Guqin
Traditionally the instrument was called simply qin 「琴」, but by the 20th century the term had come to be used on many other musical instruments as well (for example, the yangqin 「揚琴」 hammered dulcimer, the huqin 「胡琴」 family of bowed string instruments, and the Western piano (; literally "steel stringed-instrument")), so the prefix "gu-" 「古」 (meaning "ancient") was added for clarification. It can also be called qixianqin 「七絃琴」 ("seven-stringed instrument"). The guqin is not to be confused with the guzheng, another Chinese long zither also without frets, but with moveable bridges under each string. Because Robert Hans van Gulik's famous book about the qin is called The Lore of the Chinese Lute, the qin is sometimes inaccurately called a lute. Other incorrect classifications (mainly from music CDs) include "harp" or "table-harp". Other Western nicknames for the guqin include "Chinese guitar" and "Chinaman's harp".