The guqin tradition uses abbreviated-character notation, combining information about hand techniques and string positions into written symbols. It differs from modern staff notation. Players must also interpret rhythm and style. Dapu, the reconstruction of performances from old scores, normally requires both knowledge and practical musicianship.
History
Legend has it that the qin, the most revered of all Chinese musical instruments, has a history of about 5,000 years, and that the legendary figures of China's pre-history – Fuxi; Shennong; and Huang Di, the "Yellow Emperor" – were involved in its creation. Nearly all qin books and tablature collections published prior to the twentieth century state this as the actual origins of the qin, although this is now viewed as mythology. It is mentioned in Chinese writings dating back nearly 3,000 years, and examples have been found in tombs from about 2,500 years ago. The exact origins of the qin is still a very much continuing subject of debate over the past few decades.
The tones of qin can be categorized as three characteristic "sounds". The first type is san yin, which literally means "unfettered sound". It's the fundamental frequency produced by plucking a free string with the fingers of the right hand. The second type, made by plucking a string with the right hand and gently tapping specific note positions on the string with the left hand, will create a crisp sound named fan yin ('floating sound') or overtone harmonics (the equivalent technique in Western music is the string harmonic or flageolet). Important scale notes, called hui, are marked by 13 glossy white dots made of mica or seashell inset in the front surface of the qin, occur at integer divisions of the string length.
The "crystal concordant" (perfectly harmonic) overtones can only be evoked by tapping the strings precisely at these hui. The third type is an yin ('pressed sound'), which is sometimes also called shi yin ('full sound') or zou yin ('changing sound'). These comprise the major cadences of most qin pieces.
Tablature and notation
Written qin music did not directly tell what notes were played; instead, it was written in a tablature detailing tuning, finger positions, and stroke technique, thus comprising a step by step method and description of how to play a piece. Some tablatures do indicate notes using the gongche system, or indicate rhythm using dots. The earliest example of the modern shorthand tablature survives from around the twelfth century CE. An earlier form of music notation from the Tang era survives in just one manuscript, dated to the seventh century CE, called Jieshi Diao Youlan ("Solitary Orchid in Stone Tablet Mode").
It is written in a longhand form called wenzi pu ('written notation'), said to have been created by Yong Menzhou during the Warring States period, which gives all the details using ordinary written Chinese characters. Later in the Tang dynasty, Cao Rou and others simplified the notation, using only the important elements of the characters (like string number, plucking technique, hui number and which finger to stop the string) and combined them into one character notation. This meant that instead of having two lines of written text to describe a few notes, a single character could represent one note, or sometimes as many as nine. This notation form was called jianzi pu ('reduced notation') and it was a major advance in qin notation.
Transcription
Dapu is the transcribing of old tablature into a playable form. Since qin tablature does not indicate note value, tempo or rhythm, the player must work it out for themselves. Normally, qin players will learn the rhythm of a piece through a teacher or master. They sit facing one another, with the student copying the master. The tablature will only be consulted if the teacher is not sure of how to play a certain part. Because of this, traditional qinpu do not indicate them (though near the end of the Qing dynasty, a handful of qinpu had started to employ various rhythm indicating devices, such as dots). If one did not have a teacher, then one had to work out the rhythm by themselves.