It's like a beauty in her sweet sleep, breathing and gesturing so gracefully." Modern Chinese novelist Jia Pingwa thus described a guqin, a seven-stringed zither, in his essay "Red Fox." He was speaking of a gift from a friend that had accompanied him through his loneliest days after his divorce. He named the instrument "Red Fox" because of its red-colored wood; he bought a big bed for the zither that measured as long as 130 centimeters.

As far back as 3,000 years ago, the guqin played the same important role for the Chinese literati who considered it the most refined of instruments.

"The guqin is an extremely beautiful ancient flower, a mirror of traditional Chinese philosophies and cultures," says Gong Yi, China's top guqin player, who will stage a recital at the Shanghai Oriental Arts Center tomorrow.

"Among qin (guqin) qi (chess) shu (calligraphy) hua (painting), the four arts of the gentleman of the old Chinese scholar class, qin specifically indicates guqin, not music or other instruments," says Gong. "Most ancient Chinese literateurs were good at playing this instrument, such as Tang Dynasty (619-907 AD) poet Li Bai, Song Dynasty (960-1279) scholar Su Shi and even the great Confucius."

Four years ago guqin was named by UNESCO a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity along with Kunqu Opera.

"This is because compared with other Chinese instruments, guqin is the only one that has both written and archeological evidence to prove its history of nearly 3,000 years," says Gong. "Those guqins unearthed from thousand-year-old tombs are rather similar to modern reproductions in terms of the structure, shape and the performing methods."

The guqin has no bridges and its effective vibrating length is longer than that of other instruments. The large vibrating amplitude and rich low tones are perfect for conveying the sounds of nature. More than 100 harmonics can be played.

Guqin is a beautiful instrument, and beautiful in an elegant way. The shape of the guqin is said to resemble the mythical phoenix. Actually, it's more like a long rectangle; it consists of a long narrow upper board and a wider lower board; it does not have a "neck." It is usually 130 centimeters in length and 20 centimeters in width. It has 13 studs on its sound board harmonic, and long, silky tassels.

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