[Illustration: FIG. 12.――_a._ CH’IN (a species of Lute). Modern Chinese. No. 9-’70. L. 38½ in., W. 8½ in. _b._ SHÊNG (Mouth Organ). Chinese, 19th century. No. 977-’72. L. 17 in., W. 4¼ in. _c._ YUEH-CH’IN (Moon Guitar). Chinese. 19th Century. No. 256-’82. Victoria and Albert Museum.] The ancient stringed instruments, the _ch’in_ (Fig. 12_a_) and _sê_, were of the dulcimer kind, they are still in use, and specimens of them are in the Museum. The _yueh-ch’in_ (Fig. 12_c_) is a favourite instrument of the Chinese. The Canton pronunciation of _yueh-ch’in_ is _yuet-kum_, and this may be the reason why some European travellers in China have called the instrument _gut-komm_. The wood of which it is made is called by the Chinese _shwan-che_. The strings are twanged with a plectrum, or with the nails, which, it will be remembered, are grown by the Chinese to an extravagant length. The Buddhists introduced from Tibet into China their god of music, who is represented as a rather jovial-looking man with a moustache and an imperial, playing the _p’i-p’a_, a kind of lute with four silken strings. Perhaps some interesting information respecting the ancient Chinese musical instruments may be gathered from the famous ruins of the Buddhist temples _Angcor-Wat_ and _Angcor-Thom_, in Cambodia. These splendid ruins are supposed to be above two thousand years old: and, at any rate, the circumstance of their age not being known to the Cambodians suggests a high antiquity. On the bas-reliefs with which the temples were enriched are figured musical instruments, which European travellers describe as “flutes, organs, trumpets, and drums, resembling those of the Chinese.” Faithful sketches of these representations, might, very likely, afford valuable hints to the student of musical history. THE JAPANESE. The Japanese musical instruments are in the main derived from those of China, and their names consequently represent the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese sounds. The _biwa_ (Fig. 13_b_) is almost identical with the Chinese _p’i-p’a_. The example illustrated is of wood, lacquered black and ornamented with a band of Japanese design in gold lacquer. It has four silken strings, and two very small sound holes. The _samisen_ (the Chinese _san-hsien_ or “three-stringed guitar”) is played especially by the Japanese ladies, and is as great a favourite with them as the lute was formerly with us. An example in the Museum (Fig. 13_c_) has three strings of silk. Both the _biwa_ and the _samisen_ are played with a wooden plectrum. The _ko-kiū_ is the Japanese violin, and resembles a small _samisen_, but has four strings. It is held head upwards and played with a loose-strung bow.