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China’s most prestigious instrument, the <em>guqin</em> can be traced to the Chu culture almost 2500 years ago. By the late Ming dynasty, Jiangnan was a center of high-end guqin production. <br><br>Coated in black lacquer, this elegantly crafted instrument is inscribed on the inside, stating it was <em>made by Zhang Ruixiu</em> of Suzhou <em>for Mr. Tianchi of Haiyu</em>, also known as Yan Cheng (1547–1625). Yan was a key figure in guqin music history and founder of the Yushan school in Suzhou. Zhang Ruixiu was a guqin maker, known for achieving a supreme tone quality. Ten instruments attributed to him are known, of which this guqin has the earliest date.

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photo
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12d9136ad5f44c1a
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ID
98676
Core
obj
Type
object
DTO data
{
    "id": "98676",
    "contentType": "object",
    "title": "Guqin made by Zhang Ruixiu of Suzhou",
    "description": "China’s most prestigious instrument, the <em>guqin</em> can be traced to the Chu culture almost 2500 years ago. By the late Ming dynasty, Jiangnan was a center of high-end guqin production. <br><br>Coated in black lacquer, this elegantly crafted instrument is inscribed on the inside, stating it was <em>made by Zhang Ruixiu</em> of Suzhou <em>for Mr. Tianchi of Haiyu</em>, also known as Yan Cheng (1547–1625). Yan was a key figure in guqin music history and founder of the Yushan school in Suzhou. Zhang Ruixiu was a guqin maker, known for achieving a supreme tone quality. Ten instruments attributed to him are known, of which this guqin has the earliest date.",
    "date": "1584",
    "citation": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1918.371",
    "rights": "CC0",
    "rightsUri": "CC0",
    "language": "en",
    "wikidata": [
        "Q79485268"
    ],
    "genreSpecific": [
        "Musical Instrument"
    ],
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    "largeImageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1918.371/1918.371_web.jpg",
    "imageCount": 1,
    "source": "import",
    "dimensionsRaw": "Overall: 4.5 x 18.1 x 123.5 cm (1 3/4 x 7 1/8 x 48 5/8 in.)",
    "cul": [
        "China, Ming dynasty (1368–1644)"
    ],
    "accession": "1918.371"
}

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Document identity
{
    "localId": "98676",
    "label": "Guqin made by Zhang Ruixiu of Suzhou",
    "core": "obj",
    "dtoType": "object"
}
Document source metadata
{
    "id": "98676",
    "contentType": "object",
    "title": "Guqin made by Zhang Ruixiu of Suzhou",
    "description": "China’s most prestigious instrument, the <em>guqin</em> can be traced to the Chu culture almost 2500 years ago. By the late Ming dynasty, Jiangnan was a center of high-end guqin production. <br><br>Coated in black lacquer, this elegantly crafted instrument is inscribed on the inside, stating it was <em>made by Zhang Ruixiu</em> of Suzhou <em>for Mr. Tianchi of Haiyu</em>, also known as Yan Cheng (1547–1625). Yan was a key figure in guqin music history and founder of the Yushan school in Suzhou. Zhang Ruixiu was a guqin maker, known for achieving a supreme tone quality. Ten instruments attributed to him are known, of which this guqin has the earliest date.",
    "date": "1584",
    "citation": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1918.371",
    "rights": "CC0",
    "rightsUri": "CC0",
    "language": "en",
    "wikidata": [
        "Q79485268"
    ],
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        "Musical Instrument"
    ],
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    "largeImageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1918.371/1918.371_web.jpg",
    "imageCount": 1,
    "source": "import",
    "dimensionsRaw": "Overall: 4.5 x 18.1 x 123.5 cm (1 3/4 x 7 1/8 x 48 5/8 in.)",
    "cul": [
        "China, Ming dynasty (1368–1644)"
    ],
    "accession": "1918.371"
}
Document source extras
{
    "tec": "Seven-string Asian long zither, chordophone, made from wood, lacquer, mother of pearl, and silk strings",
    "tombstone": "Guqin made by Zhang Ruixiu of Suzhou (古琴), 1584. China, Ming dynasty (1368–1644). Seven-string Asian long zither, chordophone, made from wood, lacquer, mother of pearl, and silk strings; overall: 4.5 x 18.1 x 123.5 cm (1 3/4 x 7 1/8 x 48 5/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Charles G. King Jr. collection; Gift of Ralph King in memory of Charles G. King Jr., 1918.371",
    "titleInOriginalLanguage": "Guqin",
    "collection": "Chinese Art",
    "inscriptions": [
        {
            "inscription": "為海虞天池先生重斲/  \n萬曆甲申古吳張睿脩得古桐",
            "inscription_translation": "A two columns inscription in red paint is visible through the upper sound hole. The left column reads, “re-carved for Mr. Tianchi of Haiyu;” and the right one, “in the jiashen year of the Wanli reign (1584), Zhang Ruixiu of Suzhou acquired ancient Tong wood.” \n\nTranslation by Aidi Bao, Ph.D. candidate in Preservation Studies, Department of Art Conservation, University of Delaware",
            "inscription_remark": "Mr. Tianchi refers to Yan Tianchi (Yan Cheng 嚴澂, 1547–1625), a key figure in guqin music history and a founder of the Yushan School in Changshu (modern Suzhou). Zhang Ruixiu was a guqin-maker and Zhang-lineage instruments were praised by Yan Tianchi  and contemporary Jiangnan connoisseurs  as artworks with supreme tone quality. To date, ten instruments bearing the same maker’s name have been identified, of which this guqin has the earliest date.",
            "sortorder": 1
        }
    ],
    "didYouKnow": "The 13 studs in mother-of-pearl inlay indicate finger positions for sounding harmonics.",
    "citations": [
        {
            "citation": "\"Accessions.\" <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 5, no. 8/9 (1918): 82–85.",
            "page_number": "Mentioned: p. 82",
            "url": "http://www.jstor.org/stable/25136230"
        },
        {
            "citation": "D. S. M. \"Exhibition of Musical Instruments.\" <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 8, no. 9 (1921): 134–143.",
            "page_number": "Mentioned: pp. 134-137",
            "url": "http://www.jstor.org/stable/25136517"
        },
        {
            "citation": "Peng, Wei 彭薇, and Clarissa von Spee. <em>Migrations of Memory: The Poetry and Power of Music by Chinese Artist Peng Wei in Collaboration with the Cleveland Museum of Art </em>= 平沙落雁—音樂的詩意與力量: 中國藝術家彭薇與克利夫蘭藝術博物館合作. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2021.",
            "page_number": "Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 13"
        },
        {
            "citation": "Griswold, William, Xiaofei Tian, Richard Von Glahn, Feng Zhao, S. J. Vainker, Masaaki Itakura, Jiang Wu, et al. <em>China’s Southern Paradise: Treasures from the Lower Yangzi Delta</em>. Edited by Clarissa von Spee. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2023.",
            "page_number": "Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 270, no. 125"
        }
    ],
    "url": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1918.371",
    "creditline": "The Charles G. King Jr. collection; Gift of Ralph King in memory of Charles G. King Jr.",
    "updatedAt": "2026-05-29 05:19:46.432000",
    "imageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1918.371/1918.371_print.jpg",
    "sourceId": 98676,
    "dept": "Chinese Art",
    "coll": "Chinese Art",
    "med": "Seven-string Asian long zither, chordophone, made from wood, lacquer, mother of pearl, and silk strings",
    "thumbnail_url": null,
    "image_url": null
}
Page context
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