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.
泛
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
- Uses technique
Guqin (古琴)
Harmonics are the third fundamental way of sounding the instrument, giving a clear, floating overtone.
Reading about Harmonics (fan yin)
Sources for this entry
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)