散open string
Pinyin: sàn
Timbre and harmonicsAlso written: 散音, 散声, 空弦音
A note sounded by the right hand on an open string, with the left hand not stopping it.
How it is played
The left hand leaves the string being played (the old rule is that it still rests lightly near the board rather than wandering), and the right hand plucks the open string with the given stroke. In jianzipu it is marked with an abbreviation of 散 resembling the grass radical, with the right-hand stroke and string number beneath.
How it sounds
The whole string vibrates: thick, deep and open, at the pitch to which the string is tuned.
In the classical handbooks
左不按而彈謂之散聲。Gist: Plucking without the left hand stopping is called the open sound.
左手不按徽位，惟以右手各指法彈絃，皆謂之散聲。Gist: When the left hand does not stop at a hui and only the right hand's strokes pluck the string, all of these are open sounds.
如作散聲，右手下指與木聲同，左手雖不按抑，亦不得離琴面。Gist: For an open sound, the right hand's touch is the same as for a stopped sound; although the left hand does not press, it must not leave the board.
泛音輕清而上浮，天也；實音重濁而下凝，地也。散絃居中，人也。而三才之道備矣。Gist: Harmonics are light, clear and float upward: heaven. Stopped notes are heavy, dense and sink downward: earth. The open strings stand between: man. Thus the way of the three powers is complete.
Where sources disagree
How the open, stopped and harmonic sounds map onto heaven, earth and man
- Harmonics are heaven, stopped (solid) notes are earth, and open notes stand between as man. Source: Deyintang Qinpu, vol. 3(opens in a new window)
- Harmonics are heaven, stopped notes are man, and open notes are earth. Source: common modern teaching (Mingyuetang and others)(opens in a new window)
Easily confused with
- 按àn· stopped noteA stopped note needs the left finger to press the string to the board, and its pitch changes with position; an open note is unstopped and gives only the string's own pitch.
References
- 田青《古琴——中国文人的乐器》（国务院参事室网站）(opens in a new window)Institution
- 铭乐堂《古琴声音特点——散音、按音、泛音》(opens in a new window)Qin community