qin

plural qins · alternative kin

1. entertainmentAny of several traditional Chinese musical instruments, most commonly the seven-stringed instrument more specifically called the guqin.

   He makes his qin students take calligraphy with him, and calligraphy and painting students play the qin.

   2006, Dana Standridge, Lessons in Essence: A Novel

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   ... there was no longer anyone worth playing his qin for, so he broke his instrument and never played again. The guqin was also a means of expressing love.

   1989, Zhongguo fu li hui, Chung-kuo fu li hui, China Reconstructs

   Knowing that we play the qin, they told us that there was a qin in the teahouse, but only for decoration – no one there actually knew how to play it.

   2016 December 30, “Oral history book explores true meaning of tradition by recounting the revival of qin”, in Shanghai Daily

plural Qins · alternative Ch'in · alternative Tsin · alternative Chin

1. countableuncountableAn ancient feudal state of China that existed between 778 and 207 BC.
2. countableuncountableThe first imperial dynasty of China, lasting from 221 to 207 BC.

   Sian was the captial of the Cin Dynasty(221B.C. - 201B.C.), which built the Great Wall of China. The city is now known for archeological finds, such as the clay soldiers, horses and arms buried with the emperor of the Cin Dynasty.

   [2007, “Our Trip Back to Shanghai”, in A Girl From Shanghai: The Story of Lillian Hsu, a Medical Geneticist, a NTU Medical College Alumna, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 48

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   Until 1974, the name Qin Shihuangdi (221-210 B.C.) was essentially known to specialists through the annals of Sima Qian, official historian to the Han dynasty (206 B.C.-220 A.D.). The Han overthrew the Qin dynasty founded by the First Emperor and this might call for reservations concerning his objectivity. Yet Sima, who wrote a century after the facts, was well informed.

   2007 September 14, Souren Melikian, “A Chinese emperor's cultural revolution”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 28 Nov 2024, Arts

   The highlight of every Chinese New Year meal with the family is when the "hongbao", red envelopes filled with brand new banknotes, are handed out at the end. The tradition goes back to the Qin dynasty (221 - 206 BC) when hongbao were given to children to protect them from evil spirits.

   2016 February 11, Frank Sieren, “Sieren's China: Cashless into the Year of the Monkey”, in DW News, archived from the original on 12 Feb 2016, China

   Some etymologies trace the name 'China' itself to the Qin (pronounced 'Chin') dynasty, and so you might imagine that it would have a very special status in Chinese history. But the unified state barely outlasted the death of Qin Shi Huangdi himself - four years later it succumbed to a rebellion from which the considerably more durable Han dynasty (206 BC to AD 220) emerged - and it is regarded with little fondness in China today.

   2017, Philip Ball, The Water Kingdom: A Secret History of China, University of Chicago Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 89

3. countableuncountableA surname from Chinese.

   Qin and Meng applied for permission to have a child from authorities in Huangshan city in eastern Anhui province, where her residency is registered, said the officer, who gave only his surname, also Qin.

   2015 May 19, “China teacher allowed to give birth and ordered to abort”, in AP News, archived from the original on 11 Mar 2023

alternative Ch'in · alternative Tsin · alternative Chin

1. A county of Changzhi, Shanxi, China.