Music that embodies Chinese culture, philosophy

EDITOR's Note: Every week we look at a work of art or a cultural relic that puts the spotlight on China's heritage.

Rare guqin - traditional plucked seven-stringed zithers - dating back to ancient times have been selling like hot cakes at recent auctions in China.

A Song Dynasty (AD 960-1279) guqin sold for a record 136.64 million yuan ($20.77 million) at Beijing Poly's autumn auction in December, becoming the first Chinese instrument to fetch an auction price of more than 100 million yuan.