Introduction

One unique characteristic of the “Choi Chang-sau qin making” lineage is that a qin maker needs to create his/ her own qin from scratch: from a raw piece of wood to a finished instrument of high quality, he/ she must go through the steps of cutting and chopping the wood, shaving the top board, hollowing the cavity belly to make the resonator, sanding, lacquering and stringing.

The method of qin making taught by Choi Chang-sau is the same as the method recorded in ancient sources. There are nine steps involved in qin making, namely “seeking”, “chopping”, “hollowing”, “fitting”, “assembling”, “cement priming”, “sanding”, “lacquering”, and “stringing”.