Guqin

The Guqin, a seven-stringed zither, is China's oldest stringed instrument, with a history of some 3000 years. Chinese music has a long history, and its essence is best expressed on the Guqin. In Imperial China, a well-educated scholar was expected to be skilled in four arts: Qin (the Guqin) Qi (the game of Go) Shu (calligraphy) and Hua (painting). Historically, the Guqin has been viewed as a symbol of Chinese high culture and the instrument most expressive of the essence of Chinese music. There are over 150 Guqin handbooks extant, which contain more than 3,000 pieces of music along with essays on the theoretical aspects of the Guqin and its music.The Guqin has its own notation, which itself has a history of at least 1500 years.

In Chinese, "gu" means old and “qin” means "musical instrument". Historically, Guqin was rendered as "qin" in most ancient texts. Because its long history, it has during the last 100 years been widely called Guqin. There is much symbolism surrounding the instrument. For example, it measures 3' 6.5" (Chinese feet and inches), symbolizing the 365 days of the year; the upper surface is rounded, representing the sky, the bottom flat, representing the earth. The five strings of the earliest Gin symbolize the five elements: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth. When Bo Yikao, son of King Wen, first ruler of the Zhou Dynasty around the 11th century BC, died, the Emperor added a sixth string to mourn his son; the sound of the sixth string is sorrowful. The seventh string was added by the second Zhou ruler, King Wu, to inspire his soldiers when his country went to war; the sound of this string is very strong. Finally, the 13 mother-of-pearl inlays along the outer edge represent the 13 months of the lunar year. Undoubtedly, the Guqin is a part of our world's heritage, but today fewer than 2000 people can play it, and it is rarely seen in China. As such, music that was written over a period of many centuries is unknown to most people.