Yunzhi (Longfeng) Guzhengs?

[blueharp]

Has anyone heard on Yunzhi brand guzhengs? They appear to be exactly like Longfeng instruments.

www.liyunzhi.com

From what I can make out the company's focus is erhu/jinghu. Their guqins are strange looking - not quite "right".

I did hear that Longfeng has split into 2 companies. The chief technician left to form his own company, but he didn't own the trademark.

As I understand it, the name Longfeng isn't patented or trademarked but the "seal" for Longfeng is.

So there are 2 companies called Longfeng but having different trademarks.

Confusing!

Steve

[Charlie Huang]

Grrrr! Why does it take FOREVER for Chinese sites to load?! I can't even get past the first bloody page!

*30 minutes later*



God! If they knew they got dead low bandwidth then cut the multi-media out! 1000 pics, a bleeding video file on the homepage, background music, etc etc!

*10 minutes later*

OK, finally found the guqins!

*5 minutes later*

>.<

My patience is running dry! I'll stick the pics here to save me the bother of returning:




*another 5 minutes later*

God! I'm absolutely livid! FFS!

*1 minute later*

Gwad! I give up! Blueharp-san! To avoid rupturing my spleen for the second time this week, please post all the guqin pics up for me!

EDIT: Forget it! I got the other one:



Actually, they seem alright to me.

[Charlie Huang]

OK, on further examination, the bottom one is Fuxi form, but the waist is too high. The centre should be between 9 and 10 hui, but this one's waist centre is between 8 and 9, almost to 8.

Can't find the form of the first one in WZZQP.

[carol]

Their guzhengs don't appeal to me either!
I think people just copy each other on the guzheng designs.

LengFeng has split into two brands.
The LengFeng company makes the Yayun brand
The Huayun company makes the LengFeng brand

Really confusing! The old chief maker is now the owner of Huayun company that produces LengFeng brand.

There are so many twin companies in guzheng industry.
Dunhuang/Yun
LengFeng/Yayun
Jinyun/Yinhe
Tianyi/Biquan

Those are the ones I can name out. Maybe the purpose after all is just to confuse people.

[blueharp]

I guess I am getting older and more patient (NOT). I didn't bother to let the whole opening page load but went straight to the guzhengs.

Charlie, I made the comment about the second instrument because I have 2 Fuxi style guqins and the one on their website was, well, wrong to me.

The first one actually looks better but still not quite "right". I can't put my finger on why.

Out of curiosity I used my cousin's cable connection to watch the video on the opening page. It was about jinghu, and went on for quite a while before her computer froze.

Carol, thank you for shedding some light on the VERY confusing guzheng maker situation. I actually wondered what had become of Biquan - I used to have a working link to their company webpage and the instruments seemed very lovely.

Steve

[Charlie Huang]

The first one maybe a new style invented, but unless it's by some good maker, one would have to think whether it is legit for an instrument, whether the form fits the instrument, or whether it is some stereotypical take on the instrument by a 'copier' of the instrument. And that seems to be so, as par example instrument no. 2 with it's waist too high, signifying the maker seemed not to understand guqin proportions to a required degree. Silly enough, they did not add further information as to what kind of wood is used, which is often a factor when deciding whether to by a qin.

[Vi An]

I really love the background music on this sight for the guzheng page, what is this music and how can I get that CD!?!?!?!!! The guzheng playing style is so harp like here.. Much more intricate harmonies and such a soothing flowing piece.

I like the look of Longfeng, their main bridges are decorated very simliar to koto bridges which I really admire. With the white lines frame around darker wood.

v:.

[carol]

My biquan link is still working: www.biquan.com.cn

Well, don't get any Biquan's though. It's typical to all the other confusing twins. The later one is always the better one, since the chief maker all left to start their own company.

To be honest, I never really like LongFeng's guzhengs. The special finish on the face board looks weired, and I still cast doubt on it. The double arch is just like ChungHwa's, and that's not a good reason for not using pure paulownia backboard. ChungHwa has been making double arch using pure paulownia for years.

The Koto look side bridge is not a surprise. LongFeng has dominated the low-price Koto market in Japan. Known as the "made-in-china" koto thats unbelievably cheap but also awful sounding.

The last time I saw a LongFeng is two years ago at a friend's house. She acuquired a Nanmu dragon carving model. After I examed it carefully, I really think it doesn't worth the money. Since Nanmu carving is among their highest model, I don't think they should use plywood back, and the bridges she got look like the ones of Jinyun's basic model. They are big, but light-weighted and heavy painted. I am still thinking if the store gave her a bad set of bridges instead of the set that should come with that model.

I think Mr. Tian Bugao, the chief maker, concentrates more on making guqins now. I do adimre him for making guqin's price more friendly to the buyer. The quality is really not bad at all.

Well, I hope their guzhengs have improved. Their factory is among my list to check out next year.

[carol]

The background music is called "Yu Guan Qu" or "Fishing Light Song." Well, that's a weired translation of mine.

It's translated to guzheng ntoes from a pop song in the 30s. I use that song when I started practicing "Yaozhi".

I think Funa has a CD with that song.

[Charlie Huang]

carol said:

I think Mr. Tian Bugao, the chief maker, concentrates more on making guqins now. I do adimre him for making guqin's price more friendly to the buyer. The quality is really not bad at all.

My guqin is Longfeng brand and it is good / OK. Though there are obvious things that could be improved upon.