Name: The Lore of the Chinese Lute
Price: 851.00 ZAR
Availability: InStock
Author: Robert van Gulik
ISBN: 9789745242364

Type

Physical Book

Author

Robert van Gulik

Author

Robert H. Van Gulik

Publisher

Orchid Press

Language

English

Pages

312

Format

Hardcover

Dimensions

24.4 x 17.0 x 1.9 cm

Weight

0.69 kg.

ISBN13

9789745242364

Synopsis "The Lore of the Chinese Lute "

The lute, ch'in or guqin is one of China's oldest and most revered musical instruments. Records indicate that it has been a favourite of the literary classes for more than 2,500 years; Confucius himself was a great lover of the instrument. Over the centuries, it became representative of the life, taste and pastimes of the Chinese literati. In addition to its contributions to solo and orchestral musical arrangements, a wealth of symbolic meaning accrued to the lute over time. Not only was knowledge of the instrument reserved for the literati; its study was believed to be conducive to meditation and to facilitate intellectual enlightenment. While a significant body of literature has been written on the lute in Chinese, the present monograph is the first to assemble a broad picture of the instrument and its cultural significance in English. The author, a renowned Sinologue and linguist, studied the playing of the instrument under one of the most famous lute masters of his age.

Robert van Gulik

(Author)

View Author's Page

Robert Hans Van Gulik (Zutphen, 1910-The Hague, 1967), orientalist, diplomat, and Dutch writer. He spent his childhood in Jakarta (Indonesia), where he learned several languages, including Mandarin Chinese. Upon returning to the Netherlands, he graduated and earned a PhD in Orientalism at the University of Leiden. He worked for the Dutch Government in China and Japan, from where he was evacuated when World War II broke out. After several years traveling through the East, he was appointed ambassador of the Netherlands to Japan. He is the author of monographs and essays on oriental themes.

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