The section Qin Analysis, particularly Qin Tunings, has a lot of information about the positioning of these studs. They mark certain harmonic nodes, and are used to tell the player where to place the left hand fingers. The fingers are often placed in between the positions marked by the studs themselves, and several methods have been used to indicate the precise finger positions. The method in use since the end of the Ming dynasty² uses decimals to indicate these intermediary positions.³

There has been much debate about the origin of the studs.⁴ This debate has focused on two aspects.

1. During the Han dynasty did the word hui mean "stud"? There is evidence that at that time it meant "tassel", or the thread for making them.
2. Were there earlier words for stud? An article by Prof. Rao Zongyi seems to suggest that the primary candidate here is (弓勺) di (target).⁵

After his prefatory remarks about the debate, Rao Zongyi discusses an excerpt from Mei Cheng's Seven Methods. QSDQ, Folio 18, #61", has this article, but it writes "弓勺" as "約". Prof. Rao discusses this discrepancy. He also discusses other issues related to the debate.

In fact, little is known about where the idea of using studs originated. The earliest mention of the word hui may be in the 淮南子 Huainanzi, a book of 21 essays written at the court of Liu An in the second century BCE. Qinshu Daquan, Folio 16, #29, has nine selections from six chapters. One of the selections is from the following quote about hui:⁶

This passage is sometimes used as evidence that Zhou dynasty qins had studs. Unfortunately the passage is rather vague, and dictionaries define hui as "cord" (for the tassels) as well as "stud". Thus 復徽 fu hui could also mean that he does not need eyesight to re-do the tassels.

The brief mention of hui in the Qin Fu by Xi Kang (223 - 262) is also rather vague. Three translations are given here.⁷

The third translation is my own, based on the assumption that hui means stud. However, if hui is interpreted as "tassel cord", then the passage would say, "The strings are long, so (you twist the) hui (until the instrument is tuned) for a clear sound."

The qins in illustrations depicting the Seven Sages, beginning at least as early as the 4th century, clearly show qin studs.⁸ So by this time the question is not whether the qin had studs, but what they were called.

To determine this one must try to determine such issues as the earliest mention of the number of studs,⁹ and the earliest mention the material of the hui.¹⁰

 
Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1. Studs (琴徽 qin hui)
琴徽 21570.xxx; 徽 10505.0/6 and /7 have the same information as 琴徽 4/588. There are two definitions:

1. 琴上系絃之繩 The cord on a qin. Earliest reference:
   Han Shu biography of Yang Xiong; annotation by Yan Shigu (581 - 645).
   今夫絃者，高張急徽。
   When dealing with strings, to heighten the sound you tighten the hui.

2. 指琴絃音位標識 Qin position markers (the modern definition). Earliest reference:
   Mei Yaochen
   《送良玉上人還昆山》詩﹕水煙晦琴徽，山月上巖屋。
   Seeing off Liangyu on his return to Kunshan: Mists over the water obsure the qin studes....
   (Return)

2. Origin of the modern decimal system for indicating finger positions
The first handbook to use this modern decimal system throughout seems to have been Guyin Zhengzong (1634). At present I have so far found only one earlier book with some examples: the 1614 handbook Yangchuntang Qinpu. Here you can sometimes see "7 9" (i.e., 7.9) to indicated the position called "8" in the old system (for example, in Dongtian Chunxiao, Section 3 (QQJC VII/355); it also uses "8". Elsewhere you can find examples such as both "5 6" (5.6) and "5 half" (same meaning in old system).
(Return)

3. Old and new (decimal) systems to indicate finger positions
For people who wish to play music from Ming dynasty and earlier tablature it is essential to be aware that the modern decimal system of indicating finger position seems to date onl3y from the 17th century (see above). Before that the system was not uniform. To summarize the differences: under today's decimal system if the correct note should in theory be played 4/10ths of the way between the 6th and 7th hui, the position is indicated as 6.4. However, prior to the early 17th century the tablature used instructions such as "above the 7th position" and "between the 6th and 7th positions." At least one handbook (see 1589) indicated all intermediary positions by adding the character "half".

At first glance the old system seems to have been less precise. However, as discussed under Qin Tunings and elsewhere, if the old system is used carefully, as apparently it was in Shen Qi Mi Pu (1425), there need be no more ambiguity in the old system than in the new.

Unfortunately some handbooks were not as precisely written as Shen Qi Mi Pu. If the music is purely pentatonic, potential ambiguities in the tablature can usually be clarified, but imprecise use of the old system may become a major problem in melodies that have numerous non-pentatonic notes, the additional choices making it often very difficult to clarify the ambiguities. For example, in the decimal system there are three standard positions between the sixth and seventh studs (hui): 6.2, 6.4 and 6.7; if the tuning is considered as 2 3 5 6 7 2 3, and 1 is considered as C, then on the fifth string these three positions would correspond with the notes B, C and C sharp respectively. In Shen Qi Mi Pu these three seem quite consistently to be written as 六下 "below six", 六七日 "between six and seven" and 七上 "above seven", so there is little confusion. However, in tablature such as that for Saishang Hong (1589), which has many non-pentatonic notes clearly indicated, the only mid-position indicator is "half". So when a passage indicates a note should be played on the fifth string at position "six and a half" (六半) the player has to decide whether this refers to B, C or C sharp (in fact B is usually written simply as 6, potentially causing a similar confusion with B flat, which in the decimal system is 5.9 but here can also be written simply as 6).

This apparent retrogression in the 1589 handbook in specifying finger positions (found also in other late Ming handbooks) is quite puzzling. It might, however, also explain some of the awkward fingering. Might someone who is aware that "six and a half" can be confusing then, when writing down the tablature, move the position to another string where the note can be more clearly indicated? Although this may seem unlikely it is something that needs to be considered. Also requiring study: which melodies/handbooks use this simplified method of indicating note positions?

When reconstructing early melodies such problems require me to balance my aim strictly to interpret the tablature with my reliance on my own musical understanding of the idiom. From many years working on such problems, specifically within the context of trying to use the tablature to recreate the way the melodies might originally have been played (or perhaps better: the parameters within which players of that time might have played them), I can often make educated guesses as to whether, for example, a passage seems musically to call for C sharp rather than c natural. In most modes usually there is no problem, but for reasons mentioned above in zhi mode I do not have a similar certainty. Anyone wishing to study this important modal issue should look at my transcription of a melody such as Saishang Hong, where I indicate when and how I make such changes and interpretations. Here I must emphasize that I do not consider my interpretations in any way definitive, and I would welcome arguments suggesting alternative interpretations.
(Return)

4. Rao Zongyi in his article discussed below mentions the ongoing discussions.
(Return)

5. 饒宗頤，說(弓勺)兼論琴徽，中國音樂學 Rao Zongyi, Speaking of di while discussing qin hui, Chinese Music Studies, May, 1989. "弓勺" is a rare character. 9943.0 says it is di, meaning 射 "target". "的" di can also mean target.
(Return)

6. The Chinese is from Chapter 19 脩務, p.1058, of the 海嘯 Haixiao edition.
(Return)

7. Translated by R.H. Van Gulik, Hsi K'ang and his Poetical Essay on the Lute
by David R. Knechtges, Rhapsody on the Zither, in Wen Xuan, III.
(Return)

8. Illustrations from that time depicting the Sages and Rong Qiqi have the hui incorrectly positioned. This could lead to a debate about whether this is evidence that at this time markers were being used, but they were not yet positioned to indicate the harmonic nodes. The fact that in the illustrations the qins are also backwards suggests that a more likely reason for the incorrect positioning of the studs is due to the ignorance of the artist or craftsman.
(Return)

9. 1/xxx; 2741.228 十三徽 shisan hui gives only a later reference (巾興書目) to Zhuge Liang's Qin Jing. The qins in the 4th c. tomb engravings may well have 13 studs. I have not yet found an earlier reference for 13 hui. 13 is a significant number elsewhere (e.g. 13 Classics; 13 months).
(Return)

10. 41049.1228 金徽 Jin Hui says it is the name of a qin. It has three references.

1. 梁，元帝，秋夜詩 Autumn Evening poem by Emperor Yuandi of Liang, mentions "golden hui" in conjunction with the 軫 zhen, suggesting that "golden" refers to the color of the tassels, not the material of the studs.
2. 元稹，小胡笳引 Yuan Zhen, Preface to Xiao Hujia.
   "雷氏金徽琴，王君寶重輕千金。" The Lei Family jinhui qin is highly valued.
3. 孟浩然，贈道士參寥詩 Poem Presented to Cen Liao the Daoist, by Meng Haoran, says only that the golden color of the hui is bright (絲脆弦將斷，金徽色尚榮).

In addition, QSDQ, Folio 17 #44 is an article entitle Golden Studs Transformed, but I haven't traced its date yet.
(Return)

 
Return to the Guqin ToC.