Qin music tends to linger on certain notes, with an emphasis on silence and timbre, giving it a meditative quality. Being an instrument historically associated with literati, its aim is Confucian (in trying to cultivate one's mind) as well as Daoist (in seeking harmony between man and nature). 「琴棋書畫」 (qin qi shu hua) refers to the Four Arts of the Chinese Scholar, wherein 『琴』 qin/music refers specifically to guqin. phrase is a rather late invention of the Song period (according to the "Wuzhizhai Qinpu"), so it is not clear how essential it was to the pedagogy of earlier scholar classes. It is rarely used to play popular and fast tunes which are deemed to be vulgar to the instrument of the scholars.