Iron Qin is also known as "Taiqin", "Special Qin" or "Iron Hu". Tibetan stringed instruments, similar in shape to the erhu, are popular in Lhasa, Shigatse, Gyantse and the vast villages and towns in Tibet. They are mostly used to accompany the classical Tibetan songs and dances "Nangma" and folk songs and dances "Dui Xie", and now they are mostly used for Tibetan opera accompaniment.

traditional iron piano
The traditional iron qin is made by imitating the Han erhu, with a total length of about 75 cm. Zhang two silk strings. The qin barrel is cylindrical and is mostly made of three kinds of materials, such as hardwood, bamboo or ivory. There is a bridge in the center of the leather surface, and a support is installed under the qin barrel. The piano rod is made of hardwood or bamboo, in the shape of a circular cylinder, the upper and lower ends are thinner, the middle is slightly thicker, and the lower end is installed in the upper and lower through holes of the piano barrel. The top of the piano bar is flat and unadorned, and two pegs are placed horizontally on the upper end. The peg is made of wood, and the top of the shaft is screwed into a spherical shape. The installation direction is different from that of the erhu. It is not parallel to the qin barrel, but at right angles to the qin barrel. The shaft is placed on the right side of the qin barrel. An oblong small hole is opened in the middle and upper part of the piano bar, and the strings are tied to the peg through the small hole. The qin bow is the same as the erhu bow, the bow shaft is made of bamboo or wood, and the bow hair is made of horsetail, and the bow hair is placed between the two strings to play. The iron piano made of ivory is not only exquisite in the selection of materials, but also in extremely fine craftsmanship. The barrel, headstock and pegs are all engraved with ethnic-style decorative patterns.

modern iron piano
Today's iron pianos are all made of bamboo. The qin barrel is made of a section of moso bamboo with transparent ends. The barrel is 11.9 cm long. The front mouth is covered with python skin or snake skin, the surface diameter is 8.2 cm, and the rear end is open with a diameter of 7.6 cm. The qin rod is mostly made of five-section purple bamboo or bitter bamboo. The rod is 65 cm long and 2.1 cm in diameter. In the two bamboo joints at the upper end, there is a peg. The peg is made of rosewood, with a length of 15.5 cm and a spherical top. There are vertical oval small holes at the piano bar through which the two pegs pass, and the strings are tied to the respective pegs through the two holes. No jins are set, and the wooden mountain pass is used as the fixed point for the effective chord length. There is a bamboo or wooden bridge bridge in the center of the leather surface. Two steel wires are wound around the strings, and the lower ends of the strings are tied to the tail post (the piano bar exposed under the piano barrel). Some iron pianos are equipped with wooden supports under the barrel to stabilize the body during performance. The bow is made of thin bamboo, with a bundle of ponytails tied at both ends as bow hairs. The bow is 80 cm long, and the bow hairs are played between the two strings.