The Qin

The Qin

This article relates to Song of the Six Realms

Music and poetry are a central part of Song of the Six Realms by Judy I. Lin. They are cornerstones of life in the kingdom of Qi and the Celestial world beyond it. Music may entertain but it also expresses feelings Lin's characters can't express with words. Xue'er cannot bring herself to confess she is falling in love with Duke Meng, so she tells him through an ancient song about a courtesan waiting for a lost love. In Lin's world, music is also a tool of magic. Xue'er's mastery of the qin turns out to be the key to unlocking the mystery the duke is trying to solve and the music they make together will mean either the saving or destruction of both their realms.

The guqin, or qin, as it is informally called, is a very real instrument whose existence dates back between three and five thousand years ago. Considered a type of zither, it is China's quintessential classical musical instrument. Its curved top is meant to represent heaven, and the wider base to represent the earth. It is played with one hand holding down the strings at intervals and the other plucking the notes. It was once the favored instrument of Chinese nobility and widely considered one of the four arts a nobleman was expected to master, the others being painting, calligraphy, and an ancient form of chess. Twenty years of study were required to be considered a proficient player. The qin is frequently seen in classic Chinese paintings and referenced in stories and poetry. The philosopher Confucius (551-479 BCE) was a qin player and composer. By the end of the Zhou Dynasty (1045-256 BCE), the instrument had gained popularity at court events and was often played at religious ceremonies.

But by the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 CE), the qin had begun to be seen as a means of more personal expression. Today, it is often considered a subtle and solitary instrument, meant for meditation and contemplation. Many of the songs composed for it date back thousands of years and the original composers' names are lost to history. The songs are meant to convey the deep and personal emotions of the player, as in the well-known piece "Lofty Mountain Flowing Water," a song Lin references in her novel. Qin songs often feature tales of doomed love or tragic sacrifice, such as the tragedy of Consort Yu. This is a popular Chinese story based in truth about a beautiful imperial consort to a king who sacrifices herself on the eve of a hopeless battle rather than be captured or killed by the enemy. For Xue, the song represents what she believes to be the hopelessness of her love for Duke Meng as well as her willingness to sacrifice whatever (or whoever) she has to in order to secure the safety of their worlds.

According to UNESCO, there are fewer than a thousand "well-trained" players of the qin today. Of the thousands of songs once written for it, only a few hundred remain frequently played, and many songs are now lost or drastically changed from their original forms.

This sad history of a beautiful instrument seems oddly fitting for a tragic fairy tale about a solitary young maiden who falls in love with the Duke of Dreams but must risk sacrificing her love to save the world.

Musician playing Guqin (late 18th century), courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Filed under Music and the Arts

This article relates to Song of the Six Realms. It first ran in the May 1, 2024 issue of BookBrowse Recommends.