Xie Jialiang shows his gu qin, Aug 15, 2016. [Photo/Chinanews.com]

Forty-nine-year-old Xie Jialiang, a craftsman who lives in Ya'an in Sichuan province, has, for more than a decade, dedicated his life to making gu qin (a Chinese seven-stringed plucked musical instrument).

"My grandpa and father were all specialized in gu qin production, I just inherit a family tradition," Xie said.

As one of the oldest traditional Chinese plucked musical instruments, gu qin has a history of some 4,000 years. The process of making a gu qin often takes a long time, ranging from six months to three years.

Xie, however, once earned his living as a carpenter, making furniture rather than gu qin. Being the bread winner in his family, he only had time to collect the basic materials to make the instrument, and had no extra energy to carry on the family tradition.

It wasn't until 10 years ago that he eventually had a large enough collection of high quality wood to make gu qin. Then he started his own journey making the instrument.

Centuries-old Cedar wood and nanmu are his favorite materials.

"These two kinds of wood are very nice material, and when you tap it, the sound is deep and vigorous. Plus they will not easily go out of shape," Xie said.

Xie spends thirteen hours a day making gu qin and he also gets to know many gu qin lovers on the internet and communicate with them from time to time.

Now, he hopes to establish a gu qin studio and send the instruments for free to those who love them.