Ch: Bo Ya Zhong Ziqi. A pictorial theme of friendship in Chinese painting. When the Zhou dynasty musician Bo Ya (Jp: Haku Ga 伯牙) played the qin (Jp: kin 琴, a stringed, zither-like instrument), his friend Zhong Ziqi (Jp: Shō Shiki 鍾子期) was able to understand his deepest thoughts. Upon Shō Shiki's death, Haku Ga broke his qin in despair that there was no one left in the world to whom he could express himself. The theme became a symbol for perfect communication, the ideal communion of minds, between friends. It was long painted by Chinese artists, and, from the Muromachi period, by Japanese artists. The *Kano-ha 狩野派 artists, beginning with Kano Motonobu 狩野元信 (1476-1559), typically depicted one scholar seated, playing his qin, while another looks on intently. The motif is sometimes incorporated into paintings of the Four Accomplishments *kinkishoga 琴棋書画.