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{{Short description|Traditional Chinese string instrument}}
{{Italic title}} 
{{hatnote|"Moon guitar" redirects here. For the Vietnamese instruments sometimes known by that name, see [[Đàn nguyệt]].<br>Not to be confused with the similarly-shaped [[Ruan (instrument)|ruan]].}}
{{Refimprove|date=April 2021}}
{{Infobox Instrument 
|name= ''Yueqin''
|names= 
|image=Moon guitar.jpg
|image_capt=The ''yueqin''. The instrument comes in a variety of sizes and pitches.
|background=string
|classification=[[String instrument]]
|hornbostel_sachs=321.322
|hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite [[chordophone]]
|developed= China
|range=
|related=[[Ruan (instrument)|Ruan]]
|articles=
}}

The '''''yueqin''''' ({{zh|c=月琴|p=Yuèqín}}; {{langx|ja|月琴|Gekkin}}; {{langx|ko|월금/月琴|Wolgeum}}; {{langx|vi|Nguyệt cầm/月琴}} or {{langx|vi|Đàn nguyệt/彈月}}), also called a '''moon lute''' or '''moon guitar''', is a [[traditional Chinese musical instruments|traditional Chinese]] [[string instrument]]. It is a [[lute]] with a round, hollow soundboard, a short fretted neck, and usually four strings. It is an important instrument in the [[Peking opera]] orchestra, often taking the role of main melodic instrument in lieu of the bowed string section.

The instrument was invented in [[China]] in the 3rd to 5th centuries AD, during the [[Jin Dynasty (265–420)|Jin dynasty]].<ref name="yue-26jan12">{{cite web|title=yueqin|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/654624/yueqin|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=26 January 2012}}</ref> The [[Ruan (instrument)|ruan]], another Chinese instrument, is the ancestor of the yueqin.<ref name="yue-26jan12" /> The name ''yueqin''  once applied to all instruments with a moon-shaped soundboard, including the [[Ruan (instrument)|ruan]]; however, "yueqin" now applies to a separate category from the [[Ruan (instrument)|ruan]] family.

== Etymology ==
[[File:MUSICIANS 2.jpg|thumb|Chinese musician playing the ''yueqin'' (right), 1874]]
The word ''yueqin'' is made of two characters, ''yuè'' (月 "moon") and ''qín'' (琴 "stringed instrument, [[zither]]"). Its name in Korean (''wolgeum''), Japanese (''gekkin'') and Vietnamese (nguyệt cầm) mean the same thing, and are [[Sino-Xenic pronunciations|Sinoxenic]] words, meaning they were borrowed from Chinese, but pronounced in the local way.

== History ==
[[File:Baron Raimund von Stillfried und Rathenitz (1839-1911) - Girl playing on gekin - n. 1007.jpg|thumb|A Japanese woman playing a ''gekkin'', c. 1890]]
The ''yueqin'' originated from the ''[[Ruan (instrument)|ruan]]'', a similar stringed instrument that may have been invented as early as the 2nd century BC, during the [[Western Han dynasty]]. It grew popular during the [[Jin Dynasty (265–420)]], and has been known by its current name since the [[Tang dynasty]]. The instrument was introduced to Japan during the Tang Dynasty, and reached its peak in the 1830s. Yueqin was banned in Japan during the [[World War II|Second World War]], and it was restored after the war. Another very similar instrument, called ''đàn đoản'' or ''đàn tứ'', is occasionally used in [[Vietnam]].

== Construction and types ==
[[File:Chinese Yueqin QM r.jpg|thumb|A ''yueqin'' in the [[Queensland Museum]]]]
[[File:Korean Wolgeum.jpg|thumb|Wolgeum of Korea]]
=== Soundboard ===
The ''yueqin'' typically has a round [[Sound board (music)|soundboard]] with no sound-hole, but inside the sound box are one or more strands of wire attached only at one end, so that they vibrate, giving the instrument a particular timbre and resonance. Occasionally, the body of the yueqin may be octagonal in shape.<ref>{{cite web|title=Photographic image|url=http://www.yuemi.net/images3/MZ_boxian/yueqin(yizu).jpg|access-date=20 April 2021|website=Yuemi.net|format=JPG}}</ref>

=== Frets ===
The ''yueqin'' has a short fretted neck. Frets on all Chinese lutes are high so that the fingers never touch the actual body—distinctively different from western fretted instruments. This allows for a greater control over timbre and intonation than their western counterparts, but makes chordal playing more difficult. The frets were formerly arranged rather like those on a [[mountain dulcimer]], so that the instrument is diatonic; however, the fret size is high enough that any pitch may be bent up a minor 3rd. Modern yueqin have frets tuned in semitones.

=== Strings ===
Most ''yueqin'' have four strings, although others have two or three. Yueqin used for [[Beijing opera]] have two strings, only one of which is actually used, the lower string being there purely for sympathetic resonance. In [[Taiwan]], the yueqin has a longer neck, and two or three strings.<ref>{{Cite web|title=ATLAS of Plucked Instruments - Far East|url=https://atlasofpluckedinstruments.com/far_east.htm#china|access-date=20 April 2021|website=Atlasofpluckedinstruments.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Stringed Instrument Database: W-Z|url=https://stringedinstrumentdatabase.aornis.com/w.htm|access-date=20 April 2021|website=Stringedinstrumentdatabase.aornis.com}}</ref>

The strings on the traditional form of the instrument were made of silk, though nylon is generally used today. The anchor on a modern ''yueqin'' may have up to five holes, so it can be strung and tuned as a three or four-stringed instrument. The nut, at the peghead end of the instrument, is filed with notches appropriate to the number and position of the strings. There is no bridge or saddle; the strings are simply attached to the anchor at the base of the instrument. 

==== Tuning ====
The strings are tuned in courses of two (each pair of strings is tuned to a single pitch), generally tuned to the interval of a perfect fifth. Three-string instruments are often tuned A D. Four-string instruments are often tuned to A D a d; however, in recent practice, the instrument is tuned G D g d so modern [[liuqin]] and [[Ruan (instrument)|ruan]] players can easily double on yueqin.

=== Plectrum and picks ===
A long, sharp plectrum is often used to play the yueqin, which is sometimes attached to the instrument with a piece of cord. In Beijing opera, the player uses a small wooden dowel instead of a plectrum to perform, and only plays in first position; this requires the performer to use [[octave displacement]] in order to play all the pitches within a given melody.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Collection of stringed instruments|url=https://instrumap.netlify.app/asia.html|access-date=20 April 2021|website=Instrumap.netlify.app}}</ref> Modern yueqin are often played with a [[guitar pick]].

== Compared with the ''ruan'' ==
While both instruments have a moon-shaped soundboard, the modern [[Ruan (instrument)|ruan]] uses a bridge, whereas the yueqin simply attaches the strings to the frame, similar to the design of the [[pipa]]. In addition, most yueqin do not have the obvious double soundholes, like the ruan; instead, they have the single small soundhole located under where the strings are attached (also similar to [[pipa]]).  Both features gives the Yueqin a sound quality in between ruan and pipa.  While the ruan is used mostly for its lower range instruments (i.e., zhongruan and daruan), yueqin is primarily a treble tuned instrument, even though the size of its soundboard is larger than that of the zhongruan.

Southern yueqin have a long neck, use two strings, and have an improvisational and flexible intonation practice; some Southern yueqin have also acoustical metal coils inside the soundboard to amplify the instrument.  Northern yueqin have a very short neck, and have bamboo in both the front and back, requiring the performer to hold the instrument away from their body.  The northern instruments range from single to four stringed instruments.  Regardless of the neck size or strings, all yueqin are tuned around the same treble pitch level.  A common technique in performance is "snapping" the pick on the string (similar to Japanese [[shamisen]].) Yueqin is the loudest member of the plucked lute family of Chinese instruments; one instrument can easily be heard over a full [[Chinese orchestra]].

== Gallery ==
<gallery mode=packed widths="180" heights="180">
File:Horniman_instruments_02.jpg|A ''yueqin'' in the [[Horniman museum]]
File:Yueqin.jpg|Front and back of a modern ''yueqin''
File:Yueqin (8625257310).jpg|[[Beijing opera]] musician playing the ''yueqin''
File:Blind girl sing for a living in Jiufeng.jpg|A blind Taiwanese woman playing the southern style long-necked ''yueqin''
File:Ming and Qing Era Music performance on stage.jpg|A band of MINSHINGAKU or Ming and Qing era music playing antique ''gekkin''s
File:Woman Playing a Moon Zither.jpg|A Japanese woman playing the ''gekkin''. Photo by [[Adolfo Farsari]], 1886
File:Gekkin Yueqin Moon Guitar kimono girls 1889 Japan.jpg|Illustration from a guide to playing the ''gekkin'', by Nagahara Baien, 1889
File:Gekkin YueQin Moon Harp 1884 illustration.jpg|Japanese illustration of a ''gekkin'', 1884
File:THOM Chinese Moon-Guitar.jpg|Western illustration of a ''yueqin'', by Waldo Selden Pratt, 1907
</gallery>

== See also ==
*[[Đàn nguyệt]]
*[[Music of China]]
*[[Music of Taiwan]]
{{commons category|Yueqin}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{in lang|zh}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20050526115719/http://www.e56.com.cn/minzu/Musical/Musical_Content.asp?Musical_Content_ID=308&Musical_Class_Content_ID=16 Yueqin page] 
*{{in lang|zh}} [http://www.yuemi.net/pages1/buolan(mz.boxian1).htm Yueqin photos] (second and third rows)
*(Japanese yueqin page) [https://web.archive.org/web/20070929165216/http://www.kokone.to/~kgt/gdiary.html kokone.to]
*[http://gekkinon.cocolog-nifty.com/moonlute/2007/04/post_9f9b.html Page of a Japanese builder and repairer of yueqins]

===Video===
*[http://resources.edb.gov.hk/musiceb/english/Instrument/chinese/yueqin/video/video_2.htm Yueqin video: ''Qing Shen Yi Chang'' (情深谊长), performed by Fang Jinlong] from The Musical Instruments E-book

{{Traditional Chinese musical instruments}}
{{Lute}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Chinese musical instruments]]
[[Category:Necked lutes]]
[[Category:Peking opera]]

[[es:Yueqin#top]]