The Ancient Chinese Lute: The Music of Life Energy & Spiritual Cultivation

Abstract

The discussion throughout this article focuses mainly on the 7 string Chinese Ancient Lute or Gu Qin (古琴) in the Mandarin Language and the 21 string Chinese Zither or Gu Zheng (古筝) in Mandarin Language. The author has conducted the research through available books, research papers, observations, discussions with various players as well as Chinese traditional music instrument masters and being the practitioner of one’s own. However, there was a limitation of available resources in Thai. With an attempt to fulfill new knowledge he set about and explored these outstanding ancient chinese musical instruments, the author has decided to cover the content eg the article in the following outline : The history and the origin of Gu Qin & Gu Zheng, The analysis of the similarities and differences of these two ancient musical instruments, Playing techniques, The uniqueness of its musical score with It’s varied writing styles, The traditional chinese music played by these two musical instruments as well as the relationship between these ancient musical instruments and the Influence of certain Chinese Philosophers during those ancient times. At the end of the article, the mythical spirit of these ancient Chinese musical instruments is examined. However, this article is not written as an aim to be a guideline for those who are keen to learn to play the instruments, but rather to raise an awareness towards the importance of these ancient musical instruments to mankind. More importantly, the author hopes that this article can shed light for future research, in the field of the legendary art and cultural values through these ancient musical instruments, before they are forgotten or disappear in time and by the negative impact of globalization.