The first obstacle to getting started in the 2,000 year old silk string qin tradition is acquiring an instrument. It is somewhat easier getting started in the nylon-metal string guqin tradition,² which dates from the Cultural Revolution and has quite a different aesthetic.³ This is because, although the traditional aesthetic requires the use of silk strings, qin makers today almost exclusively construct their instruments for use with the nylon-metal strings (sometimes mis-represented as "new silk"); these tend to be structurally different in several ways.⁴ Some of these modern instruments may work fine with silk strings, but the only way to find out is to remove the metal strings and test them with silk (regarding which see "availability"). This is quite a laborious process.

Whether going for the old way or new way, it is still best to follow the tradition of buying a guqin from or with advice from one's teacher. I will assist students in buying a silk string guqin from China. My commission is repaid via several free lessons, perhaps taught over the internet.⁵

To my knowledge, as of 2010 the only qin makers selling qins already strung with silk strings are:

1. Wang Peng in Beijing⁶
2. Ni Shiyun in Nantong, Jiangsu province.⁷

For many years my main concert instruments were made by He Mingwei in Chengdu. In general their finishing is unexceptional,⁸ but mine have a very good silk string sound. He stopped making qins some years ago, then apparently began again recently. However, I believe these are now aimed purely at the metal string market. The same is true of other well-known makers such as Zeng Chengwei, also of Chengdu, and Li Mingzhong of Xi'an. Some of their older instruments would have been designed for silk strings.

Before buying a qin, the first question you need to ask is: do you want to play the instrument, or simply hang it on the wall, perhaps with no strings but with the famous couplet attributed to Tao Yuanming, 365-427 CE),

There is probably no connection between this philosophical point of view and the fact that many of the best old instruments are unplayed, belonging either to collectors who don't play or to museums that don't allow them to be played (Qins in captivity?).

The quality of instruments available ranges from very bad to exquisitely good, so if you want to take the trouble actually to play you must decide whether to begin with a cheap instrument probably designed for the modern nylon-metal string market or to try to begin with a better instrument, which would make it easier to follow the ancient silk string tradition. While I can mention here a few guidelines in selecting one, I don't at all consider myself a specialist in this area. Some people apparently can tell the quality simply by knocking on the body with their knuckles and playing a few notes. I cannot do this.

If you see a qin in a general Chinese music/music instrument store, almost certainly it is a glossy factory made instrument. In 1979, in the Cantonese feature film House of the Lute, for which I provided the music, an actor pretended to play such an instrument while I provided music with my own qin. Other than that, the film used it in two ways that at the time seemed most appropriate for such an instrument: it hung on a wall (with strings: one night a string broke, strangling a rat in the process); and it was subsequently used to bludgeon the old man to death.

Some shops perhaps can tell you about qin teachers. In this case you should try to contact the teacher and ask for advice.

An instrument which at first seems to have quite an ordinary sound might improve after a few years (or centuries!) of use; however, a lot of old instruments still have very ordinary sound. An instrument, new or old, might be improved, for example, by adding soundposts inside. A good luthier may be able to help with this.⁹

My biggest problem in testing qins is, as mentioned, that almost invariably they come with metal strings on them. It is my observation that almost all qins today are tested with metal strings during the construction process. Since the best qins for use with metal strings are not necessarily the best qins for use with silk strings this means that for me to judge a qin I must first take it home, put on silk strings and try it in the dead of night, perhaps for several weeks.

In the United States the major source of metal string qins is via the website of Wang Fei's North American Guqin Association, in the San Francisco area. Her catalogue sometimes indicates that an instrument can be used with silk strings, but since to my knowledge Wang Fei rarely uses silk strings,¹⁰ this information is difficult to verify.

 
Footnotes

1. Information from Tong Kin-Woon on acquiring a guqin
Most of the instruments I play today I acquired while living in Hong Kong, i.e., before 2000, and mostly through 唐健垣 Dr. Tong Kin-Woon (TKW). The following information comes mostly from him, supplemented by advice from other interested people. Dr. Tong is himself is a qin maker and repairer as well as a player and scholar. The qins he makes have a marvelous sound. Unfortunately, he has no interest in silk strings.
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2. Acquiring a metal string qin (compare silk string qin makers)
It is easy to find inexpensive qins in China, and also quite possible in the USA. There is some information on this in an appendix below.
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3. Differences in aesthetics between silk and metal string qins
Nylon-metal strings were developed during the Cultural Revolution as part of an effort to turn the qin from an inward instrument of self-cultivation to an outward instrument of performance. The playing techniques required of the two different types of strings are very different. Pointing this out is not intended as a criticism of the nylon-metal strings, which have their own advantages.
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3. Differences between construction of silk and metal stringed instruments
Wang Peng says that the main differences between his qins for use with silk strings are in three areas.

1. Wood for metal string qins can be thicker than that for silk string qins
2. The top surface of a metal string qin should be a bit flatter than that for a silk string qin
3. The shape of the sound box is somewhat different.

It is not clear to what extent Wang Peng actually makes instruments specifically for use with silk strings: his better instruments are said to be designed for silk strings, but many are used with metal strings, this still being his main market in spite of his promotion of the silk string tradition. It should also be pointed out that his design of the sound chamber is modern: instead of the traditional sound posts he makes his instruments thicker on the side with the lower strings.
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4. Since I currently reside in Mumbai, India, this usually means lessons via video Skype.
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5. Wang Peng 王鵬
As of 2009 Wang Peng said that he did not use the new silk strings by Pan Guohui (see Fang Yuting), and the silk string qins I saw by him all had strings by Huang Shizhi, which are in very limited supply. If this is true, this suggests that he sells very few silk string qins.
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6. Ni Shiyun 倪詩韻

With Ni Shiyun in 2009 trying out his qin

Ni Shiyun lives in Haimen, Jiangsu province. Contact details I have are:

Ni is probably providing silk strings for some of his guqin because of his association with 王鐸 Wang Duo, a Suzhou qin player who actively promotes silk string qins. I recently bought for under $1,000 and had shipped to the US an excellent instrument strung with the silk strings being made by Pan Guohui. Although these strings are not always of very high quality, the better ones are quite acceptable once they are broken in.
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7. Improving the qin surface
Initially I had the lacquer on my qins made more smooth by getting a violin maker to rub the surface with a special cloth). Later, after further damage was caused when checking in my qin for trans-Pacific flights, largely due to the change in temperature in the unpressurized airplane luggage compartment, I gave them to Wang Peng for further repair. Their appearance improved considerably as a result.
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8. Sound posts
See Assemblage of the inner top: placing the sound posts requires considerable skill. See also the further comments under Qin Construction (search for "sound posts" and "metal strings").
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9. Wang Fei and silk strings
As of 2006 the "Listening Room" on Wang Fei's website includes one track of her playing with silk strings, so perhaps this situation may change. On the other hand her statements about her "Naga new silk" strings suggest that her ideas about traditional qin sound are rather different from my own.
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Appendix I: Information dated 1998

As of 1998 there were about 16 factories in Yangzhou making guqin. There were also qin factories in several other parts of China, including Beijing and Shanghai. Sometimes they look nice and shiny, but the sound is rarely any good. Often they are painted rather than lacquered, and have hidden structural flaws. The wood may be untreated, hence crack easily.

On the other hand, some of these instruments are quite good. Recently there has been a mini-boom in the demand for qins, and quite a few are being made with false cracking, which gives them something of the appearance of age.

One of the reasons for the rush to make qins is said to be the dwindling supply of good wood, much of it old wood taken from old buildings or even coffins. (Old wood is not necessary better than good quality new wood which has been properly cured, but good quality new wood is also in short supply and it may not be properly cured.)

There are also some qin makers in Hong Kong and Taiwan, but the cost tends to be higher than products of similar quality from China. In addition, there are a number of individuals in China and elsewhere who have made a few qins, some of them of very good quality, but these are harder to find. Some are made only for personal use.

The following are the best professional makers, together with an approximate price range (in US dollars; 1998):

• Chengdu:
  He Mingwei: $1,400 - 8,000 (TKW: personally selected, so start at 2,500)
  Li Xingqi : $1,000 - $3,000
  Zeng Chengwei : $700 - $3,000
• Xi'an:
  Li Mingzhong $1,200 - $2,000 (though he is know to ask for as much as $10,000)
• Guizhou:
  Li Guangyi: $500 and up
  good wood is available in Guizhou and Mr. Li apparently has been advised by Shanghai player Gong Yi, so that some of his instruments may be a good bargain.
• Shenzhen:
  Yan Ming has been working with TKW to make instruments, some quite good, starting about US$2,000; output is still very small, though.
• Yangzhou:
  a variety of sources, with prices from about US$500 on up (see below).

See related information under Qin construction or return to the top.

Appendix I: Information dated 2010

The following are some additional guidelines updated in 2010 for people not acquiring their guqin via their teacher. These instruments will almost invariably come with nylon-metal strings.

Within the USA two possible sources of inexpensive guqins are:

1. Sound of Asia in Los Angeles: recently I have been told that the guqins they sell for $350 are quite usable. I have not heard them myself.
2. Pei-You Chang (Judy Chang): in 2010 Peiyou announced (q.v.) that she may be able to help people get a $400 qin from Taiwan.

It is also possible within the USA (and perhaps Europe) to buy a guqin off the internet. If this is done through a medium such as Ebay it could be very risky. If ordered directly from a maker in China shipping usually runs about $100 to $200 and it is probably necessary to be able to communicate in Chinese.

For price and selection it is, of course, best to go directly to the maker (such as those mentioned above. Since this means traveling to China, having the ability to speak Chinese (or having a friend who can interpret), and already knowing something about guqins, hence the recommendation to rely on one's teacher.

Guqins are sold in shops in several Chinese cities, in particular Shanghai, Suzhou and Beijing. In Beijing, September 2009, I looked at qins in some of the many music shops gathered on 南新華街 Nan Xinhua Street just south of 琉璃場 Liuli Chang. The cheapest I found was about 800 RMB; I doubt it was lacquered properly, but its appearance was not too bad. Some of those around the 3,000 RMB range seemed possible for people who hadn't committed themselves to lifelong guqin play. There were at least two shops that specialized in guqin and guzheng; they were very close to each other on the west side of the street about 100 meters south of Liuli Chang. When the shops were open the guqins were clearly visible from the street:

It is not clear to me why the street numbers are said to be 臨時 temporary.

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