Alongside painting, calligraphy, and chess, playing the qin (zither) was one of the four academic and artistic accomplishments of the scholar-gentleman in ancient China. Qin music was often passed down directly from teacher to student, but was also transcribed in written form called tablatures. Tablatures record the finger positions and stroke techniques rather than the musical note played. It is written with a shorthand system of abbreviated Chinese characters called "jianzi". Each composite character succinctly represents one or more notes, and indicates a wealth of details – which hand to use, fingering, and strings and motions to use. Tablatures often also include information about qin instrument itself, including its history, lore, culture, different schools, and music theory associated with it.
