A competition for guqin, a traditional seven-stringed Chinese musical instrument, organized by the Shanghai Open University and the professional council of guqin at the China Nationalities Orchestra Society, kicked off in the city yesterday, launching the week-long guqin artistic festival.
Guqin, or ancient zither, was ancient China’s earliest plucked stringed instrument and has rich cultural connotations. The guqin was put on the world intangible cultural heritage list in 2003 by the United Nations cultural agency, UNESCO.
It has been regaining popularity among the public in China in the past decade.
The Guqin Week will also stage exhibitions of famous ancient guqin, lectures and performance by famous guqin players.
The organizers hope to promote the art and discover more guqin talent to make contributions to the development of the ancient instrument and pass on precious traditional Chinese culture.