UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritages in China (1) (2)

Guqin and its music

The item “Guqin and its music” was inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008.

The Chinese zither, called guqin, has existed for over 3,000 years and represents China’s foremost solo musical instrument tradition. Described in early literary sources and corroborated by archaeological finds, this ancient instrument is inseparable from Chinese intellectual history.

The guqin was one of the four arts – along with calligraphy, painting and an ancient form of chess – that Chinese scholars were expected to master.