As an engineer, I find this powder of immense use for qin players in the following areas: 

 

(1) To maintain smoothness of both hands during playing. This is especially helpful for sweaty hands.

 

(2) For the smoothness of the qin surface. A very small amount is enough to guarantee smoothness of the qin surface. Both the lacquer and the humidity could affect the smoothness. Talcum powder would ensure a smooth surface during playing.

 

(3) For easier installation of the qin strings. This has been a nightmare to many qin players. The problem lies with the two right angle corners on the left hand end of the qin, giving rise to a lot of frictional resistance. We often hear qin players complaining, "One needs to know kung fu to change the strings". This is untrue!

 

The tensions for both silk and nylon strings are actually fairly similar, ranging between 13 lbf to 20 lbf (see my previous article). These figures are well within the ability of everyone, including female players.

 

By applying a small quantity of talcum powder spread around the corners, the surface friction is dramatically reduced. Alternatively, one could use bee's wax, a more traditional way perhaps. However, it is not clear whether any chemical reaction occurs between bee's wax and silk strings. Furthermore, when a silk string breaks, usually at the fly knot, the part of the string at the corners will be shifted to the right, and becomes the playing part of the string on the left. There may be problems playing with a waxy silk string.

 

(4) Reducing risk of string damage during installation. A brand new set of strings can very often be damaged when installed by an inexperienced person. This is especially true for silk strings, which is also several times more expensive. Good quality silk strings are highly uniform and smooth. Damaged parts, such as kinks, hinder playing and also become weak points where the string will eventually break. Lubrication with talcum powder reduces the effort required for the string installation and thus reduces the risk of string damage.