This is a list of literature for the guqin. Qin literature should be distinguished from qinpu which contains music tablature of some sort.

There are a number of ancient sources that discuss qin folklore, qin theory and general qin literature. Some of these books are available inserted into certain qinpu (qin tablature collections). The basic contents of qin literature is mainly essays discussing and describing the nature of qin music, the theory behind the notes and tones, the method of correct play, the history of qin music, lists of mentions in literature, etc. The detail can be very concise to extremely detailed and thorough. Some are mostly philosophical or artistic musings, others are scientific and technical.

The biggest collection of qin literature in existence is the Ming dynasty Qinshu Daquan 【琴書大全】 (1590), with a collection of 22 volumes.

Han

A list of qin pieces played at the time with their descriptions

Wei Jin

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"Qin Fu" 《琴賦》
A poetical essay in praise of the qin
An explanation of finger techniques used at the time

Sui Tang

Song Yuan

A historical account of the qin with biographies of notable players

Ming Qing

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"Xishan Qinkuang" 【谿山琴況】
An explanation of different styles of qin music
An explanation of different styles of qin music
A manual for constructing qins, etc
Qinpu but contains many volumes on qin lore and discussion of qin

Modern

A list of "existing" qinpu; most listed have never been found
A "dictionary" of qin music. Lists existing qinpu, all their prefaces and afterwords, and a complete collection of full qin songs
Gong Yi's teaching manual for the qin. Includes fingering and many pieces in staff notation, some with qin tablature, some with Gong Yi's new guqin staff notation form.
An outline of the legendary and historical stories about the qin.
A very good teaching manual for the qin. Step by step with every piece explained in detail. Recommended.
Newly edited printing of a Tang dynasty document on finger techniques. Highly useful. In a planned series of books printing important unpublished works called Qinxue Congkan【琴學叢刊】 ("collection of printings on qin study").
Volume II of the Qinxue Congkan.
An introduction to the qin, its history and culture, with short biographies of recent and contemporary players; finely illustrated. With a CD contain eight melodies by the author.

Date of publication not known

References

Please see: References section in the guqin article for a full list of references used in all qin related articles.
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