The "sauerkraut" revealed in the annual "Shocking My Three Views" party (3.15 party) is afraid that many families will "put an end to sauerkraut" on the dining table. It is not uncommon to see counterfeit and shoddy products and excessive anti-corrosion standards in popular products. In order to avoid these, on the one hand, in addition to relying on severe crackdowns by the government, on the other hand, we must learn to keep our eyes open.

At present, in the niche market of guqin, it is inevitable that there will be people with unrighteous hearts mixed into it. As a niche culture with “not low price” entry, Guqin is also “experts watch the doorway, laymen watch the fun”. In order to avoid the new Taoist friends who want to join the Guqin culture to buy the "sauerkraut" in the Guqin, today I will analyze for you, what kind of material is the Guqin made of "excellent material and high quality".

Due to the limitation of sound quality and timbre, Guqin is generally made of wood, and rarely made of other materials (for example, the "Yinlanghao Bell" and "Yuquan" in the Palace Museum are all bronze pianos).

Wood: Regardless of the timbre, there are many types of wood that have been made into the guqin and can be played

Pine: There are many kinds, most of them are soft and easy to process. The red pine is light and soft, similar to paulownia, with good vibration and not easy to warp and crack. Huanghua pine (larch) is slightly hard, shrinks and cracks easily, and has poor paintability. Masson pine (green pine, mountain pine) is similar in nature to Huanghua pine, and contains more pine resin. In case of ancient materials, it can also be used for qin, but it is best to bake it with fire to remove part of the pine resin.

Chinese fir: Due to the high requirements of the growth environment and the slow growth cycle, it can take 100 years to become wood. It is mostly produced in the south. It is soft, easy to process, and not easy to warp and crack. Can be used as a piano surface bottom plate.

Willow: slightly soft and tough, slightly harder than paulownia, easy to process, but sometimes deformed, subject to weathering and fire treatment. The violin made by willow wood has a clear and thick pronunciation, good dispersion and pressure, and especially refreshing and sensitive overtones.

Fraxinus mandshurica: The guqin made by Fraxinus mandshurica is yellow-brown, and it is estimated to be hundreds of years old.

Basswood (Purple linden): The texture is fine and soft (slightly harder than paulownia), the wood grain has a silky luster, and it is easy to process.

Tongmu: At present, the material used for the guqin of many brands is mostly Tongmu, which has a rich and simple pronunciation, and has a golden stone rhyme.

Cypress (cedar): Slightly heavier, with a strong aroma, the disadvantage is that there are many knots, which must be removed when making the violin, and paulownia or other woods are supplemented, which is easy to process, slightly poor in paintability, cypress is a negative wood, resistant to corrosion, rare in piano making.

At present, the most common guqin soundboards (tops) on the market are mainly paulownia and fir, while the bottom plates are mainly catalpa. There is not much difference in the selection of wood materials for guqin, the key lies in the fineness of the crafting.

The value of a piano is greatly influenced by the paint and grey tires you choose.

Gray tires: there are antler frost gray tires, eight treasure gray tires, tile gray tires and synthetic paint gray tires

Antler Cream Grey Tire (synthesized by raw lacquer and antler cream): Antler cream is a kind of traditional Chinese medicine ingredient. After being ground into powder and mixed with raw lacquer, it is applied to the surface of the piano body. The texture is firm and not easy to wear. Therefore, it has always been valued by people, and deer antler frost tires are the most common in the handed down guqin.

Eight-treasure gray tire (synthetic of eight-treasure gray, porcelain powder or tile gray and raw lacquer): Eight-treasure gray tire is made of gold, silver, mother-of-pearl, malachite and other precious gem powder mixed with deer antler cream and synthesized with raw lacquer. The texture is the strongest and most precious.

Tile grey tires: The advantage is that the sound is relatively loose, but after a long time, it is easy to peel off into pieces and difficult to repair.

Synthetic lacquer grey tire (cashew lacquer is synthesized with gypsum, tile ash or cow bone): At the beginning, the effect of the lacquer antler grey tire is not much different. After the wood body of the guqin is fully vibrated, the tone of the non-raw lacquer antler grey tire will change. weakness or dullness.

Lacquer: The lacquer has raw lacquer and synthetic lacquer

Raw lacquer, also known as national lacquer and large lacquer, commonly known as earth lacquer, is extremely expensive. It is a milky white, gelatinous liquid harvested from sumac trees, which turns brown when exposed to air, and dries and hardens to form a varnish after a few hours. Raw lacquer has anti-corrosion, strong acid resistance, strong alkali resistance, moisture resistance, insulation, high temperature resistance, soil resistance and so on. Natural raw lacquer has the reputation of "King of Paints" recognized by the world.

A whole raw lacquer guqin is at least five or six thousand.

Cashew lacquer, also known as synthetic paint, has a performance close to that of natural paint, high hardness, good wear resistance, acid resistance, waterproof and easy oxidation, and its transparency is better than that of natural paint, and it is much cheaper. Compared with lacquer, cashew lacquer has lower requirements on the production process. Cashew lacquer is a chemically synthesized air-drying paint, which contains formaldehyde residues. Although it will not cause allergies like lacquer, after film formation, the content of heavy metals and organic residues exceeds GB 9680-1988 Food Container Urushiol According to the requirements of paint hygiene standards, cashew paint cannot be used for tableware and toys, and there will be a long-term odor after drying.

The use of synthetic lacquer on the lower-end guqin is more extensive, after all, the quality of the guqin is up to standard.

A good guqin is expensive because from the selection of materials to the craftsmanship, the violinist needs to follow the ancient method, and the construction period can be one to two years or even longer. After understanding the differences in the materials used for guqin above, I would like to remind everyone that when choosing a guqin, in addition to carefully screening its timbre and sound quality, it is also necessary to carefully interrogate its production materials.

Finally, remind again: remember to keep your eyes open, beware of shoddy! Buying the "sauerkraut" in the guqin will only hurt your body and mind when you learn the truth!