Width at Head: 6 7/16 in. (16.3 cm)

Width at Tail: 5 1/16 in. (12.8 cm)

Inscription: 1) Above the jade knobs (9 columns of 10 characters, read right column first):

t t韻友韻友，流落云久。辱在肆廛，與瓦缶為偶。我今得子，珍若瓊玖。三沐三薰，滌塵刮垢。爐有香，樽有酒。位子其間，香淂子以清，酒淂子以厚。噫嘻吁！高山棱棱，流水澄澄，鍾期往矣，古調誰聼 。吾將對画揮弦，日日使山鳴水應，與子結耐久之朋。

My Friend of Assonance, my Friend of Assonance, you have had drifted for so long. What a waste it is for you to stay in this secular world, placed amongst coarse instruments made of clay. Now I have You and I shall treasure You as a precious jade. Over and over I bathed and purified myself with incense fragrance, washed away the dirt. Incense is now burning (in my censer), and wine is poured (into the cup). Your presence have purified the fragrance and given richness to the wine. Alas! Do you see the lofty and high mountains? Do you see the calm and clear waters? Zhong Ziqi had passed away! Who is listening, then, to my ancient tunes? Facing the superb landscape, I shall pluck your strings. Echoing everyday the mountains and waters, befriending you against the passage of time.


2) columns on either side of the longer soundhole, read from the right column

予性癖絲桐，庚午嵗，隨仕代郡，遇王鳳臯學博。嗜古博雅， 更精於琴。遂從授焉。數年，頗嫻節奏，惜未獲名琴，以爲深憾。壬申，在并門市中見此琴，剝蝕不堪，弄之有異響。擕歸。命工修理。工竣，試之。堅勁圓亮，果發奇音。余之幸， 抑亦期琴之幸也。雖非爨下焦尾，亦屬嶧陽佳遇。銘之以示不朽云。同治壬申（1872）仲秋，白亭香浦甫識於并門旅寓。[印]：香浦珍藏

By nature I love music. In the year of Gengwu (1870), I was designated to serve in the County of Dai , there I started learning chess playing with Wang Fenggao. He has a great passion for ancient things and is also good at playing the qin. Therefore, I became a student of his. After a few years, I have mastered the basic rhythm but unfortunately have not found a qin of high quality. In the year of Renshen (1872), I saw this qin at the market in City Bingmen , which was by then severely etched; the lacquer on the surface started to peel down. However, upon playing, it has an exceptional timbre. I (bought and) took it home and had it repaired by a craftsman. Upon completion, I found the timbre has gained intensity and sonority as I expected. Is it fortunate for me to have it, or should I say, fortunate for it to have me? Though this is not comparable to the Jiaowei , this encounter should be considered a parallel to the ‘blessed serendipity of Yiyang Qin’. I now have it engraved in the hope to last it forever. In the Mid-autumn in the year Renshen of Tongzhi’s reign (1872), Xiangpu fu from Baiting inscribed during the voyage at Bingmen.

[Seal]: Xiangpu’s Treasure

Translation: Hui Fang, Dept. of Asian Art, December 2014. See files for footnotes.

Florence and Herbert Irving