Jon Johanning asks:

>This sounds like an ancestor to the Japanese koto. Is that the case?

No, the guqin and koto are not related.  The koto is directly related to
the Chinese guzheng (or just "zheng") as mentioned in another post.  They
are trapezoidal movable bridge zithers.  The guqin has a "curvier" body
vaguely reminiscent of the shape of the violin.  The zheng/koto have more
of a <plink> sound, whereas the guqin has more of a <twang> sound, if that
helps clarify at all.  The tension is higher on the zheng/koto.

Todd McCOmb
[log in to unmask]