The volume of the guqin is not large, but the guqin is mainly used by ancient literati to entertain themselves in the study or to enjoy and communicate with three or five friends. Obliterated but not heard, it is enough to be in harmony with people's spirits, and it is touching and kind." The sound of the guqin is just right, reflecting the beauty of "neutralization".

Compared with the aesthetic ideal of "centering and peaceful" held by the literati Guqin art, the purpose is to guide the Confucian personality. Then, the aesthetic taste of "quiet and far from empty" and the aesthetic requirements of creating artistic artistic conception that they take in the actual playing of the qin are the same. Undoubtedly it belongs to Taoism. Guqin is a musical art, the "quiet" here only requires the player's mental state when playing, and the player needs to be free from distractions and attentively while playing, so as to grasp the connotation and development context of music, and enter into the guqin. In the realm of "feeling before a song is finished", only in this way can one achieve the "quiet" realm of "urgency but not chaotic, many but not complicated", which is opposite to "noisy". "Light" is the processing of emotions in Guqin playing based on the premise of "quiet". Zhou Dunyi in the Song Dynasty once said: "If the music is light, listen to the heart." , is a subtle beauty. From "light" to bring implicit beauty to Guqin music, it actually brings more room for "far" subjective associations to the violin players. Xu Shangying's interpretation of "far" said: "If there is not enough in the string of seeking, there is more than enough in the string of obtaining".

There is no obvious beat and rhythm marks in the guqin's minus-character notation. The score is only a note system that records the composer's emotional experience. The player will inevitably pursue, appreciate and explore the spirit of the original song when playing the score. In the process of experiencing, the performer will consciously or unconsciously use his own ideological and emotional experience to interpret the work accordingly. Self-association, interpretation of the connotation of music provides a more free world. Through the blending and interpenetration of the subjective experience of "far" and the objective object, the so-called "complacent and forgetful" of Taoism has been achieved. Rich and delicate, vast and subtle psychological experience. "Void" is the sublimation of "light" and "far", and it is the negation of them. Ji Kang has the verse of "seeing Gui Hong, waving the five strings with the hand. Pitching and content, wandering the heart is too mysterious", its sound is exhausted but the meaning is infinite, the sound is exhausted and the emotion is infinite, what the performer enters is the integration with nature and the incomparable vastness. , Profound aesthetic realm. "Void" is the highest realm pursued by literati in the art of qin.

In addition, due to the long string position of the guqin, when the strings are played up and down on the piano surface to enrich the hand tones, the volume always shows a trend of "weakening" and "fading" from large to small, and from strong to weak. This intermittent playing method results in the effect of sparse and ethereal pronunciation, and makes the performance of qin music have an ethereal, distant and ethereal artistic conception, which is also the subtlety of qin music. The special techniques and effects of playing the qin music especially require the player to choose the environment and create a state of mind. The ancients attached great importance to the choice of the environment. Yang Biaozheng, a qin master in the Ming Dynasty, said: "Anyone who plays a drum and a qin must choose a clean room and a high hall, or on the top of the building, or between forests and rocks, or climb the top of the mountain, or swim in the water, or watch the Yuzhong; when the two qi are very bright, on the night of the clear breeze and bright moon, burn incense in a quiet room, sit still, keep the heart away, fly blood and peace, harmony with spirit, spirit with Tao." There are many rules and various taboos, such as "five no bombs", "eight no bombs", "bathing", "undressing", "burning incense" and so on. These seemingly complicated contents, in fact, the final purpose is the same, all are to get a free, free and easy mood and demeanor when playing.

The opening chapter of "The Great Learning" states: "In ancient times, those who wished to have virtue in the world must first govern their country. Those who wish to govern their country must first align their families. Those who wish to regulate their families must first cultivate their bodies. Those who wish to cultivate their bodies, Get your heart right first.” In ancient times, those who wanted to demonstrate noble morality in the world must first govern their own country; those who wanted to govern their own country well, they must first improve their self-cultivation; those who wanted to improve their self-cultivation, first of all Correct your mind. Conversely, as long as the mind is right, one can cultivate oneself; if one has self-cultivation, then the family can be rectified; when the family is rectified, the country can be governed well; when the state is well governed, the world can be pacified. Therefore, "right heart" is the most important foundation for the literati of all dynasties to realize all lofty ideals.

Literati music is often compared with "quiet and far from empty", but the aesthetic consciousness that actually dominates and guides the activities of literati music is ultimately "quiet and far from empty". Although the complementary ideological structure of Confucianism and Taoism, which is "to help the whole world while being poor," constitutes the mindset and personality model of ancient Chinese literati, the literati are in their own different time and space environments, and their dominant ideology and their lives The method also varies accordingly. When the literati entered the WTO, they took it as their duty to assist the king to govern the country and bring peace to the world. He was busy worrying about the country and the king, and he was talking about rituals and music. However, when the literati were frustrated in their careers, and after passive retreat, they often used Taoism as comfort, and achieved the purpose of self-cultivation and self-cultivation through the qin, chess, calligraphy and painting that "make people have no desires and calm their minds". Therefore, this Taoist thought of "quiet and far from empty" directly affects the aesthetic taste of artistic creation such as guqin, calligraphy and painting.

Aesthetic ideology determines the choice of playing style, environment and themes of qin music. The strings of the guqin are long and vibrate slowly. Traditional guqin players generally use silk strings. The tone of the silk strings is warm and mellow. In addition, the wooden body of the guqin and the thick lacquer cover make the guqin’s volume relatively weak and low. The special structure and tone determine that the qin is not suitable for playing too fast and noisy music, while some soothing and elegant music are more suitable for playing. Compared with those qin pieces that are considered to be "murderous" or "dry and anxious", literati prefer qin pieces that express landscapes and seclusion themes. When Chinese literati entered the WTO, most of them were guided by Confucianism, paid attention to moral character, and chose qin pieces with themes such as plum blossoms, orchids, and cranes to reflect their noble sentiments; In the long feudal society, many intellectuals with a sense of justice, uprightness, and lofty ambitions of worrying about the country and the people, with real talents and practical learning, often did not meet their talents, and their careers were bumpy and unfortunate. Since they can't "reach and benefit the world at the same time", the literati retreated to the mountains and forests to relieve their spiritual loneliness and loneliness by entertaining themselves with "qin, chess, calligraphy and painting". Gradually, the literati formed a kind of peaceful and indifferent, detached and refined, unrestrained in appearance, not envious of wealth and honor, not heavy on honor and disgrace, and a natural attitude and style of life, so as to realize and achieve the detached state of "being poor and being alone".

Therefore, literati and qin artists have created a large number of qin pieces that describe landscapes and seclusion, such as "High Mountain", "Flowing Water", "Flowing Spring on the Stone", "Xiaoxiang Water and Clouds", "Fan Canglang", "Pingsha Falling Wild Goose", Autumn River at Night, "Escape from the World", "Calling Hermit", "Song of Mountain Residence", "Fan Canglang", "Civilization of Returning", "Fisherman's Questions and Answers", "Fisherman's Song", "Firewood Song" and so on. From the artistic conception expressed by these qin pieces, we can clearly feel the ideological pulse and profound inner spirit of the ancient literati.