Well, as you may know, I'm a Chinese myself, yet I don't know anything about "Sam Yeen".

As far as I know, Chinese traditional plucked string instrument include 16-string guzheng, 24-string konghou (harp-like instrument) and 50-string se (zither-like).

And, the 4-string pipa is the most similar with a guitar, but I've no clue if anyone call it a "Sam Yeen".

Jason