State in northwest China that unified China for the first time during the Qin dynasty, 221 - 210 BCE.

The qin is a musical instrument favored by Chinese scholars. It is a stringed instrument, resembling a Western zither. The body, or sounding box, of a qin was usually made of two different types of wood. The upper section was made of tong wood and the lower part of zi wood. It was originally a five-stringed instrument, but it is believed that as early as the Zhou dynasty two further strings were added. All surviving qin are seven-stringed.

Qin or Ch'in (Wade-Giles) (秦), (778 BC-207 BC) was a state during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods of China. It eventually grew to dominate the country and unite it for the first time, after which it is referred to as the Qin Dynasty. The royal surname is Ying (嬴).