modifying the pitch. This technique is similar to that of playing a slide guitar across the player's lap, however, the technique of the qin is very varied and utilizes the whole hand.

According to the book, Cunjian Guqin Zhifa Puzi Jilan, there are around 1,070 different finger techniques used for the qin, with or without names. It is therefore, the instrument with the most finger techniques in either Chinese or Western music. Most are obsolete, but around 50 or so are sufficient to know in modern practice.

Tablature and Notation: First section of Youlan, showing the name of the piece: 《碣石调幽兰第五》 "Jieshi Diao Youlan No. 5," the preface describing the piece's origins, and the tablature in longhand form.Written qin music did not directly tell what notes to play; instead, it was written in a tablature detailing tuning, finger positions, and stroke technique, comprising a step-by-step method and description of how to play a piece. Some tablatures do indicate notes using the gongche system, or indicate rhythm using dots. The earliest example of the modern shorthand tablature survives from around the twelfth century C.E.. An earlier form of music notation from the Tang era survives in just one manuscript, dated to the seventh century C.E., called Jieshi Diao Youlan 《碣石调幽兰》(Solitary Orchid in Stone Tablet Mode). It is written in a longhand form called wenzi pu (文字谱, "written notation"), said to have been created by Yong Menzhou (雍门周) during the Warring States Period, which gives all the details using ordinary written Chinese characters. Later in the Tang dynasty Cao Rou (曹柔) and others simplified the notation, using only the important elements of the characters (like string number, plucking technique, hui number and which finger to stop the string) and combining them into one character notation. This meant that instead of having two lines of written text to describe a few notes, a single character could represent one note, or sometimes as many as nine. This notation form was called jianzi pu (減字譜, "reduced notation") and it was so successful that from the Ming dynasty onwards, a great many qinpu (琴譜, qin tablature collections) appeared, the most famous and useful being "Shenqi Mipu" (The Mysterious and Marvelous Tablature) compiled by Zhu Quan, the 17th son of the founder of the Ming dynasty. In the 1960s, Zha Fuxi discovered more than 130 qinpu that contain well over 3360 pieces of written music. Sadly, many qinpu compiled before the Ming dynasty are now lost, and many pieces have remained unplayed for hundreds of years.

How The Guqin Is Played The guqin is an instrument that makes a delicate sound and therefore it does not lend itself well to be played with other instruments, save the se, which is no longer played. The last person who knew how to play this 25-stringed instrument with moveable bridges was Wu Jinglüe (1907-87), who had a long career as a music professor at Beijing's Central Conservatory of Music. Wu's demise was roughly synonymous with the opening of China under Deng Xiaoping, but this was simply too late for outsiders to have saved the se as a viable, playable musical instrument. One can't help but wonder, therefore, if the opening of China had occurred 15-20 years earlier, whether the art and science of playing the se could not have been preserved for posterity (note that there are several guqin aficionados in the West today, some of whom of course belong to the Chinese diaspora).

However, of late, some guqin players are teaming up with musicians who play other delicate but contrasting instruments such as the xiao (a kind of bamboo flute – see below); the xun (an ocarina-type wind instrument, somewhat gourd-shaped and with a mouthpiece in the form of the pointed end, and with air holes like the flute and originally made of wood, clay or ceramic, but often made of ceramic today – see below); the more conventional flute instrument, the dizi (a transverse, or side-blown, bamboo flute); the pipa (a 4-stringed, pear-shaped lute –see below); and of course the guqin can be played with another guqin, and it can be accompanied by a singer, albeit, a singer who sings in a style that is currently unknown in China and which is more akin to the way that Tang Dynasty poetry was recited.

This special form of reciting/ singing is very low-pitched (not to exceed 1½ octaves) and deep, and contrasts sharply with the high-pitched singing of modern Chinese Opera.

Zha Fuxi (1895–1976) of Jiangxu Province, who co-founded the Jinyu Qin Society, then later became the head of the Beijing Qin Society, was both an accomplished guqin player and singer of guqin songs. Zha also served as the vice-chairman of the National Musical Association and was a department head at China's Central Institute of Folk Music. Very few recordings of Zha's guqin songs exist. Like Wu Jinglüe, Zha Fuxi's art died with him. Indeed, the last ten years of Zha's life corresponded to the Cultural Revolution (1966-76), a time when many older works of art were reviled and disfigured or outright destroyed, so it was doubtful whether the guqin songs of Zha would have been in favor during this period.

Production Techniques of Guqin in the Song Dynasty and before the Song Dynasty

At present, the unearthed guqin of the pre-Qin period includes the ten-stringed guqin and five-stringed guqin unearthed from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng, and the seven-stringed guqin from Gudian of Jingmen, Hubei province in the Warring States Period. These archaeological remains provide a very complete physical guqin for today's people. These guqin and we see today, no matter in shape or tuning are very different, but they all reflect the unique nature of the qin instrument -- that is, the full string vibration of the plucked instrument. It was about the Han Dynasty that 13 emblems appeared on guqin. Although there is no emblems on the seven-stringed qin unearthed in Mawangdui, there is one in Changmen Fu by Sima Xiangru. Judging from the existing figurines of han Dynasty guqin, it can be seen that the posture of the left hand has already appeared, and the three timbres of guqin have been applied at this time. The Wei and Jin dynasties were the qualitative and mature period of guqin. From the picture brick of seven sages of bamboo forest unearthed from Xishan Bridge in Nanjing, it can be seen that Guqin has 13 clear emblem positions, and its shape is no different from today's guqin. With the final finalization of guqin, its musical range and tuning methods gradually solidified performance skills and styles are becoming more and more mature, such guqin players as CAI Yi and Ji Kang also emerge along with this climax.

Representative songs such as CAI's Five Lanes and Guangling SAN have thus become representative songs in the history of guqin that have caused many topics. In the southern and Northern Dynasties, guqin was still an important representative instrument of the scholar-official class, especially the scholar-nationality group, and a large number of guqin players emerged. Just Zhu Changwen of piano history contained in this period have Xie An, quasi Hun, liu yuan, Wang Hui, Dai Xuan, He Tao, monk execute GongSunFeng, wang, wang, Xie Zhuang, Shen Daoqian, ZongBing, Xiao Si words, aristocracy, LiuYuan, Zheng Shuzu, ChuYan habitat hui, Shen Linshi, du, tao hongjing..., Wang Yan harp of people it serves to show a generation of fill. Although due to historical reasons or archaeological shortcomings, we can not see the actual guqin in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. However, according to ji Kang's Ode to qin and some theories of qin scholars in Wei and Jin Dynasties, the material selection for the production of guqin requires that "the wood of the chair should be strong enough to support the high mountain", "the wood should be considered and the false things should be considered to support the heart". Is the new Sun Zhichun amount of people appointed to the system of Thought for yaqin "; In terms of the production, it paid attention to "the green string of rhinocolus, the silk emblem of garden guests and the jade of Zhong Shan". Although these are only literary works, it is inevitable to exaggerate a little, but it is enough to prove that the seven sages of Nanjing Bamboo Forest in the Southern Dynasty had a rich accumulation of experience in various aspects of the craft of making qin. In addition to the records of these documents, there is also a picture of Qin Qi Tu, passed on by Gu Kaizhi in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, which is a copy of the Song dynasty and vividly depicts the whole process of making guqin. From this picture, we can see that the structures of Guqin, such as dragon pond and phoenix marsh, are as clearly identifiable as they are today.

According to legend, the "Nine Xiao Huan Pei" in the Palace Museum is one of the lyzins. It is round and thick in shape, and its tone is transparent. Another surviving guqin made in the Tang Dynasty is stored in The Todaiji Shicangyuan in Nara, Japan. It is also called "gold and silver Plain qin". It is also round in shape and carved with gold thread and flower and bird patterns. In ancient China, guqin was usually just called "qin". It was one of the earliest plucking instruments in China.

It is recorded in the Book of History and The Book of Rites and Records of Music. It can be seen that qin was the earliest plucked instrument created by our ancestors and played an important role in the musical life of ancient China. In terms of the general law of the development of music in human society, Musical Instruments appeared in the order of percussion, blowing, plucking, pulling strings, keyboard and other times. As a plucked instrument, the emergence of guqin requires a certain level of productivity. Not only does the selection, design and manufacture of the resonant cavity of the body require certain skills, but the production of strings also needs to be based on the corresponding silk weaving industry. Therefore, it can be inferred that the approximate period of the appearance of Guqin should be the time of Shun, that is, the end of the patriarchal primitive society and the early slave society.

Judging from the existing guqin objects, the shape and manufacturing technology of guqin have not changed much since the Tang Dynasty. Generally speaking, guqin, as a body resonating instrument, is composed of two pieces of wood. Therefore, the panel is usually made of tung wood and the backplane is made of catalpa wood with variable length, generally about one meter two. There are usually two articulators on the back called dragon Pond and Phoenix Marsh. The stringed horse is called Yueshan or Dragon heel, and the seven strings are fixed to the yan foot behind the phoenix marsh by the piano wheel under the dragon's caries. The winding method is non-mechanical. After the string is pulled to about pitch, it is tied to the foot. The instrument wheel can only adjust the pitch within about five degrees. Although after wei and Jin dynasties, there was no difference in the way of making guqin, but there were some differences between Tang and Song dynasty guqin. Generally speaking, Tang qin is more full and song qin is stronger and thinner. Tang Dynasty is the heyday of China's feudal society, in all aspects of culture and art are reflected in the Tang people's confident tension, but also reflects their unruly character and publicity personality. Starting from the sui and tang dynasties era of foreign arts come into view and with the people in the middle, Hu Xuan yan dance follow, but the external impact did not make the guqin music die phase, after the tang dynasty is relatively quiet, from the tang dynasty began to guqin gradually adapt and absorb the beneficial ingredients, foreign music also gradually reached a new high. The most remarkable feature of this peak is undoubtedly represented by "reqin". The theory of Lei Qin can be found in Duan Anjie's Yuefu Zalu Qin, "There are many ancient people who are capable of learning.

Development of Guqin Music in the Song Dynasty

The maturity of guqin manufacturing technology in song Dynasty will inevitably bring the progress of playing skills, and the progress of playing skills will effectively promote the prosperity of music, which is reflected in the literature is the prosperity of repertoire. Of course, most of these songs are guqin songs before the Song Dynasty. It is doubtful whether they can be played in the Song Dynasty. And the actual situation of these musical pieces has been difficult to see because of the different schools of musical music version. Now can be sure to know the Song Dynasty qin qu Jiang Kui "ancient Resentment", Yang Zan "Zixia Cave spectrum" 13 volumes and so on, tao Zongyi "Said evil" there is a "Monk Juyue spectrum record" recorded in the Song dynasty a total of 221 qin songs.

Song Dynasty was also a very important stage in the development of music. Guqin, as one of the traditional national Musical Instruments with the longest history, had no clear evidence of its notation before the Tang Dynasty, except that it was handed down from generation to generation by teachers and apprentics and orally and mentally. In the pre-Qin, Wei and Jin periods, there were only catalogues in the literature but no music was handed down. Of course, qin Cao is also recorded in the Ming and Qing dynasties, but its origin is unclear. Most of them are rewritten by later generations according to the title, and can not be identified as the music of the Wei and Jin dynasties or earlier. The earliest extant ancient qin score is a copy of qin music in the Southern and Northern Dynasties period written by the Tang dynasty, "Brown Stone Diao · You LAN", which is now stored in Japan. It was discovered by Yang Shoujing when he visited ancient books in Japan, and was compiled by li Shuchang, the minister in Japan at that time, into the "Gu Yi Cong Shu" and sent back to China.

The Song Dynasty guqin school -- Zhejiang school

The most direct participants and promoters of guqin culture in song Dynasty are those who love guqin music and culture. The achievements of guqin culture in Song Dynasty are the result of the joint efforts of a large number of players and musicians. In such a large number of guqin players, there are also schools of differentiation. It is the most natural thing to produce a genre with a specific style under the teaching method based on oral and psychological teaching. As early as in the Tang Dynasty Zhao Yeli would put forward the "Sound of wu Wan if the Yangtze River wide flow long and xu Passed the wind of the national scholar. Shu sound impetuous if rushing thunder is also a jun. In the Tang Dynasty, there were shen Jiasheng, Zhu Jiasheng and other factions. The division of such schools was the same in the Song Dynasty. There are two systematic schools of guqin music, one is the Qin and Monk system in the Northern Song Dynasty and the other is the Zhejiang school in the Southern Song Dynasty.

The Cultural Influence of GUqin

The qin has been played since ancient times, and has traditionally been favored by scholars and literati as an instrument of great subtlety and refinement, as well as being associated with the ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius.“士無故不撤琴瑟,” "a gentleman does not part with his qin or se without good reason,"

The guqin is nearly always used as a solo instrument, as its quietness of tone means that it cannot compete with the sounds of most other instruments or an ensemble. It can, however, be played together with a xiao (end-blown bamboo flute), with other qin, or played while singing. In old times, the se (a long zither with movable bridges and 25 strings, similar to the Japanese koto) was frequently used in duets with the qin. Sadly, the se has not survived into this century, though duet tablature scores for the instruments are preserved in a few qinpu, and the master qin player Wu Jinglüe was one of only a few in the twentieth century who knew how to play it together with qin in duet. Lately there has been experimentation with the use of other instruments to accompany the qin, such as the xun (ceramic ocarina), pipa (four-stringed pear-shaped lute), dizi (transverse bamboo flute), and others.

A painting by Chen Hongshou of a person with a qin. In order for an instrument to accompany the qin, its sound must be mellow and not overwhelm the qin. Thus, the xiao generally used for this purpose is one pitched in the key of F, known as qin xiao 「琴簫」, which is narrower than an ordinary xiao. If one sings to qin melodies (which is rare today) then one should not sing in an operatic or folk style as is common in China, but rather in a very low pitched and deep way; and the range in which one sings should not exceed one and a half octaves. The style of singing is similar to that used to recite Tang poetry.

Traditionally, the qin was played in a quiet studio or room by the player alone, or with a few friends; or played outdoors in places of outstanding natural beauty. Today, many qin players perform concerts in large concert halls, almost always, out of necessity, using electronic pickups or microphones to amplify the sound. Many qin players attend yajis, at which a number of qin players, music lovers, or anyone with an interest in Chinese culture can come along to discuss and play the qin. The yaji originated as a multi-media gathering involving the four arts: qin, chess, calligraphy, and painting.

Ritual use of the qin The guqin was also played in a ritual context, especially in yayue in China, and aak in Korea. The National Center for Korean Traditional Performing Arts continues to perform Munmyo jeryeak (Confucian ritual music), using the last two surviving aak melodies from the importation of yayue from the Song Dynasty emperor Huizong in 1116, including in the ensemble the seul (se) and geum (guqin). In China, the qin was still in use in ritual ceremonies of the imperial court, as can be seen in the court paintings of imperial sacrifices of the Qing court (e.g. The Yongzheng Emperor Offering Sacrifices at the Altar of the God of Agriculture 《雍正祭先農壇圖》, 1723–35).[14] The guqin was also used in the ritual music of Vietnam, where it was called cầm.

Qin Aesthetics When the qin is played, a number of aesthetic elements are involved. The first is musicality. In the second section of "Pingsha Luoyan," for example, the initial few bars contain a nao vibrato followed by a phase of sliding up and down the string, even when the sound has already become inaudible. The average person trained in music may question whether this is really "music." Some players pluck the string very lightly to create a very quiet sound during this phase; other players insist that this plucking unnecessary because, instead of trying to force a sound out of the string, one should allow the natural sounds emitted from the strings. The sliding on the string even when the sound has disappeared is a distinctive feature in qin music. It creates a "space" or "void" in a piece, playing without playing, sound without sound. When the viewer looks at the player sliding on the string without sounds, the viewer mentally "fills in the notes," creating a connection between player, instrument and listener. This cannot happen when listening to a recording, as the performer cannot be seen.

With a really good qin, silk strings, and a perfectly quiet environment, the sound coming from the fingers sliding on the string can be heard. The player, who knows the music, can “hear” this sound even if it is not there. When silk strings are used, the sliding sound might be called the qi or "life force" of the music. The really empty sounds are the pauses between notes. If a player cannot create a sound that can be heard when sliding on a string, it is generally acceptable to lightly pluck the string to create a very quiet sound, particularly during a live recording, when the player wants to convey sound as much as possible towards a third audience.

Guqin in Popular Culture: As a symbol of high culture, the qin is frequently used as a prop in various forms of Chinese popular culture, with varying degrees of accuracy. In television serials and film, the actors often mime the playing of a qin, with the actual music recorded by a professional qin player. Sometimes guzheng music, rather than qin music, is used. A faithful representation of the qin was used in the Zhang Yimou film Hero (英雄, 2002). Xu Kuanghua appeared to play an ancient version of the qin in the courtyard scene in which Nameless (Jet Li) and Long Sky (Donnie Yen) play go. The music was actually played by Liu Li, formerly a professor at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. [16] It is suggested in the film that Xu made the qin himself.

Terms and Expressions

the "Yellow Emperor": 黄帝 tablature：指法谱 the Palace Museum ：故宫博物馆 the Voyager Golden Record：旅行者金唱片 geographical isolation：地理隔绝 tempo：节奏、拍子 Organology：乐器学