Guqin ranks first among China's four traditional arts "Chyi Chin Painting and Calligraphy", which is the oldest musical instrument and its origin. It is said that Fuxi made it, Shennong made it and Huangdi made it, which can't be verified. However, guqin is indeed respected by sages, and its status is respected. There is a saying that "scholars do not withdraw their harps for no reason". If you can't play a few songs and sing a few songs, you are ashamed to call yourself a scholar.
However, in the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, with the depression of the old literati class, the guqin they played gradually declined, and it was not until the 1970s and 1980s that it almost disappeared. The whole world knows the friendship between Zhong Ziqi and Yu Boya, but they can't tell the difference between guqin and guzheng.
A Brief Comment on The Complete Works of Qin Shu
The Complete Works of Qin Shu is a music book compiled by the pianist Jiang Keqian during the Wanli period of Ming Dynasty, and it is the largest collection of ancient Qin literature in China.
Editor Jiang Keqian, accumulated in four generations, wrote books in the year of Gengyin in Wanli of Ming Dynasty. The book has 22 volumes, and the first 20 volumes contain records of Qin studies in previous dynasties, which are extremely rich. Many lost piano research books have been preserved by monographs. In the last two volumes, there are 62 piano pieces, some of which are unique.
Jiang Keqian was born in Xuzhou, Zhili (now Xuzhou, Jiangsu). Born in the royal family, he was good at playing guqin and painting and calligraphy all his life. According to the preface of the book, its original manuscript is the literature recorded by Jiang Keqian's grandfather from "Wang's Death" (an ancient genealogy), which was written shortly before the end of (152 1).