London Youlan Qin Society

The society was founded in July 2003 by Dr Cheng Yu and several guqin enthusiasts.[2] According to the society's website, the society aims to "promote interest in and understanding of Chinese musical culture and philosophy, [...] especially of the qin in the UK."[3] The society had existed before then in an inchoate form with a group of qin players having irregular yaji. Then in 2003, the group of players decided to create a more formal society at the suggestion of Gong Yi (who was visiting the UK at the time), thereby creating Britain's first and only qin society.

The name of the society was arrived at after Gong Yi suggested 'London' sounded more cultured than 'UK' and upon Cheng Yu suggesting Youlan, (meaning "solitary orchid", the name of a famous guqin melody), Gong Yi informed her that that was the name of his daughter by coincidence.

The society is an offshoot of the UK Chinese Ensemble, also headed by Cheng, which includes the Silk String Quartet and other projects.

During 2009, it was decided that the Society would become more formal and adopt a new constitution to expand the Society's promotion as well as gain easier access to funding due to wide-ranging cuts in arts funding in recent years placing its summer school programmes in jeopardy. Plans were laid down in October of that year and in 2011 the Society officially became formal with its first AGM held in January of that year.[4]

A new committee was elected to support the Society's increased workload.

The main activities the society holds are regular bi-monthly[5] yaji (informal gatherings of qin enthusiasts)[lower-alpha 1] as well as the occasional concert[7] and the yearly guqin music summer school in association with (before 2011) the Asian Music Circuit at the Royal Academy of Music, London.

The early yaji were usually held at a house of a member, the majority of which was held in Twickenham. Since 2011, almost all yaji are now held at SOAS.

Though it is primarily based in London, the society may hold meetings at other places in the UK for special occasions. One such meeting was held at Oxford University in 2004.[8] On average, around 10 – 20 members attend for each meeting though for special events, such as when a famous qin master comes over from China, the number of attendees increase significantly.

A concert is held at least once a year, usually coinciding with the summer schools. Other than this, concerts are usually held to coincide with special events, sometimes at museum exhibitions or a festival etc.

The Society has an AGM in January every year and its meeting are mostly held at SOAS since 2011.

Summer schools

Zeng Chengwei (left) giving a talk at a Summer School.

The summer school in London is the Society's main event of the year, started in 2003.[9] Each year, a qin master/player is invited to London to teach students for a week. So far, Prof. Li Xianting, Gong Yi, Prof. Zeng Chengwei and Dai Xiaolian have taught at the summer school, with Prof. Zeng becoming the most often. During these summer schools, there is the main Society yaji/anniversary/Congregation event of the year, attended by the professor, members of the Society and guests. The summer school is the only of its kind outside China to offer yearly tuition from qin masters from China.

Since 2011, the Society has a more direct involvement with organising summer schools and workshops independent of the AMC. Since 2013, due to timing constraints and/or funding issues, the Society began holding its summer schools at the Royal College of Music and, since 2015, the China Exchange without inviting over a qin player from China. The classes are now taught by Cheng Yu for the intermediate/advance class and Charles Tsua for the beginners. On top of this, since 2016, there are seasonal weekly classes held at the London Fo Guang Shan Temple which is taught by Cheng Yu.

Before 2011, the society comprises three permanently elected officers (President, Secretary and Treasurer though the office of last was never officially exercised due to the fact that the Society never charged a subscription fee or formally had any expenditure during this period), several artistic consultants and numerous ordinary members who were basically mailing list subscribers. Since 2011, a committee was set up consisting of three officers as previous and three ordinary committee members, several non-executive officers and patrons in addition to the ordinary subscribing membership.

Membership is open to all who have an interest in music, particularly the music of the guqin, or are qin players/musicians. Members receive regular mailings via e-mail about the society's activities and important upcoming events. There is no formal requirement for members to attend any of the meetings or yaji but they must, beginning January 2011, pay a subscription fee.

There are two levels of membership: Full and Associate. Associate membership is aimed at those who maybe living outside the UK who may not be able to attend meetings or participate in events and activities as easily and/or regularly as those who reside within the UK (they are primarily barred from voting or standing for elections and have no access to the Society's library and resources).

• LYQS official site
• LYQS Facebook page