Song Taizong, the second emperor of the Song dynasty, was Zhao Kuangyi (939 - 997), younger brother of Zhao Kuangyin (927 - 976), the first emperor. Taizong's activities related to the qin are discussed in Xu Jian's Qinshi Chubian, Chapter 6/A5.

Song Taizong at one time ordered creation of a nine-string qin. Chapter 6/A1 of Xu Jian's history relates this story, which culminated in Zhu Wenji⁴ showing Taizong that the seven string qin could do everything the nine-string qin could do.⁵

The Qin Shi essay starts by mentioning the brilliance of Taizong in war and peace, then his research into correct musical tones. It then discusses his decision to improve the qin by adding two strings and also to make a 5-string ruan. It mentions his collecting qin melodies and ruan melodies into handbooks, plus lyrics. The following titles are then mentioned:

1. 琴譜 Qin Notation, two folios
2. 九絃琴譜 9-string Qin Notation, 20 folios
3. 五經阮譜 5-Classic Ruan Notation (should be 五絃 5-string?), 17 folios

Qinshu Cunmu gives some details of two of these works:

1. 太宗九弦琴譜二十卷 Taizong Jiuxian Qinpu, 20 Juan
   Taizong's Nine-String Qin Tablature, 20 Folios; QSCM Folio 3/1
2. 琴譜二卷 Qin Pu, 2 Juan
   Qin Handbook, Two Folios; QSCM Folio 3/2)

The only two melody titles that seem to be named in any of these sources seem to be 萬國朝天 Wanguo Chaotian and 平晉 Ping Jin. However, these apparently have not survived, nor is there any particular reason to think any have survived. Thus, the 9-string melodies one can find extant in the 1618 handbook Lixing Yuanya (1618) are almost certainly spurious.

Failure of the nine-string qin
The Qin Shi entry mentions the attempt to develop a nine-string qin but does not give details. For example, it does not mention tuning. The common assumption is that, as with 1618, the tuning remained pentatonic, adding notes on top or bottom, rather than using these extra strings to create a diatonic tuning (perhaps the 7 note scale plus two octave notes). A related observation: with a nine-string qin it should still be possible to play open string octaves (on the 1st and 8th or 2nd and 9th strings, assuming one can make slightly smaller instruments for smaller hands).

Thus it seems likely that the nine-string qin failed largely because the aim was to make the new instrument play the old music better rather than to develop new music: a new idiom. Qin music has always been largely pentatonic; non-pentatonic notes, while more frequent in the surviving early repertoire (see especially modal details for Jieshi Diao You Lan), seem to be there largely for extra color rather than being structurally important. Preliminary attempts to play melodies from the pentatonically tuned nine-string qin tablature from 1618 suggest that they can fairly easily be adapted for seven-string qin. Where the seven-string qin does have difficultly, however, is in playing melodies based on a diatonic scale (with non-diatonic notes for added color): common Western melodies, for example. Extended harmonic passages are a particular problem.

 
Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1. Song Taizong 宋太宗
趙匡儀 Zhao Kuangyi (939 - 997; 38015.209) reigned 976-998; his younger brother 趙匡胤 Zhao Kuangyin (927 - 976) had reigned as 太祖 Taizu 960-976.
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2. Song Taizong entry: 13 lines
Original text:

Not yet translated.
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4. Zhu Wenji 朱文濟
Qin Shi #142 tells of Zhu Wenji and the 9-string qin (see also the next footnote).
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5. Extant melodies for 9-string qin
The only ones I have found so far are the 5 examples in the 1618 handbook Lixing Yuanya (QQJC, VIII/318-332). These were presumably made up during the Ming dynasty, quite likely by the compiler of that handbook himself. All melodies in that handbook have lyrics.
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