How to tie the Fly-Heads or ying t'ou

                       How to tie the “Fly-heads”

All seven strings have a “fly-head” (ying-t’ou, 蠅頭).[1]  They go through the “yarn fasteners” (絨扣) to secure the string, and thus (the strings) cannot slip out.  Take the head of the string and twist it into three parts (total).  (On the left) make two parts (of the three) with the string head in the center and (overall) facing up[2] (Of the left hand two parts), the first bend should be below and twisted to the right.  The second part should be above and bent to the left. The string head remains in the center, and is face up.  Using the left hand, thumb and index fingers, pinch (the left-hand portion), and with the right hand put the (right) circular part out over it (the left-hand part), slipping it over the center of the (left-hand) two folds and drawing it tight.[3]  Tie it up like a fly’s head.  On the left, and right, it should seem to have two eyes.  The top center should be like a straight nose.  The back ply should have the form seen in the bottom picture.[4]  Put it through the yarn fastener, tighten, and arrange it in a straight manner, on top of  the (ch’in) bridge. Make sure the round circular hole is pulled tight to the limit, thus perfecting the form.  Ideally the result should be neat and small.. Hopefully the pictures will aid the understanding.

Figure 1: Picture 1 (the first picture at the top, going from top to bottom) shows the starting position for making the “fly-head”, with the string folded into three parts.  Picture 2 shows how to fold the right hand circular part over the left-hand part to construct the nearly completed knot.  The bottom two pictures show the nearly finished knot from the top view, and from the bottom view.  Each of the bottom two pictures has a smaller, tighter cousin on the side. 

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[1] “Ying-tou”, or “fly-head” is a term for the little bow-tie knot found at the end of the ch’in string that is run through the “yarn fasteners” and placed on the top of the Yueh-shan bridge.  Presumably this is called a “fly-head” because the two bows look something like the large eyes of a fly.  Of course, the bows are important, because otherwise how would the ch’in string be held at the bridge end?

[2] See Figure.  At this stage, we more or less have the topmost picture in Figure 1. 

[3] According to Figure 1, this gives us the picture, second from the top.

[4] See Figure 1, the bottom and last “back” picture of the four.

Laying Guqin (7 string zither) on a Table with Sandbags / meletakan Gugin di meja menggunakan kantung pasir

Laying a Ch’in on a Table with Sandbags

In laying a ch’in horizontally on a table, the head goes at the right and the tail goes at the left.  The fu-chang (鳧掌)[1] and tuning pegs should fall through to the bottom side of the table. The yen-tzu (雁足)[2] should be straight on the top of the table. This configuration is the case with specially made ch’in tables.  In order to make tuning easier, if you put a ch’in on a long narrow side table, then leave three or four finger widths on the right hand side.  Don’t put the ch’in in the center of the table. Put it near the edge of the table (near the player) in order to make fingering easier. 

As for sandbags, make one pair.[3]  One need not limit the material to cloth or silk, and can use soft leather.  (A bag) should be five inches long and two inches wide and the same all around.  The inside should have an appropriate amount of fine sand well sewn up in the bag with no leaks.  One bag should be placed under the ch’in’s neck.  The other goes under the yen-tzu.  The ch’in should be level and flat and not move.  If you do not use sand bags, then when you play forcefully you may push or move the ch’in on the table.  If you take a minute amount of water and moisten the bags, then they will stick firmly to the table surface and be less likely to move. 

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[1] The right hand side feet that are actually finger guards to prevent accidental movement of the tuning pegs.

[2] The left hand side feet or “wild geese feet” underneath the ch’in.

[3] The character jian (“mat”薦) is used here, but he makes it plain that he is talking about a small sand bag.

How to hang Guqin in the wall / Hook to hang Guqin in the wall

Ch’in should be hung up.  One should not leave them horizontal for long periods.  It is be feared that this (horizontal placement) might cause warping in the waist.  Avoid hanging the ch’in in wind, sun, damp, or wet places.  It is appropriate to use a wooden pillar or wooden wall, window frame, or other place. 

In order to make a hook, use brass or iron.  The head of the hook should be rounded and flat, and five to six-tenths of an inch in length.[1]  The hook’s body should be one and one-half inch long, four-tenths of an inch wide, and one-tenth of an inch or so thick.  The tail of the hook should be around one-half inch in length.[2]  It should stick out like a rat’s tail.  Use a piece of hard wood, that is five inches long, four tenths of an inch thick, and about half an inch wide. Drill a hole in the center and stick in the hook’s rat tail, twisting it in to the base, and nailing it level.  On both ends of the piece of wood, drill a hole.  Use small nails with heads that are an inch long and nail them into a pillar or wall, thus making it not too difficult to move to another place.  It is appropriate to wrap the hook in cloth to avoid damaging the phoenix pond. 

Another method:  Take a piece of bamboo that is one and a half inches long, two tenths of an inch thick, and with the center about three tenths of an inch wide.[3]  Drill a small hole (in the center).  Both ends should be somewhat rounded.  Use two strands of cord that is six to seven inches long.  One end goes into the bamboo hanger, and the other end goes around the nail.  Put the nail into the pillar or wall.  Put the bamboo piece into the phoenix pool and hang up the ch’in.  This is both stable and easy to use.

Figure 1: Wall Hanging Hardware

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[1] See the figure at the top of the picture.

[2] This is the part that sticks into the wooden mounting bracket shown in the lower right-hand of the figure.

[3] The bamboo (and nail) hanging mechanism is shown on the left-hand side of the figure.