In the later years of the 1960s on a small island in Hong Kong, a young boy from Britain fell in love with the culture of a nation called China. Only years later, while living in London, did this young music student meet a Guqin at a small music shop in Chinatown. As if meeting with destiny, he was stricken by the beauty of Guqin and would then spend three decades more separated from his passion.

Finally, after a forty year career in Western classical music, the mature Englishman purchased a Guqin and began to teach himself to play. He became so immersed in the lore of the Guqin that a friend from Shanghai gifted him the 号 hao (courtesy name), 隐啸 Yin Xiao, or “Whistling Recluse”.

From the onset, Yin Xiao’s passion extended to the revival of silk strings, and he started to experiment with strings made by different makers from China and Japan. During these forays, he found a lack of support for his art in Europe and, in particular, a traditional string glue to maintain the silk strings he so enjoyed. This led to the creation of the Yin Xiao Song Dynasty String Glue, and then the offering of his services for the upkeep and longevity of Guqin.

See the sound page for this latest performances and recordings.

Not only the name of our musician and founder, but Yin Xiao is a young company based in Lisbon, Portugal providing for the needs of the guqin community in and outside Mainland China. We are proud to be a bridge over the Great Wall by sharing traditional Chinese culture with the world.

Yin Xiao looks forward to walking hand-in-hand into the future with the ever-growing international Guqin community. We are keen to be able to present our care products—including our original Song Dynasty String Glue, the very best in silk string care—and Guqin from the MoWu and Xu Yachong workshops in Lankao County, Henan Province, China.