Arts of Guqin Making in Suzhou, China

Abstract

The title of this research is“Arts of Guqin Making in Suzhou,China”The objectives are:1)To Investigate the Physical Structures and Tuning System of Gugin Plucked Zither;2) To search for the excellent characters in terms of physical structures and tone quality of guqin plucked zither to be used as the guqin model for Guqin Making;3)To make a new guqin plucked zither that match the quality of the given model.This paper systematically collects and analyzes the written documents in the study. The data for the study were mainly derived from historical documents, field data obtained from field trips. The research methods used in the study include musicological theory, comparative study, practical performance method, qualitative and quantitative research methods to verify and analyze the data according to the set objectives.The results of the study are as follows：

1) On Physical Structures and Tuning System of Gugin Plucked Zither.The main characteristics of a good guqin are: Size, Styles, Wooden materials，Cavity belly，Sound quality, Inscription, Broken grain and Structure.(1) It also lists and analyzes how the eight tunings of the guqin operate.

2) On searching for the excellent characters in terms of physical structures and tone quality of guqin plucked zither to be used as the guqin model for Guqin Making.The researcher interviewed Suzhou guqin makers, guqin players, guqin experts, and collected research data, and finally summarized the condition factors of Guqin of Excellent Quality.

3) On making a new guqin plucked zither that match the quality of the given model.Based on the first two research objectives,Researchers have begun to produce superb guqins based on a correct and rational guqin-making process, and finally assessed the quality of the guqin by playing the guqin piece "Remembering the Old Man" （忆故人）with two guqins.

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