Heming Qiuyue Qin (Heming Qiuyue (seven-stringed zither-like instrument))

This qin, made of paulownia wood, is well preserved. The head of the qin is shaped like a half-oval. The neck is straight. The shoulders start from the 3rd inlay (hui) and the phoenix wings (fengchi) start from the 9th inlay. The shoulders, wings and tail of the qin have rounded corners. The curved surface board has 7 strings and mother-of-pearl inlays on it. The two sound holes (the “dragon pool” and “phoenix pond”) at the back of the qin are rectangular shaped. The body of the qin is painted with chestnut reddish black colour. The underlayer coating (huitai [a grey coating that turns black when dried]), which is made of a mixture of lacquer and powdered antler, can be seen. There are cracks (duanwen) on the qin. The cracks that appear on the surface board are “ice markings”, whereas the ones on the bottom board are thin and fine “cow-hair cracks” and “ice markings”.