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From scratch, musician crafts his own guqin
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AFTER more than 15 years of playing the guqin, one of the oldest Chinese instruments, Hangzhou musician Jiang Renjie is determined to put his sensitive fingers on saw and plane, and make his own guqin that meets his high standards.
The guqin, a plucked, seven-string zither instrument, is famous for its slow, lingering, and, according to some, ethereal music. It was popular among literati and is sometimes called the “father of Chinese music” and the “instrument of the sages.” Confucius was one of many prominent guqin players.
Today, the majority of guqin instruments are mass produced.
But mass production, Jiang says, can’t reflect the spirit of the music. “The difference between a machine-made and a hand-made guqin is very subtle and hard to be explained in words, but we all know that machine-made noodles and hand-made noodles taste different,” he said.
Jiang even avoids using an electric saw or plane.
In ancient times, a man had to master the guqin, calligraphy, painting and go before he could call himself a literati or scholar. The guqin was considered an instrument of great subtlety and refinement — so much so, in fact, that some find the music too slow and boring.
After the “cultural revolution” (1966-76), few people played the noble instrument. However, it’s increasingly popular among the upper class in recent years. Jiang himself has taught more than 100 students, all adults.
In 2003, guqin music was listed as intangible world heritage by UNESCO, and in 2008, it was showcased at the Olympic Games in Beijing.
With the goal of making a guqin he finds satisfying, the artist who is used to pay attention and protecting his hands now uses them to chop, plane and lacquer.
The journey for the most beautiful sound starts by choosing the right wood, he said. If you knock on different pieces of wood, their sound is different. Mostly, soft and porous candle nut or Chinese fir are used for the upper sounding board, while relatively harder and denser wood is used for the lower resonance chamber. Costly rosewood is used to make string holders and the bridge.
All wood must be dry and well-seasoned, so the piece does not deform over time.
Then it is shaped, carved by hand. The sounding board is curved. The lower part that also forms the resonance chamber is concave and flat on the bottom. The carving of the resonance chamber is crucial for acoustics. A well-carved chamber produces a lingering sound, a feature of guqin music.
Then ashes, comprised of plaster, powder of gems, porcelain, and sometimes deer horn, is applied to the surface to protect the wood. After that, it is time to set the 13 hui (dots to set pitch) on the surface, lacquer them, and add seven strings.
Jiang said he is creating a guqin “the way ancient craftsmen would have made it.”
For hand-made guqin, craftsmen listen to each instrument and then set the hui individually. “That is why a musician is needed in making the instruments.”
Jiang estimates that it will take him at least three months to make one guqin.
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