Muchao (2)

This qin is named Muchao. It was made by the student of Choi Chang-sau, Kwan Kar-way, Kelwin in 1997 (re-constructed between 2010 and 2011). This photo shows the back of Muchao in Zhongni style.

Date 1997
Style Zhongni
Size Length (Whole 127 cm, Strings 116.5 cm); Width (Forehead 19 cm, Shoulder 22 cm, Tail 15 cm); Thickness 6 cm
Weight 4 kg
Body Chinese fir top; Pine bottom
Accessories Mother-of-pearl inlay markers; Buffalo horn tuning pegs; Ebony feet, bridge and tail pieces
Inscription [Chinese inscription] 軫池下方楷書「暮潮」
Maker's Note Muchao (Dusk Tide) began its existence with the name of Yihao Qin (Qin Serial No. 1) as the young apprentice’s first exercise in learning how to make a qin in 1997. Like most first-timers, the result was crude, dull and unattractive (to say the least!). It spent over a decade in neglect as the ugly duckling in the family. In 2010, it was fully dismantled, re-carved, re-voiced and reassembled by the maker as a base board for studying cinnabar pigment application. On the top surface, cinnabar was applied in every manner within the twenty layers of lacquering to create visual effects reminiscent of bubbles and splashes of the receding tide at dusk. On the bottom surface, large patches of pigment were sandwiched in layers to achieve effects reminiscent of dusk clouds. Renamed Muchao in 2011, the qin depicts the changes of the dusk tide.
People Kwan Kar-way, Kelwin | Choi Chang Sau Qin Making Society
Object Musical instrument
Material Type Image
Collection The Legend of Silk and Wood: A Hong Kong Qin Story
Source Courtesy of Kwan Kar-way, Kelwin
Repository Kwan Kar-way, Kelwin
Note to Copyright Permission for use in Hong Kong Memory is given by Kwan Kar-way, Kelwin
Accession No. lcs-hkqs-0188
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