Fan yin (泛音) are harmonics in the guqin's playing practice: the left hand touches - but does not press - a string at a specific nodal point while the right hand plucks, producing a clear, high, bell-like tone. Note the distinction between the general acoustic phenomenon of harmonics and this specific playing technique on the instrument; the two are related but not identical.
technique
Harmonics (fan yin)
泛音
Bell-like notes produced on the guqin by lightly touching a string at a nodal point while the right hand plucks it.
- Type
- technique
- Also known as
- harmonic, harmonic note, floating notes, 泛音
- Updated
- 2026-10-13
- guqin
- harmonic
- nodal-point
Related knowledge
- Guqin (古琴)
Harmonics are the third fundamental way of sounding the instrument, giving a clear, floating overtone.
A seven-stringed Chinese zither, plucked with the right hand while the left hand stops the strings or touches them to sound harmonics.
Reading about Harmonics (fan yin)
Longer pieces on this siteSources for Harmonics (fan yin)
UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage · cultural heritage
Supports:
- The guqin as a Chinese zither with a tradition of over 3,000 years
- Seven strings and thirteen marked pitch positions
- The three basic playing techniques: san (open string), an (stopped string) and fan (harmonics), and how each is produced
- The guqin's development as an elite art practised by scholars in intimate settings, not for public performance
- Inscription on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity (2008, originally proclaimed 2003)