The Origin of Chinese Guqin Development

The guqin, with a history of more than 3,000 years, is one of the oldest plucked musical instruments in China, and has been regarded as “the instrument of the saints” by Chinese literati throughout the ages. As a “representative of the oral and intangible heritage of mankind”, the guqin unites the essence of Chinese culture and is not only the root of Chinese traditional culture, but also a symbol of Chinese civilization. This paper takes time as the axis, space as the surface, and historical materials as the evidence, and on the basis of fully studying the existing guqin literature and unearthed relics, it combs through and explains the developmental sources of the Chinese guqin, with a view to further clarifying the developmental sources of the Chinese guqin.