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10 Jan 11 - 06:31 PM (#3071696) Subject: A 'Sam Yeen' is a Chinese Guitar From: Joybell in case anyone except me was wondering. In my eternal quest for knowledge relating to 19th century performers I came across the phrase "a Sam Yeen performer". No explanation. No clues. After a year of wandering through old newspapers I came upon a 19th century review in a newspaper from New Zealand. The reporter used the line "... A Sam Yeen or Chinese Guitar." The rest is easy. There's a lot of information about them including many names -- except "Sam Yeen". So there you go in the interest of spreading forgotten information. Cheers, Joy |
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11 Jan 11 - 02:32 AM (#3071884) Subject: RE: A 'Sam Yeen' is a Chinese Guitar From: GUEST,Donal Probably a samisen (Japanese) |
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11 Jan 11 - 05:41 PM (#3072441) Subject: RE: A 'Sam Yeen' is a Chinese Guitar From: Joybell That's an interesting thought, Donal. I wonder? I'll take a look at them. There may be a Japanese/Chinese connection. The name comes up during a Chinese craze here in Australia (and New Zealand). The performer named as a "Sam Yeen performer" was an associate of the man I'm studying. They both played other Chinese instruments and did a Chinese act. They were billed as "The Minstrels of the Moon" at the time. This instrument is also called a "Moon Guitar" and sometimes has little moons cut into the face. It looks more like a banjo with a wooden drum. Cheers, Joy |
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11 Jan 11 - 06:06 PM (#3072463) Subject: RE: A 'Sam Yeen' is a Chinese Guitar From: Joybell It seems the Japanese samisen was from the Chinese instrument called a "sanxian". San = three. xian = strings. Both names sound a bit like "Sam Yeen". However neither one is like a Chinese guitar or Ruan which has a solid wooden body and not a skin head. It has four strings. My man was a keen scholar. Clever and witty. I believe the name was carefully thought out as a pun of some sort. We need a Chinese linguist. Cheers, Joy |
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12 Jan 11 - 12:29 AM (#3072667) Subject: RE: A 'Sam Yeen' is a Chinese Guitar From: Joybell Just found another reference from another NZ newspaper that calls a Sam Yeen "a Chinese Fiddle". Still no connection between the names, that I can make out. Cheers, Joy |
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12 Jan 11 - 06:48 AM (#3072792) Subject: RE: A 'Sam Yeen' is a Chinese Guitar From: Jason Xion Wang 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 |
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14 Jan 11 - 05:47 PM (#3074732) Subject: RE: A 'Sam Yeen' is a Chinese Guitar From: Joybell Thank you for trying, Jason. I think the name probably had a short life and was then forgotton. Around 1870. I did find another reference to a Sam Yeen being a fiddle and not a guitar but that was no help really. Cheers, Joy |