A Master of An Ancient Chinese Instrument: The Guqin

  • Director Kevin Lee
  • Client Yin Xiao
  • Year of Production 2024
  • Category People

In partnership with Dominic, renowned in Chinese classical music circles as Yin Xiao. This photo essay highlights the Guqin (古琴) and attempts to capture its elegance in our studio. The charismatic Yin Xiao demonstrates a level mastery that only decades of honing your talents would you be able to attain.

Originally conceived as a product shoot of this ancient Chinese instrument. Later, evolved into an intimate portrayal of Yin Xiao’s masterful connection with it.

Yin Xiao shares with us, in great detail, the significance of each line and curve of the instrument.

Click on each photo to read the descriptions that further describe what you are seeing.

Photographed by Kevin Lee.

Additional words in captions by Yin Xiao.

Yin Xiao. Maestro of the ancient Chinese instrument 'Guqin'.
Yin Xiao 隐啸 in deep concentration, focusing on the left hand. The player is never to look at their right hand when playing. To do so would show them up as poor musicians, so it was said. Dao is the crux of the guqin as an instrument, the lore and the attitude to playing it. Total serenity is an almost trance-like ideal; wuwei, action by inaction.
Just finished playing a piece of guqin music and, according to old traditions, the hands have been placed upon the strings in conclusion. Under the guqin are two red sandbags made of Portuguese kidskin leather filled with local (Vietnamese) sand. In front of the instrument is a crucible censor with incense burning, in the old way.
Fuxi-style guqin with silk strings by Xu Yachong. This is one of the oldest shapes of guqin, said to have been designed by Emperor Fuxi himself. Black lacquer over red cinnabar and mother-of-pearl harmonic markers.
A remarkable moment in playing. The middle finger was caught having just played the first string with an outward stroke. The reflection of the hand on the instrument shows how very high gloss the lacquer is.
The third middle finger on string one just beyond the 13th and lowest position. The second lowest note on the instrument. In the lacquer, you can see the the depth of the lacquer and the texture of the underlying layers beneath the top shiny surface.
A remarkable moment of musical tension was captured with two strings distended each by one hand and a third string caught by the camera in the midst of vibrating.
A striking close-up of the dragon’s gums, showing all seven strings as they meander left or right across the narrow end of the guqin.
Seen from above, the cinnabar undercoat of this instrument is clearly visible. The curved shape of the top board of the guqin represents the curved shape of the heavens.
The bridge is called the ‘mountain’ in Chinese, upon which the silk strings are held in place with their ‘fly knots’ by twisted silk cords. These cords pass through the instrument to the underside where they are secured by jade rods which are twisted to increase or decrease the helix and thereby raise or lower the pitch of each string for tuning. Where the cords enter into the body of the string is a narrow plate of wood where, traditionally, it is said that the morning dew collects.
The curvature of the top board is clear here and the depth of the black lacquer highlights the mother-of-pearl markers.
Under the guqin are two wooden or jade legs, referred to as the ‘goose legs’ in China. It is here where the strings are tied and secured after having been wrapped over the dragon’s gums and back along the underside. They are held in place only by their own tension.
Seven silk strings curved around the nut, mystically called the dragon’s gums. To either side of the dragon’s gums are the two halves of the wooden protecting plates, referred to as the ‘philosopher’s cap’.
One of the mother or pearl harmonic markers. In some cases jade or shell was used and, more rarely, gold. Under string one we can see the gentle patina produced by the movement of the strings. The silk strings on this instrument are handmade and might be compared to the historically famed ‘ice’ strings of the Ming Dynasty for their translucence, smooth surface and bell-like tone.
The engraved 'chop' seal of the instrument maker, Xu Yachong at in Henan Province, in central China. The calligraphy style is called ‘seal script’ and became standard in the Qin Dynasty. Such seals, carved into stone, were used to press ink onto surfaces to act as a signature.

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