Yaji 11th July 2004

This, the 7th meeting of the London Youlan QinSociety, was held in the home of Sarah Moyse in southwest London. We werepleased to welcome Jim Binkley, a qin player from Portland, Oregon,USA and translator of the Yugu Zhai Qinpu.

Programme

  1. Jim Binkley - played Zui Yu Chang Wan (from Zha Fuxi) and half ofZhuangzhou Meng Die - Shenqi Mipu version *
  2. Charlie Huang - played Kazuhiko no Misao (Kazuhiko's Principle)- his own composition #
  3. Julian Joseph - played Ping Sha Luo Yan - Shiyi Xian Guan Qinpuversion *
  4. Tan Chinwee - played Fan Canglan (Gong Yi's transcription) *
  5. Cheng Yu - played Liu Shui *
  6. Dan Nung Ing - played Linzhong Yi (from Xilutang Qintong), and Yi Guren (both Gong Yi's transcriptions) *
  7. Marnix Wells - played a single section from Guangling San andGuanshan Yue *
    * Played on a Qing Dynasty  qinwith steel/nylon strings
    # Played on a qin of unknown provenancewith steel/nylon strings
I

Introduction

Cheng Yu began the proceedings and welcomed our guest speaker and new members.This gathering marked the first anniversary of the London Youlan QinSociety. It was officially launched on July 13th 2003, althoughsome of us had been holding occasional informal yajis since 1998.

The Yugu Zhai Qinpu

JimBinkley is a qin player of many years standing. He lived in Taiwanin the 1970's and studied the qin under Wang Zhenhua in Taipei.At that time it was almost impossible to acquire a qin in Taiwan.Another qin teacher in Taipei at the time, Sun Yuqin, had hand-copiedthe second folio of the Yugu Zhai Qinpu, that dealt withqinconstruction. One of his students, a Mr. Pu, was assigned the task of learningto make qins according to the procedures given  therein. Inthis he was highly successful, and made a number of good instruments. JohnThompson and Jim took lessons from him in qin building. To get tothe farmhouse in which Mr Pu lived, he had to take a bus for several hours,pay a boatman to take him across the river, then walk through the woodsand past a temple. It was like going back 1000 years. These lessons concentratedmainly on the application of the lacquer, which is by far the most difficultpart. Jim made two qins. One, he says, sounded too bright; the otherwasn't bad. With help from a professor at Taipei university who was a calligrapherand musician, Jim translated this copy of the Yugu Zhai Qinpu, aswell as parts of the third folio, which are on matters relating to thecare of the qin.

On his return to the US two years later, he obtained a microfilm copyof the Yugu Zhai Qinpu and revised his translation, adding in thoseparts Mr Sun had not included in his copy, mainly literary in nature andincluding one poem. About five years ago, John Thompson persuaded him toput the translation online. It can be found at http://www.cs.pdx.edu/~jrb/chin/index.html.

The Yugu Zhai Qinpu was compiled by Zhu Fengjie in 1855 in FujianProvince. It consists of four folios:

  1. An extended essay on pitch theory and its relationship to the qin
  2. Qin construction
  3. Qin "accoutrements" - the construction of qin tables, theconstruction of qin  melodies, how to make silk strings (startingwith the cocoons), how to tie the "butterfly" knots in the strings, howto hang a qin, how to carry a qin, qin bags, etc.
  4. Fingering techniques.
Unusually, it contains no music scores. However Qinxue Rumen (AQinPrimer), aqin handbook compiled by Zhu's student Zhang He in 1864,is closely connected with it. Indeed it is sometimes regarded as a partof the Yugu Zhai Qinpu. It contains much of the same material asthe Yugu Zhai Qinpu, but omits the part on qin construction,and contains a large number of music scores.

According to the Yugu Zhai, a qin consists of a curvedupper board made of pawlonia (tong) wood and a flat, lower boardof catalpa (zimu). The light, porous upper board provides resonance;the dense lower board reinforces the sound. The pillars of Heaven and Earthare probably anti-warping devices, as well as serving to transmit soundfrom the top board to the bottom. Sometimes there is also a sound cavityin the head of the instrument. The bridge and nut are of a very hard woodsuch as zitan.

The qins Jim made each took about 3 months to complete. The lacqueringaccounted for most of this time, since a number of layers must be applied,and each must be allowed to dry before adding the next. Liquid lacqueris highly toxic, containing as it does the same toxin that is found inpoison ivy. Some people are highly sensitive to it (Jim was not, but MrPu was). When used for qin making, it is normally mixed either withvery fine deer-horn powder (preferably) or a substitute, such as bone,cowhorn or brick. The result, when dry, is extremely hard and durable.Some makers use just lacquer, but that is not as durable. Aside from thelacquering, other aspects that are difficult to get right include gettingthe right degree of curvature on the playing surface while keeping it level,and getting the correct height for the bridge.

If a qin sounds too bright, there are two possible remedies:you can put in a nayin (a "rib" under the sound holes) or you canopen it up and shave off some of the edge of the upper board (or lowerboard), to make the sound cavity smaller. If it sounds too "muddy", youcan open it up and carefully remove wood from the upper surface of theinside.

To select a good qin, check for buzzes along the length of eachstring, especially around the centre, where problems are most common. Checkopen, stopped and harmonic tones. Check whether long sequences of slideswithout plucks sustain their sound. Play a few pieces on it. Also be awareof where it was made: if you take a qin that was made in the hot,humid atmosphere of southwest China to the desert of Arizona, you may haveproblems. It can take a long time to really know how good an instrumentis, and whether it is suited to your taste and to the climate in whichyou will keep it.
 
Jim Binkley tries out aqin. 
Charlie Huang, a self-taught qin player from Birmingham, playshis own composition Kazuhiko no Misao (Kazuhiko's Principle). Ituses a tuning he devised himself: the first, third, fourth and sixth stringsare slackened; the second, fifth and seventh strings are tightened.

 
 
 
 
 

Copyright the London Youlan Qin Society, July,2004. All rights reserved.