To express one's affection or romantic interest through the playing of a musical instrument, typically a qin (a plucked seven-string Chinese instrument).
Era:
Ancient
Frequency:
Story:
During the Western Han Dynasty, the famous rhapsodist Sima Xiangru returned to his hometown in Chengdu after the death of King Xiao of Liang. His family was extremely poor and life was very difficult.
His friend, Wang Ji, the magistrate of Linqiong County, invited him to be a guest at the home of the wealthy magnate Zhuo Wangsun. There, Sima Xiangru became smitten with Zhuo Wangsun's widowed daughter, Zhuo Wenjun.
The two expressed their mutual love and admiration through their qin playing, a subtle exchange known as 'qin xin xiang tiao'.
Afterward, they returned to Sima Xiangru's humble, bare-walled home and began their simple, albeit impoverished, life together.