--- product_id: 30056749 title: "Standards of the Guqin" price: "236.31 DT" currency: TND in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.tn/products/30056749-standards-of-the-guqin store_origin: TN region: Tunisia --- # Standards of the Guqin **Price:** 236.31 DT **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Standards of the Guqin - **How much does it cost?** 236.31 DT with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.tn](https://www.desertcart.tn/products/30056749-standards-of-the-guqin) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description Standards of the Guqin is the first original textbook in English for the Chinese seven-stringed zither, traditionally favoured by scholars and clergy past and present. This book provides a holistic curriculum for students without prior knowledge of the Chinese language or culture, covering history, construction, technique, and critique of the musical tradition. The Fifth Edition features a revised and updated curriculum of Chinese music theory (including temperament, modality, tuning, and musical analysis) and history in addition to performance, a chapter on the historical manuscript interpretation process known as dapu. All jianzipu fingering tablature and musical scores are digitally generated in high-resolution for quality legibility. Review: From Beginner to Master - This book contains essential knowledge for beginners of guqin, namely the Chinese notation system in written music (jianzipu). It also contains very high level music theory information, which might go over the heads of less knowledgeable musicians (myself included). Though I have played multiple instruments, this is the most music theory I have read, so it presents a new challenge, just like the instrument itself. However, this book shows a great opportunity to grow as a musician with guqin. Repertoire songs have a short section after that aids in increasing the lessons you will learn from each piece. It is very unfortunate that my copy has blank musical staffs for Shang Motif (p174), Celestial Air (p176), and Hidden Virtues (p178). Despite that, I still believe this book is fundamental (and more!) to a guqin learner who is not fluent in Mandarin. Review: A good introduction to the guqin - The author claims that it’s written at the high school level, but even then, all the complex and abstract musical theory and mathematics makes it a rather dense read. At best, I think that most of the reading is suited at the college level. I just wish that the author could have included detailed and easy to understand info on how to play it. It goes from score symbols, to complex and dense reading, and then straight to the music scores; also, I wish that the author could have written the accompanying musical scores in jianpu rather than western musical theory. At best, it is better suited for college level reading and academia; and I highly regret saying that because I personally stay away from tedious academic writing. I also wonder why the author chose to use numbers to mark tones in Mandarin (e.x. mo3, gou1, ti1), instead of pinyin? Anyway, it is a good introduction to the guqin that is written in English; this is perhaps the only English written manual for the guqin as it is extremely rare to find anything else in English. Use it as a supplement for your lessons and as a review. I highly suggest that you find a teacher and use this manual to supplement your learning. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #979,517 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #4,335 in Music Instruction & Study (Books) | | Customer Reviews | 4.6 out of 5 stars 116 Reviews | ## Images ![Standards of the Guqin - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71v0vIh3RAL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ From Beginner to Master *by 9***W on August 30, 2024* This book contains essential knowledge for beginners of guqin, namely the Chinese notation system in written music (jianzipu). It also contains very high level music theory information, which might go over the heads of less knowledgeable musicians (myself included). Though I have played multiple instruments, this is the most music theory I have read, so it presents a new challenge, just like the instrument itself. However, this book shows a great opportunity to grow as a musician with guqin. Repertoire songs have a short section after that aids in increasing the lessons you will learn from each piece. It is very unfortunate that my copy has blank musical staffs for Shang Motif (p174), Celestial Air (p176), and Hidden Virtues (p178). Despite that, I still believe this book is fundamental (and more!) to a guqin learner who is not fluent in Mandarin. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A good introduction to the guqin *by A***X on September 4, 2022* The author claims that it’s written at the high school level, but even then, all the complex and abstract musical theory and mathematics makes it a rather dense read. At best, I think that most of the reading is suited at the college level. I just wish that the author could have included detailed and easy to understand info on how to play it. It goes from score symbols, to complex and dense reading, and then straight to the music scores; also, I wish that the author could have written the accompanying musical scores in jianpu rather than western musical theory. At best, it is better suited for college level reading and academia; and I highly regret saying that because I personally stay away from tedious academic writing. I also wonder why the author chose to use numbers to mark tones in Mandarin (e.x. mo3, gou1, ti1), instead of pinyin? Anyway, it is a good introduction to the guqin that is written in English; this is perhaps the only English written manual for the guqin as it is extremely rare to find anything else in English. Use it as a supplement for your lessons and as a review. I highly suggest that you find a teacher and use this manual to supplement your learning. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Good for beginners to start out on *by V***U on March 15, 2026* As a beginner, this was very helpful in understanding jianzipu notation, and the included western notation was somewhat helpful in understanding what each part did. it is also quite informative as almost the entire first half of the book is about guqin's history, music theory, notation, and maintenance. Almost the rest of the other half are the music sheets and their introductory pages of their context. I don't really have a teacher to assist with my learning so there was a considerable learning curve the first time around when I moved onto the 2nd introductory piece and had to break it down piece by piece slowly. The 1st introductory piece was perfect for a beginner to learn though. It is a given that you study the notation charts although some of the notation won't be relevant until later pieces a few months down the book's recommended curriculum. It would be nice if there was an additional page/section for each piece detailing what jianzipu that is needed to be learnt before attempting the piece instead of having to find the notation in the charts 52+ pages back, but we will have to make do with manually making personal notes on the music sheets and book tabs. I possess the normal 4th Edition book and the ring-binded 5th edition. The ring-binded book sits easier on my music stand and there's no spine that requires excessive stressing to keep the book open. The 5th Edition is a rewrite that corrects the deficiencies and inaccuracies of the 4th Edition. Overall, definitely would recommend this resource to anyone starting out with guqin. ## Frequently Bought Together - Standards of the Guqin - Abiding With Antiquity - The Lore of the Chinese Lute --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.tn/products/30056749-standards-of-the-guqin](https://www.desertcart.tn/products/30056749-standards-of-the-guqin) --- *Product available on Desertcart Tunisia* *Store origin: TN* *Last updated: 2026-08-25*