A central tenet of Guqin philosophy is an almost obsessive focus and rumination on the relationship between one’s fingers and the instrument. Song-dynasty polymath Su Shi writes:

若言琴上有琴聲，        If you say the qin’s sound is in the instrument,
放在匣中何不鳴？        then why, when it’s placed in its case, does it not sing?
若言聲在指頭上，        If you say the sound is in the fingers,
何不於君指上聽？        then why not listen to them directly?

Thus, what emerges is a totalistic concentration on the interaction of the body with the instrument—animate and inanimate—and in turn, an attitude of listening for sounds that are beyond simply the notes that are played. 

digits, surfaces, localized retentions is an isolation and exploration of these sounds that are, quite literally translated, “beyond the string” (弦外之音). The subtle artifacts that are birthed by the fingers first coming into contact with and rubbing against the rosin-coated strings are weaved together to create the basic fabric of this piece. What results is a ritual between the player and instrument where one is invited to explore their touch—minute gradations of the finger tracing the string—in the most private, shy, and internally focused manner possible.