After getting his doctorate in Wuhan, capital of central China’s Hubei province, Nguyen Dientuan, a Vietnamese born in the 1970s, has become a teacher of the guqin, a seven-stringed plucked instrument that has more than 3,000 years of history in China, Chinanews.com reported on Jan. 5.

Nguyen, who was born in Quang Tri province of Vietnam and has lived in Wuhan for 16 years, owns a studio named Nantianfang in the East Lake scenic area in Wuhan. In the studio, he makes guqins and teaches students how to play the traditional Chinese instrument.

Nguyen Dientuan arranges his guqins. (Photo/Chinanews.com)

According to Nguyen, his interest in traditional Chinese culture and fascination with guqin music dates back years ago.

Nguyen’s grandfather, a teacher in Vietnam, used to teach Nguyen how to write Chinese characters, said Nguyen, who came to study in Wuhan in 2005.

“Vietnamese TV stations often broadcast Chinese films and TV series, such as ‘Six-Fingered String Demon’ and ‘Hero.’ I’ve been obsessed with the guqin music in these films,” Nguyen said.

Nguyen started to learn to play the guqin in 2009 when he needed to show his Chinese culture-related skills in the “Chinese Bridge,” an annual Chinese language proficiency competition which he participated as a representative of the Central China Normal University in Wuhan.

Nguyen Dientuan arranges his guqins. (Photo/Chinanews.com)

"I knew that the guqin would be the musical instrument I would want to play for the rest of my life the moment I touched it for the first time," Nguyen recalled.

With the number of his students continuing to grow, his studio has attracted a rising number of music enthusiasts as many of them are curious about how a Vietnamese person can become a master of China's traditional musical instrument.

A good player of a musical instrument is often good at making them too, Nguyen said. In an effort to ensure the quality of the instrument, he makes guqins with ancient techniques he learned on his own.

Nguyen Dientuan plays the guqin. (Photo/Chinanews.com)

It takes him between two to three years to make a handcrafted guqin with the techniques used in the Tang Dynasty (618-907), which include over 200 procedures, Nguyen disclosed.

"I will bring the culture of the guqin back to Vietnam, and pass on my experience in making them to more people," said Nguyen. 

Nguyen Dientuan makes a guqin. (Photo/Chinanews.com)