Mr. Wong / Instructor at the Qin-Making Society:

“We don’t make guqin to just sell them or to make money. It’s a very simple, perhaps even naive, pursuit. The guqin carries philosophical and cultural values. The sound it produces is balanced and harmonious.”

Narrator:

The guqin has long been regarded as one of the highest forms of scholarly art, with a history dating back to ancient China. Making a guqin involves nine detailed stages requiring time, precision, and deep material understanding. 

In Hong Kong, this craft continues through patient, time-intensive work by artisans committed to preserving tradition ensuring ancient techniques survive within a modern urban environment.

Mr. Wong / Instructor at the Qin-Making Society:

"The first step is 'searching' — finding suitable materials for making a guqin. The second step is turning those materials into the shape of a guqin. This can be done by splitting the wood with an axe or cutting it with a saw; this process is called 'shaping'.

After that comes 'hollowing', where the inside of the wood is carved out to create a resonating chamber. I carve both the chamber itself and the patterns within it. Then the soundboard and backboard are joined together to form a complete body. After assembly comes 'fitting', when components such as the “Yueshan” are installed. Next comes applying ash, followed by polishing. After polishing, lacquer is applied, and finally the strings are fitted. Altogether, there are nine stages.

Each stage takes quite a long time. In total, there are roughly two to three hundred hours of work involved. We also have to work around the weather, so completing a guqin generally takes about a year and a half to two years."

Narrator:

He describes the guqin as an instrument rooted in philosophy, producing a balanced harmonious tone reflecting traditional Chinese aesthetics of restraint and inner calm.

Mr. Wong / Instructor at the Qin-Making Society:

"It is a very simple, perhaps even naive, pursuit. I want to create the sound I have been searching for. I hope its tone will be warm and gentle, and that it will bring a sense of tranquillity."