IN July 2003, a guqin debuted in an auction in China when the 1,000-year-old instrument was purchased by a mysterious buyer for 3.465 million yuan (US$418,000).

The guqin, a seven-stringed zither, is the oldest of China's stringed instruments, dating back some 3,000 years. It was called qin in ancient China, a term that referred to various zither instruments.

The earliest record of the guqin may be the mention in the first collection of Chinese poems "The Collection of Songs? "To make friends with beautiful ladies, we shall play qin and se (another ancient instrument, no longer played).?

The guqin is viewed as a symbol of Chinese high culture and as the instrument most expressive of the essence of Chinese music. In 2003, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) proclaimed China's ancient guqin music part of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity, alongside the flowing Kunqu Opera, one of the oldest opera forms still existing in China.

Guqin music combined with Chinese philosophy and literature has formed a special triad within traditional Chinese culture.

Back to the time of Confucius in the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States Periods (770-221 BC), playing qin and singing poems were among the six essential courses the great Chinese educator taught his students. Later, the guqin was regarded as one of the four required arts for ancient Chinese scholars, including the art of Go, calligraphy and painting.

Ancient Chinese scholars actively involved themselves in the guqin arts, playing the instrument, composing for it and also writing beautiful songs/poems to accompany the music. The guqin music was also influenced by Chinese philosophies including Confucianism and Taoism. Almost half of all guqin pieces have nature (water, birds, orchids, mountains, animals) as their theme, with musicians aiming to achieve harmony with nature ?typical Taoist thinking.

Through guqin music, musicians also show respect for wild geese that fly far out of ambition; for orchids and plum blossoms that have noble qualities and elegance.

The art of the guqin has left aesthetic and sociological marks over centuries of the Chinese civilization. Xue Yijian in the 7th century describes guqin music in his book as being able to express education and social graces, please someone, calm one's thinking, build up one's courage, touch one's soul and help one flee from reality and fight against ghosts and gods.

Guqin stories

The guqin has often been the theme of poems and touching stories and people have generated many idioms or phrases related to the instrument. For example, the phrase "combined Play of Qin and Se?means harmonious marital life and is the best blessing for new couples.

Another phrase, "The high mountain and the flowing water, it's hard to find my zhiyin?is the most widely accepted term for friendship. Zhiyin means the friend who really knows one's music, which refers to understanding friends or soul mates ?the highest praise for friends in Chinese, stemming from an anecdote about Boya and Zhong Ziqi.

Boya was head of the royal music department and a guqin master in the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC). He once travelled on a boat on the Yangtze River and arrived in what is now Central China's Hubei Province to collect folk music. Suddenly, a storm came and huge waves almost overturned his boat. But the night quickly regained its serenity after the storm, with the moon hanging above the hill and birds singing in the forest. Boya couldn't help playing his qin and suddenly one of the strings broke, which indicated that someone who really understood the music was approaching. Boya found a woodcutter, Zhong Ziqi, and invited him to share the music.

Boya played a piece of music named "High Mountain? Afterwards, the woodcutter gave high praise: "How great the Tai Mountain is in the music!?Boya played another piece named "Flowing Water? As the music stopped, the listener commented "How vast and mighty the river is!?Boya felt so excited at these remarks he said: "You are my zhiyin.?The two promised to meet and talk about the qin the following year.

But Zhong Ziqi died before their planned meeting. Boya was deeply saddened by the loss of his real friend. Believing that no one else in the world would understand his music, he broke his qin and never played the instrument again.

There are also romantic stories about the guqin, captured by phrases such as "Male phoenix pursues female phoenix? about Sima Xiangru and Zhuo Wenjun in the second century BC. Sima had long heard of Zhuo, a beautiful and intellectual widow and daughter of the renowned rich Zhuo family. At a banquet with Zhuo's family, Sima bravely, passionately and straightforwardly expressed his love for Zhuo by playing the qin and singing: "A male phoenix travels all around to seek his lover and finally travels back to his hometown. And the beautiful lady is right here ...?

The song and music moved Zhuo standing behind the curtain, who fell in love with Sima at first sight and she promised to elope with him that night. The incredible woman later opened an alcohol shop to support her poor husband in his efforts to gain an official career. This forced her father to recognize their love. Thus, their love story was composed as a guqin piece and spread far and wide. Sima owned a guqin known as "Luqi? which is said to be one of the best guqin in history.

Small group

Just as the above two stories indicate, since ancient times, the guqin has been the instrument played more by elites of society for personal enjoyment than by the general public.

The art declined after the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and it is now known by only a small group of practitioners and admirers, a loose association of musicians who have recorded ancient pieces and attended to the preservation and repair of old instruments.

At the annual Chinese folk instruments solo play competition in 2002, only 99 guqin players attended the event ?far fewer than those for other instruments such as the zheng and flute.

Of the 3,000 pieces of guqin music available today, musicians are only able to play about 100.

To popularize the dying music, the guqin was included in the national folk instruments rating system in 2001 to attract new students to learn the instrument.

However, some guqin players opposed the practice, saying guqin music should be played and shared by a couple of friends in Qinshe (qin association) rather than performed on stage. They are also worried that broadcasting the music through microphones would destroy the beauty and essence of the music.

Attracting more people to study and enjoy guqin music appears to be the only way to save the ancient music. Only popularity with the public will ensure the music survives and develops, according to Wu Zhao, researcher at the Music Research Institute of the China Arts Institute.

The good news is that as more Chinese turn back to traditional Chinese culture, guqin music is gaining more popularity in cities and universities. Guqin societies have been established in Beijing, Nanjing, Shanghai, Changshu and other areas. Peking University Guqin Society is said to have a total of 400 members.