Qinqin
The qinqin (; pinyin: qínqín; Vietnamese: Dan-tru) is a plucked Chinese lute. It was originally manufactured with a wooden body, a slender fretted neck, and three strings.photo 1[ photo 2] Its body can be round,photo hexagonal (with rounded sides), or octagonal.[ photo] Often, only two strings were used, as in certain regional silk-and-bamboo ensembles.photo In its hexagonal form (with rounded sides), it is also referred to as meihuaqin (梅花琴, literally "plum blossom instrument").
The qinqin is particularly popular in southern China: in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau. A similar instrument, the two-stringed đàn sến, has been adapted from the qinqin for use in the traditional music of southern Vietnam.photo
The 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.
There are two varieties of qinqins in modern China: the "traditional" version, characterized having "tall" Chinese style frets (see photo), and the "modern" version, which uses fret wire instead. The modern version also closely resembles a banjo in that its body shape is usually round and includes a drum head made most often of sheep skin or python skin. The modern version also usually comes with three strings, the tuning of which most people (even the store staff and management) are "not clear" on. I've been told by one salesman who said the third and the first strings of the qinqin are tuned like the two strings of an erhu (inside string = D4, outside string A4), which is a 5th apart, leaving not much room in the middle for the second string of the qinqin. A Westerner would usually attempt to tune it "D-A-d" (D4-A4-D5), but this will usually break the thin string #1. At a second store, the sales lady came and tuned the qinqin I was handling to "G-D-g" (G3-D4-G4) and while I'm not sure if this is the traditional tuning, it seems pretty acceptable. A third source, frequently cited on the Chinese websites, says the tuning is G3-D4-A5. But with the Romance brand instrument I own, and using Alice brand qinqin strings, I always pop (break) string 1 as soon as I get to G4# (a semitone below A5). So, until I'm informed of a better tuning by an authoritative source, I'm sticking with "G-D-g".
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Wikipedia