重heavy
Pinyin: zhòng
Terms and marksPlay heavily: a forceful touch and a full tone, without roughness.
How it is played
Asks for a heavy, forceful touch here. The ancients said “pluck as if to break the string, press as if into the wood”, speaking of force; but heavy must not be violent. With the strength in the fingers the tone should be high, bright and pure, never harsh or martial; the art lies in force that goes unnoticed.
In the classical handbooks
重也。重彈也。Gist: Zhong: play heavily.
故古人撫琴。則曰。彈欲斷弦。按如入木。此專言其用力也。但妙在用力不覺耳。Gist: So the ancients, playing the qin, said: pluck as if to break the string, press as if into the wood. This speaks only of force; the art lies in force that goes unnoticed.
Easily confused with
- 轻qīng· lightQing is a light touch and small volume, the opposite of zhong.