Flat, circular body of wood; a single wooden rib wraps around the back and table. Eight wooden frets glued to the table with two more glued to the short wooden neck. The pegbox contains four large lateral tuning pegs and terminates in a simple scroll. Two lateral courses of strings are attached to a wooden bridge on the table and tuned in a perfect fifth.

The yue qin first appeared in the Han dynasty (206 BC—220 AD). It takes its name, 'moon guitar,' from the shape of its body. Its four silk strings are grouped in two courses of two each, tuned a fifth apart. There are characteristically either ten or twelve wooden frets. Today, yue qin is in wide use as an instrument to accompany song, and as a member of instrumental ensembles, most notably, the orchestras for Peking opera.