To make a guqin, in addition to the tools, the first thing to do is to select the materials for the top and bottom plate. After reading the historical records, it is found that the ancient qin was mostly made of tung and bottom zi (the so-called yin and yang wood) at the beginning, and later developed the surface of fir bottom. Azusa, then, what kind of wood is the best for the qin now?

Generally speaking, it is more common to use paulownia or fir wood for the top of the qin.

1. Chinese fir

There are many kinds of Chinese fir. In ancient times, some pine trees are actually Chinese fir trees. The ancients believed that pine and fir were of the same species, and they also believed that pine and cypress were of the same species. In the eyes of the ancients, the distinction between fir and pine is not as clear as it is now. For example, the ancients believed that bats are birds and whales are fish.

Fir trees grow in the alpine zone at an altitude of 25 to 4000 meters. The fir tree is the tallest tree species in the world and one of the longest-lived tree species. There are many kinds of Chinese fir trees, such as Metasequoia, spruce, cedar fir, oil fir, silver fir, yew, hemlock, gray fir, soft-leaf fir, cedar, pine fir, etc. There are dozens of species in my country.

Chinese fir is a softwood, and due to the material relationship, such as loose and thick fibers, and the wood is easy to absorb water and moisture, it is very easy to crack after drying in the north. In fact, it also splits in the south, but it is less likely than the north. It is commonly known as "ten fir and nine splits", "one split is one inch deep", which means that most Chinese fir splits, and the width of split 1 cm will split 10 cm downward. depth.

2, paulownia

Indus is native to my country. Legend has it that the sycamore is the male tree and the tung is the female tree. Indus are the same as the elders, the same old, the same life and the same death. Indus has thus become a symbol of loyalty and love. In the Tang Dynasty, there was a poem in Mengjiao: "The phoenix tree supports the old, and the mandarin duck will die." Wutong is also called Qingtong, Hainan Wutong; Paulownia is also called Baihuatong. There are also American sycamore, also called a ball of sycamore, and French sycamore, also called sycamore.

Paulownia grows exceptionally fast but easily hollows out. The solution to the hollow is that the sapling is about 2 meters long, and the tree meridian and the ground are eliminated and repeated twice. The sound of the paulownia guqin is not easy to master: it is either empty or dull. If you don't make it empty, it will become dull, if you don't make it dull, it will become empty, and the sound is easy to dry, and you can master it after many trials.