Qin: Celestial Music for Qin and Xiao

The award winning author and Sinologist Cecilia Lindqvist has won many hearts through her books, lectures and TV programmes on China. Twice she has been presented with the August Award, the first time for “China: Empire of Living Symbols”, and more recently for the exceptionally beautiful and substantial book “Qin”, about the eponymous seven-stringed instrument known to have existed for three thousand years.

In collaboration with Caprice Records she has made sure to put out a record with the very special classical qin music. In the CD booklet, Cecilia Lindqvist tells the story of the magic instrument. The meditative music is performed by two skilled musicians from China – Deng Hong, playing qin, and Chen Shasha, playing a bamboo flute called xiao and an ocarina called xun.

Qin (pronounced ‘chin’) is a quiet instrument, best suited to be played in solitude or with a good friend who follows the melody on flute. The instrument is difficult to play, and one problem for new beginners is that there is no sheet music of the kind we are used to. The seven strings are made of tightly thrown silk. To obtain the durable silk threads required for the strings, the silkworms are fed a special leaf from the zhe-tree. Qin music is normally not performed in public, which makes the Swedish tour very special.

Throughout history, the instrument has been regarded with immense reverence and celebrated in countless poems. In ancient times, it was used by sorcerers and shamans to avert misfortunes and maintain harmony. From the mid 1960s and decades onwards, qin was considered too elitist in China, but today the instrument is advancing strongly and has reclaimed its role as its country’s foremost national instrument. A few years ago, it was included in UNESCO’s List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

The musicians, Deng Hong and Chen Shasha, were both educated at the Academy of Music in Beijing and are currently employed by the world famous Chinese National Orchestra.