new compositions do not compare with ancient scores. But technically, these ancient scores were new at the time when they were composed. Some fear that in 100 years' time, people then might say that we have contributed nothing new to qin. That is not to say that the qin cannot be viewed in a traditional way, but to say that the qin is also capable of a progression into new territory. There is no reason why players cannot embrace both traditional and scientific study of the qin. Manifestations of qin music Classical descriptions of guqin aesthetics discuss shengjiang 〔聲像〕 or "manifestations of sound" of the qin. These are single words used to describe the mood or theme of the piece. The number of these 'manifestations' are disputed. Some say only 4, some say 13-16, and some say over 24. Listed in some qinpu they have very lengthy descriptions of each manifestation, going into every detail. The most basic words used to describe qin music are, for example, Yushan school's qing 『清』, wei 『微』, dan 『淡』 and yuan 『遠』, or "pure", "profound", "light" and "distant". Another important essay on qin manifestations is Xishan Qinkuang 【谿山琴况】 which lists 24 qin manifestations in great detail. This essay has several layers; some words describe the playing method, some describe ornamentation and some describe the body of the music. They also explain the union between musician and instrument and how to achieve unity with the music. References Please see: References section in the guqin article for a full list of references used in all qin related articles. Footnotes London Youlan Qin Society (2004) Yaji 5 September 2004 (http://www.ukchinesemusic.com/londonyoulanqin/yaji_20040905.htm, 29 July 2006) Personal correspondence with John Thompson. Sachs, Curt. The History of Musical Instruments. Li, Xiangting. Tangdai Guqin Yanzou Meixue ji Yinyue Sixiang Yanjiu 【唐代古琴演奏美學及音樂思想研究】. Chapter one: sections 1-13. Xu, Shangying. Dahuan Ge Qinpu 【大還閣琴譜】. Folio 1. A Aesthetics