Traditionally the instrument was called simply qin ã ç ã , but by the 20th century the term had come to be used on many other musical instruments as well ( for example , the yangqin ã æ ç ã hammered dulcimer , the huqin ã è ç ã family of bowed string instruments , and the Western piano ( Chinese : é 1\/4 ç ; pinyin : gÄ ng qÃ n ; literally `` steel stringed-instrument '' ) ) , so the prefix `` gu - '' ã å ã ( meaning `` ancient '' ) was added for clarification . Traditionally , the instrument was simply referred to as qin ( Wade-Giles ch ` in ) but by the twentieth century the term had come to be applied to many other musical instruments as well : the yangqin hammered dulcimer , the huqin family of bowed string instruments , and the Western piano are examples of this usage . The prefix `` gu - '' ( meaning `` ancient '' ) was later added for clarification .