Today ZIYO would like to showcase this professional guqin owned by our student Jenny.
Jenny works as a programmer in London, who also plays piano and violin.
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Jenny searched for a new musical instrument to learn and she discovered the guqin.
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As a passionate and seasoned musician she understands the difference between entry and professional level instruments, including the difference in the cost between the two. She rented one of our qins to get an understanding of the instrument.
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After 5 months of learning to play the guqin she decided to buy a professional qin. She asked ZIYO to source a handmade, premium quality qin from one of Ziyo’s select master craftsmen.
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She is fond of the Confucian Qin style and wanted her Qin to follow this style. Our select guqin craftsmen only produces a handful of guqins a year, most of the guqins in production are ‘made to order’ to meet a customer’s specifications. It is rare to have much choice on the qins available for sale from any of the master craftsmen, but fortunately there were some available qins available that followed the Confucian style.
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Jenny told us that when she purchased her first professional violin she took at least 4 hours of trying different violins in a shop before making her choice. Similarly she took few weeks to decide on what the (based on the sound of the name) name of the qin should be and which style of calligraphy should be used before it is carved onto her Qin.
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Jenny’s qin follows the ‘Large’ Confucius style (大仲尼), which is 5 cm longer than normal size. The body is crafted from prime 100+ year fir wood reclaimed from a old house. Some parts are carved from aged ebony (紫光檀). The qin is varnished several times with premium quality lacquer. The lacquer is mixed with deer horn and mineral pigments to add a patina to the finish.
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The name Jenny chose for her qin is 望月 which is in the style of a famous calligrapher’s clerical script (張迁碑隷書)
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If you are thinking of purchasing a guqin, ZIYO certainly can give you some advice and recommendations
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