Guqin and Ichigenkin

[Charlie Huang]

Look what I found!

home7.highway.ne.jp/kaneko/index/f.html

The fourth section has info on Japanese qin making.

The fifth section has interesting info and sample clips of the "Ichigenkin" or [yi xian qin], one-stringed zither! I saw it mentioned in the Wuzhizhai Qinpu, but I never knew it actually existed! It must have developed inpedendantly in Japan.

[davidmdahl]

Since I am a player and fan of the Vietnamese monochord (dan bau), I have done a little checking around for monochords in other cultures.

The Japanese ichigenkin appears to be a rather rarely played instrument more likely used for personal enjoyment than performance. Recordings use the ichigenkin as an accompaniment to singing rather than a solo instrument. I enjoy the theory that the ichigenkin is descended from the qin. The story goes that the first qin to reach Japan had all the strings broken but one, so the tradition developed from that one string qin.

There is a Chinese monochord (duxianqin) that is very much like the Vietnamese version. It is not apparently an important instrument in Chinese music however, and the best of Chinese music is more likely to be heard on other instruments such as erhu, guzhen, guqin, and dizi, in my opinion at least. There is an interesting website on the duxianqin at www.chinamonochord.com.

Best wishes,

David Dahl
Portland, Oregon