At the 23rd World Intangible Cultural Heritage Exposition and Forum that just wrapped up in Paris, a baina qin musical instrument from Yangzhou caught the attention of all.
The baina qin was created in the Tang Dynasty but the technique of making this kind of qin was basically lost after the Song Dynasty (960-1279) due to improper inheritance.
According to Wang Yupeng, a qin maker in Yangzhou, baina qin is a kind of ancient qin comprised of a number of small wooden pieces, an approach that was intended to make the sound clearer and cleaner.
The baina qin Wang makes is fashioned with a special kind of wood dating from the Han Dynasty (260 BC-AD 220), dating back to more than 2,000 years ago. Wang said he spent three years and over a million yuan ($15.06 million) reviving the handicraft of making baina qin.
According to Wang, many French visitors were engrossed with the sound of the qin, and the teaching and playing on site further encouraged their interest in this ancient craft of China and made them marvel at its originality.
