three string Liuqin (?)

[davy]

I wonder if anyone has come across an instrument like the one I bought in auction (in France)? It was perhaps made for tourists, although it is a real functioning musical instrument, certainly hand-made, with a professional level of skill. Impossible for me to guess the age, but I strongly suspect it is several decades old.

It very much resembles a Liuqin, with the elongated pear shape and rounded, one-piece back, but has only 3 strings.

It is strung with what appear to be nylon strings, although they are quite discolored. I'm not familiar enough with gut strings to know for sure.

There are 24 frets, with the 12th fret wider than the other, giving visual aid to finding the octave.

Like a Pipa, it has no sound holes. But like a Liuqin, all the frets are attached directly to the sounding board.

It is 66 cm long. The sounding string length is 41 cm, from the nut to the bridge.

The only thing similar I find on the web are these stock-photo pictures:

www.alamy.com/a-liuqin-a-three-stringed-chinese-lute-image185686879.html

But my instrument has no sound holes, and has a raised crescent-shaped bridge where the strings are attached to holes (the strings do not continue to the base of the instrument).

This article seems to perhaps situate the instrument I have:

www.easonmusicschool.com/chinese-orchestra-instruments/chinese-plucked-string-instruments/liuqin/

So perhaps it dates to the 1950s?

Thanks for any information or sources. I cannot read Chinese, but would appreciate even Chinese links.

[edcat7]

Hi Davy and welcome to the forum,

From memory the liuqin was "extinct" until the 1950's, which was rediscovered, additional strings added and a modern repertoire composed by one man. Ancient liuqins had only two strings though I may be incorrect about this.

My modern liuqin has four strings made of steel and I'm not sure if the same repertoire can be on three three string one.

Sorry I can help you more.

Ed

[davy]

Thanks Ed

With continued research, it appears that my liuqin MAY BE from a transitional period 1960-70s(?) when the traditional instrument was enlarging its repertory and possibilities. It appears that the instrument may have before been mostly used in a regional folk opera form where it was purely an accompaniment instrument.

It seems that the 4-metal-string instrument has completely replaced its ancestors. It seems that silk strings were used traditionally.

It's very difficult for me to search in Chinese, but that is what I'll try doing. Otherwise it seems more likely I may find some recorded audio music than any detailed written sources.



Seems like this dude may have been the culprit:
zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%8E%8B%E6%83%A0%E7%84%B6


I'm really curious to know how the 3-string instrument was tuned. Tuning of the 2-string instrument may give a clue.

[davy]

The article below answers many of my questions.
Anyone interested in the development of the liuqin will find it interesting.

It firmly places my instrument in the transitional 3-string period (1960-1975(?), probably at the beginning of that period. I suppose I could have a copy made at a later period, but that seems unlikely, since it appears the transitory 3-string instrument had a short lifespan. The only alternative explanation is that my instrument is an even earlier example of the three-string instruments that existed before the PRC, but that seems highly unlikely. Especially since it uses nylon strings, which Wang Huiran flirted with temporarily as an alternative to silk strings (early 60s?) before turning to steel strings.

%E8%80%81%E4%BA%BA%E4%B8%80%E6%8A%8A%E7%90%B4-%E4%B8%80%E6%94%AF%E5%A6%99%E7%AC%94%E4%B8%80%E7%89%87%E6%83%85-%E7%8E%8B%E6%83%A0%E7%84%B6%E7%9A%84%E6%9F%B3%E7%90%B4/zh-tw/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.xuehua.us/2018/06/05/%E4%B8%80%E4%BD%%E8%80%81%E4%BA%BA%E4%B8%80%E6%8A%8A%E7%90%B4-%E4%B8%80%E6%94%AF%E5%A6%99%E7%AC%94%E4%B8%80%E7%89%87%E6%83%85-%E7%8E%8B%E6%83%A0%E7%84%B6%E7%9A%84%E6%9F%B3%E7%90%B4/zh-tw/

The article includes a photo of a 3-string liuqin played by Wang Huiran, who seems to be universally credited as father of the modern liuqin.