Manual of Chinese zither

The long zither of seven ropes qin is an instrument of big antiquity and delicacy. It is said that Confucio was touching it and was composing for her. Although this cannot be demonstrated, the qin has been the favorite instrument of the Chinese scholars from as minimum the dynasty Tang and has accumulated an enormous and varied repertoire. This one is accessible nowadays thanks to dozens of manuals (qinpu) written from the beginnings of the XVth century to preserve and to instruct his music.

Wang Binlu (1867-1921; complimentary name Yanqing) was born in Zhucheng, Shandong. He was a teacher of the qin and the Society Qin de Zhucheng founded. Wang compiled a scores collection for qin, noted down personally, under the title Longyinguan qinpu (Manual of qin of the Haunt of the Dragon that Hums). When Wang died the summer 1921, Xu Zhuo (1897-1969; complimentary name Lisun) and Shao Sen (1898-1938; complimentary name Dasu) they began editing the manuscript of his teacher. They completed this work the year 1923, but the publication of the book was late eight years. In 1929 Xu and Shao organized the Society Qin de Meian (Meian Pai) and, with the help of his companions, they published 500 copies of the book two years later. In memory of the place where Wang taught, they changed the title of the book into Meian qinpu.

The first edition of the Meian qinpu (1931) was successful that successive reprints appeared in 1959, 1971 and 1979 - always in Chinese language. Fredric Lieberman centred his doctoral thesis (1977) on this manual and later he published a synthesis of his analysis under the title 'To chinese Zither Tutor: the M'ei-a'n ch'in-p'u'. From the work 'The Lore of the chinese Lute' (1940, reed.1969 and soon in 2009) of the recognized Dutch sinólogo Robert Hans van Gulik, he had not turned to write in detail of one of four traditional arts, which like three remaining ones, there were dominating all the Chinese scholars of the antiquity: the painting, the calligraphy, the poetry and the qin. The work of Lieberman was, also, the first one in translating and in complementing with valuable notes the complete text of a manual of Chinese zither, managing to attract attention again of sinólogos and musicologists.

"A Manual of Zither China. The Meian qinpu", translation to the Spanish of the study of Lieberman, was published in last September and it is free in http://www.citarachina.org.

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