For my new band Chinese Mystery Banjo

May 3, 2011 12:47 PM

Help me identify this banjo-like instrument from China.

Pictures: Front and Back

My mom bought this for me several years ago from a shop in China where she also got a very, very nice classical guitar. This banjo-thingy is well made and certainly not a toy and may or may not be called a "chin-chin." It's got 11 frets and conforms to the chromatic scale.

I tried to tune it like a banjo (with too few frets), but the strings break if I take it up to any standard tuning I know of. I even tried nylon strings.

Is it called a chin-chin? What's a chin-chin?
How do I tune it? What do I string it with?
How do I play it the way it was meant to be played? Are there chin-chin playing resources?

posted by cmoj to Grab Bag (4 answers total)

Minor thread on Banjo Hangout: Metal bodied Snake-Skin banjo.
posted by scruss at 12:54 PM on May 3, 2011

Try searching for qinqin. The first hit on Google Images is very similar to your instrument.
posted by Nomyte at 12:54 PM on May 3, 2011

4th row, 1st item looks like your instrument.
posted by fings at 1:19 PM on May 3, 2011 [1 favorite]

The entry for the Qin qin (秦琴 - 'Qin lute' I presume) at Baidu Encyclopedia (in Ch.) says it evolved from the ruan - the English entry there might be of interest. Here's a video of a bloke playing a Qin qin.
posted by Abiezer at 1:36 PM on May 3, 2011