Both the _che_ and _kin_ were, in true Chinese fashion, made to convey numberless morals and symbols. The breezes of Heaven, the four seasons, the five elements, and the universe were all in some manner dragged into the formation of these instruments. The _kin_ represented life, the _che_ death, and before performing upon either, the player went through certain ceremonies to fit himself for the task, and lighted some perfumed tapers, which were kept burning throughout the performance. To perform on the _kin_, the Chinese held that one must be well advanced in wisdom and sagacity. Of the _che_, there exist four different kinds, the great, medium, small and very small; all these differ in size but not in their number of strings, each possessing twenty-five. Amiot[112] found the _che_ to be a more agreeable instrument than any known in Europe in his day (1750 circa), as the softer sounds of the silken cords were preferable to the metallic sound of the wires of the clavichord. We have no instrument in our music which corresponds to the _kin_, or _che_; but the zither if trebled in length, and strung with silk instead of wire would give a very exact idea of this finest of Chinese instruments. THE SOUND OF WOOD. The Chinese have from remotest antiquity, used wooden instruments of percussion; it is most natural that the earliest of instruments used by man, should have been of wood, but it is also natural that most nations should have laid aside these primitive and toneless instruments. Not so the Chinese however; their wooden instruments are still used as they were four thousand years ago; for the historians date their invention from the mysterious reign of Fo-hi. These instruments are the _tchu_, the _ou_, and the _tchung-tou_, all of which celebrate and typify the most profound moral precepts, _a la Chinois_. The _tchu_ is a plain wooden box, about a foot and a half deep, in which a hammer is fastened; by introducing the hand into a small aperture, made for that purpose in the side of the instrument, the hammer is agitated, and swaying from side to side, produces a sort of tattoo on both sides of the box. This scarcely can be called _music_ for it is doubtful if the sound is even rhythmic; but it is not the sound alone which captivates the Chinese ear, the symbol attached to it moves the Chinese heart, for the sages assure us that this clatter represents (in some mysterious way) the advantages of the social intercourse of men, and the mutual benefits of society. The _tchu_ is placed at the _north-east_ of the other instruments and is played at the commencement of a composition.