Stearns Music Instrument Collection

Stearns Music Instrument Collection
Ann Arbor, the University of Michigan

密西根大學

Ming dynasty qin with two broken strings

Two instruments, one Ming dynasty, one perhaps Qing dynasty. As of 2023 the Collections's online catalogue had these as follows:

Stearns #1479 (formerly 0992A); fabrication date: none given
Commentary only quotes the 1921 Stearns Catalogue
Stearns Catalogue # 2043; fabrication date: "Early 17th century"
Said to be "painted black" but Commentary only quotes the 1921 Stearns Catalogue, which is general information about qins, not this one in particular

In November 1996 I visited this collection because Prof. Wu Zhao had told me it had one of the best qins in the U.S. and I was looking for a qin to use for my first CD. However, when I saw the two mentioned above neither was in playing condition, and they were being stored horizontally, which over time can lead to warpage. The bridge on the Ming was too low (perhaps because of instrument curvature), that on the Qing was too high.

However, having told the then-curator that I was interested in using the instruments for a recording, I was allowed to take the two instruments home for practice, though this meant putting them in playing condition. Doing this in the Ming instrument required fastening a thin piece of wood to the top of its bridge, while on the Qing instrument it required lowering the bridge slightly. When I returned the instruments in February 1997 I did a recital using them. This was recorded in the music department, but I was subsequently told these recordings were lost.

The Ming qin did have a good sound, but overall I found the instrument a bit small and thus awkward to play; the Qing qin had a cracked back and its sound was quite ordinary.

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