LinYouren picking up the fine details from master performer Zhang Ziqian, who was approaching the age of 91 when this picture was taken.
Here, Yao Bingyan, on the brink of dying, is still teaching the essentials of qin music to Dai Xiaolian (on the right) and LinYouren (with microphone).
The Beijing Qin Association, led by Li Xiangting of the Central Conservatoire, meets on the first Sunday of each month and is open to visitors.
In Shanghai, the professor of guqin at the Conservatoire, LinYouren, will introduce you to any get-togethers of qin enthusiasts in the area.
Master musicians include Zha Fuxi, Guan Pinghu, Zhang Zijian, Wu Jinglue and Wu Zhaoji - who embody the refinement of the older generation -and younger musicians such as Li Xiangting, Wu Wen'guang, LinYouren and Gong Yi.
Meanwhile the guqin, with a history dating back 3,000 years and intimately bound up with other art forms, is being lost to China's past.
"Playing the guqin was one of the accomplishments which a scholar gentleman needed to have, along with playing Chinese chess and being skilled in calligraphy," said LinYouren, a veteran performer and teacher.
Indeed, one poem lamenting that "one can scarcely find true players anymore" dates back over 1,000 years to the Tang dynasty.
Other recordings include those by Liu Jingshao (Jiao An Qinpu), Liu Shaochun ("typical Guangling school style"; implies a development from Jiao An Qinpu), LinYouren (as previous), and Mei Yueqiang (same).
this piece was written because, when Yuan soldiers entered Lin An (Hangzhou), Mao Minzhong thought the times were not appropriate for himself.
Wishing to imitate the deeds of former worthies, who went into hiding in the cliffs and valleys, he ran off into seclusion and did not accept public office.
Including Xiyang xiaogu (Flute and drum at sunset); Niao tou lin (Birds in the forest); Han'gong qiuyue (Autumn moon over the Han palace); Xiao Pu'an zhou (The Mantra of Pu'an); Gu yun san die (Ancient poem in three verses); Shimian maifu (Ambush on all sides); Yang'guan san die (Three verses on the Yang pass)
Various: Music for the Qin Zither - LinYouren
The qin occupies a unique position in Chinese musical culture. Its numinous reputation throughout imperial culture has persisted in modern China, with a substantial discography in inverse proportion to the tiny élite which has ever actually played the instrument
LinYouren Tracks: Dialogue Of Fisherman And Woodcutter, Evening Song Of The Drunken Fisherman, Ode To The Fine Night, Remembering An Old Friend, Three Variations On The Yang Pass, Wild Geese Descending On The Sandbank, Lyric On The Autumn Wind, Improvisation For Michael Owen, Lament From The Changmen Palace, Flowing Waters.
