The qin (now usually called guqin) was brought to Japan over 1,000 years ago, as was the other important Chinese long zither, the zheng (or guzheng).³ Important qin music and documents have been preserved in Japan since the Tang dynasty. However, whereas the zheng became exceedingly popular in Japan (where it is called a koto), it is not clear how much the qin was actually played there prior to the arrival in Japan of Jiang Xingchou (Shin'etsu), in 1677.⁴

A program on this theme could thus focus on the following aspects of qin music in Japan.⁵

1. Qin music preserved in Japanese handbooks.
   These are mostly short qin songs. Some are copies or adaptations of melodies played in China, including a few longer melodies such as Gao Shan, Yu Qiao Wenda, and Shin'Etsu's own teacher's Li Yun Chun Si. Others seem to have been composed in Japan (Fusang). For various possibilities, see Japanese Guqin Handbooks.

2. Recent qin compositions with a Japan connection
   There is at least one modern composition for qin and Japanese instruments.

3. Chinese qin melodies known or likely to have been played in Japan
   The most likely sources for such melodies would be the handbooks known to have been in Japan during the Edo period.⁶ Most relevant to the early Edo period would probably be Songxianguan Qinpu (1614) and Qinxue Xinsheng (1664). Van Gulik wrote that in the 17th century, when Shin'etsu went to Japan, he probably taught his advanced students from the Songxianguan Qinpu. And Qinxue Xinsheng was the handbook of his teacher in China, so most likely he brought that as well.⁷

4. Chinese qin melodies preserved in Japanese libraries or museums
   The most famous example of this is You Lan.

It would be appropriate to share such a program with a Japanese instrument. For this the shakuhachi end blown flute would seem to be the most natural choice. In China the instrument today most commonly paired with the qin is the xiao end blown flute. And the shakuhachi, like the qin, is best known as an instrument of contemplation.

The Japanese ichigenkin one-string qin, according to tradition, has its musical and aesthetic roots in the Chinese guqin. In China there are some stories and illustrations regarding a one string qin, and one handbook published in 1618 actually has a few melodies. However, the modern repertoire of the ichigenkin is most closely related to that of the samisen, a three-stringed banjo-like instrument.⁸

 
Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1. The Guqin in Japan, main references
     R. H. Van Gulik, The Lore of the Chinese Lute
     Stephen Addiss, The Qin in Japan
     Mitchell Clark, The Art of the Qin in China and Japan
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2. Image to be added
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3. 琴 qin; 古琴 guqin; 箏 zheng; 古箏 guzheng
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4. Confusion in Japan between the qin and zheng
Although the 琴 qin has no frets, and the 箏 zheng has a movable fret or bridge under each string, both instrumentents are long zithers and thus somewhat similar in appearance. Due perhaps to this, plus the fact that references to qin are very common in early Chinese literature, whereas zheng references are rather rare, early Japanese writings commonly used the kanji (Chinese character) for qin/kin when a zheng/koto was the actual reference. In modern times the confusion was compounded because the list of 1900 characters approved in 1947 by the Japanese government for use in newspapers, magazines and official documents did not include 箏 zheng/koto, but only 琴 qin/kin (with "koto" given as one of its pronunciations).
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5. Being able to use qin with a Japanese connection would make such a recital particularly relevant.
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6. Qin materials in Japan during the Edo period
Mention should be made of the seventh century tablature for You Lan preserved in Japan, though there is no evidence for it having been played there.
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7. Qin materials brought to Japan by Jiang Xingchou (Toko Etsu)
Van Gulik, Lore, p.226 tells of Toko Etsu advising a student to use Songxianguan Qinpu. On 231 he gives evidence for the presence later of Qinxue Xinsheng. Today the most famous of its 14 melodies (13 of which appeared here for the first time) is #14, Wuye Wu Qiufeng. Only one of them, #4 Lai Yun Chun Si, is also in a Japanese handbook.
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8. Ichigenkin (一絃琴 yixianqin; see in Wikipedia)

7 string & 1 string qin on porcelain plate from Japan (detail)

According to the current Wikipedia article, the string of the Japanese ichigenkin is made of silk. It adds that the Japanese originally adapted the instrument from the guqin. Such an origin is substantiated by the samples and stories of the one string qin in China. It is also interesting to note that shortly before Jiang Xingchou came to China a handbook was published with one-string qin melodies (1618). And as the image at right seems to confirm, the 1-string qin (right side of image) in Japan originally had, as it had had in China, the same body as a 7-string qin (see left side of image), but was strung with only one string.

This should emphasize the original meditative nature of the ichigenkin and its connection to silk strings. However, in Japan the instrument seems to have become more of a parlor instrument, its repertoire coming from the samisen. Thus perhaps it is not surprising that the ichigenkin played in Japan today all seem to have a metal string and often they have an electronic pickup. It may be noted that the same thing has also happened to the Vietamese dan bau monochord (Wiki).

Modern ichigenkin

As can be seen at right, the modern ichigenkin superficially resembles the Chinese original. However, the string is now connected to two posts at the top. And although it still seems to have 13 hui (markers), from the image at right and also from other online images such as that of an ichigen-kin at the Metropolitan Museum, New York, it looks as though these do not indicate harmonic nodes, as on the guqin.

 
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