撞knock
Pinyin: zhuàng
Left hand, slidingWhile the stopped note rings, the left finger jabs quickly upward and returns at once, so fast it sounds almost like a single note.
How it is played
Once the note is sounded and steady, keep pressing and push a short way up toward the bridge, then return immediately. Up and back must be one motion, the faster the better; done slowly it becomes jin fu. The distance should be small; the point is crispness.
How it sounds
A sudden flick upward and back on the sustained note, like a light knock. The main note still dominates, with a brief upward inflection.
In the classical handbooks
按處已彈得聲，用指急向上少許，速歸按位，再得一聲曰撞。其速如電，蓋速則一聲，遲則似進復而成兩聲也。Gist: Once the stopped note has sounded, the finger moves quickly up a little and returns swiftly to the stopping position, gaining another note: this is zhuang. Fast as lightning, for fast it is one note; slow, it resembles jin fu and becomes two.
虚舟觸柱，進退無留，故曰撞。Gist: An empty boat striking a pillar, advancing and retreating without lingering: hence the name zhuang (“strike”).
Where sources disagree
How far the knock goes up
- Only “a little” upward, then quickly back to the stopping position. Source: Qinxue Rumen (Introduction to Qin Studies), vol. 1, left-hand pressing symbols(opens in a new window) · View the original page
- A semitone or a whole tone upward; there is no fixed rule. Source: Yihe Qin Society, “Jianzipu: a short guide to technique symbols” (the common modern reading)(opens in a new window)
Easily confused with
- 进复jìn fù· up and backZhuang is as fast as one note; jin fu is two distinct notes.
- 撞猱zhuàng náo· knocking wide vibratoZhuang nao folds the knock into a nao vibrato; zhuang itself is a single quick jab and return.
References
- 《琴学入门》国家图书馆藏刻本第 2 册（Wikimedia Commons 扫描）(opens in a new window)Primary source
- 颐和琴社《减字谱·指法符号简释》(opens in a new window)Qin community