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Most ancient of solo instruments
May 29, 2011, Sunday
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THE Chinese zither, known as a guqin, has existed for more than 3,000 years and represents China's foremost solo musical instrument tradition. Described in early literary sources and corroborated by archaeological finds, this ancient instrument is inseparable from Chinese intellectual history.
Guqin playing developed as an elite art form, practised by noblemen and scholars in intimate settings, and was therefore never intended for public performance. Furthermore, the guqin was one of the four arts - along with calligraphy, painting and an ancient form of chess - that Chinese scholars were expected to master. According to tradition, twenty years of training were required to attain proficiency.
The guqin has seven strings and thirteen marked pitch positions. The three basic playing techniques are known as san (open string), an (stopped string) and fan (harmonics).
Today there are fewer than 1,000 well-trained guqin players and perhaps no more than 50 surviving masters. The original repertory of several thousand compositions has drastically dwindled to a mere hundred works that are regularly performed today.
Guqin was inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2008.
(UNESCO website)
Guqin playing developed as an elite art form, practised by noblemen and scholars in intimate settings, and was therefore never intended for public performance. Furthermore, the guqin was one of the four arts - along with calligraphy, painting and an ancient form of chess - that Chinese scholars were expected to master. According to tradition, twenty years of training were required to attain proficiency.
The guqin has seven strings and thirteen marked pitch positions. The three basic playing techniques are known as san (open string), an (stopped string) and fan (harmonics).
Today there are fewer than 1,000 well-trained guqin players and perhaps no more than 50 surviving masters. The original repertory of several thousand compositions has drastically dwindled to a mere hundred works that are regularly performed today.
Guqin was inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2008.
(UNESCO website)
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