Zither (Qin)

long narrow form; constructed out of a single piece of wood with rectangular hole cut in the underside serving as the sound box; top is slightly convex; sides flat; neck slightly raised; tiger's face with large eyes, flaring nostrils, flattened ears, wide curved mouth carved at one end; tiger's head is pierced with large square opening, designed to hold the single string anchor, and five small holes for pegs; covered overall with black lacquer; painted with a fine red cross-hatched design on top and sides; sides decorated with frieze of 5 black dragons with elongated arched bodies, long tails, thin legs and gold wings; another dragon on top of neck; narrow bands of black diamonds on a solid red ground at edges; fingerboard painted with 4 groups of symmetrically confronting double-headed dragons with snakelike bodies between human-faced dragon figures and either end