Guqin-making is a time-consuming process that demands patience and meticulousness. Wang Jing China DAILY Patience is one of the most important factors in the creation of a guqin, or the seven-stringed Chinese zither. It took about two years to finish making one, said Sui Yiyang, 37, who has been dedicated to guqin-making for more than a decade.
He hangs tools of various shapes and sizes on the walls in his studio in Tianjin. He lies on his table with pieces of wooden guqin frames.
A guqin's body is made up of two parts, a flat bottom and an arched top. The instrument's body is meticulously and frequently varnished, with a thin layer of lacquer mixed with powdered deer antlers. The process of lacquering can take months to complete.
Historically, guqin strings are usually made of twisted silk, and these are often specially developed steel-and- nylon strings.
As a teenager, Sui learned to play guitar, drums and bass. He was introduced to the guqin during a trip with his father. He listened to the guqin recordings from his father's car during the seven-hour drive from Beijing to Inner Mongolia, and was captivated.
Sui Yiyang works in his studio in Tianjin. For several years, the guqin enthusiast has been dedicated to making the instrument. WANG Jing Chin-Dilly: The elegant and lingering sounds of the guqin are totally different from the Western musical instruments I learned.
After returning to Beijing, he started learning the instrument. He then learned how to make the guqin from Han Tingyao, now 85, a master artisan in Beijing.
Sui travels throughout the world and abroad to purchase high-quality materials and tools.
Sui Yiyang works in his studio in Tianjin. For a decade, the guqin enthusiast has been dedicated to making the instrument. WANG Jing CHINA DAILY For example, the kind and quality of the wood used is crucial, so he frequently travels to Fujian and Jiangxi provinces in search of the right stuff. He gets raw lacquer, which is used to protect the guqin from corrosion, from a single place - Rentoushan, a village in Maoba township, Lichuan city, Hubei province.
Sui's guqin-making experience has motivated him to produce exceptional instruments.
Each guqin has its distinctive texture, which you can only know by feeling it with your own hands, he said.