Music Instrument | Ancient Chinese Culture

Archive for category Music Instrument

Yueqin

Yueqin, also called moon guitar, moon zither or laqin, is a kind of traditional Chinese string instrument. It got the name of moon guitar due to its moon-shaped soundbox. It has a short neck and four strings which are grouped in two courses.

Originally, the strings are made of silk. Nowadays, nylon and nylon coiled wire are commonly used to make the strings. Read the rest of this entry »

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Chinese Jinghu

Jinghu is a two-stringed fiddle in the Huqin family. It has a history of more than 200 years which can date back to the late 18th century.

Jinghu contains five parts, namely body, shaft, strings, friction tuning pegs and king tong (a small brass hook). The body is always made of bamboo, covering with snakeskin at the playing end. The whole instrument is about 50cn in length. Read the rest of this entry »

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Sanxian

Sanxian, also called samsien in Japan, is a Chinese lute. The instrument was given the name because it has three strings (In Chinese, san means three and xian means strings).

The sound-body of sanxian is egg-shaped and made from wood. The surface of the body is covered with snake skin, just like erhu. A piece of plectrum is used to play the instrument. It can be made in different sizes for different purposes. Generally, the northern ones are larger, at about 122 cm in length, while southern versions are about 95 cm. Read the rest of this entry »

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Liuqin

The Liuqin, also called tu pipa (literally means unrefined pipa), is a traditional Chinese instrument. Originally, it was made of willow wood and shaped like a willow leaf, therefore, it got the name of liuqin as in Chinese the word liu means willow. In ancient times, it was used in Jiangsu, Shandong and Anhui provinces.

The earliest version of the liuqin had only two strings with a half octave. During the Tang Dynasty (618-907), the four-stringed version appeared and became popular at that time. In recent years, it developed into a five-stringed instrument. Read the rest of this entry »

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Konghou

Konghou, also known as Konhou, is a plucked stringed instrument in ancient China. It has wide diapason and sweet tamber, so it can be played in both solo and tutti performances.

Its history can date back to the Spring and Autumn (770-476BC) and Warring States (475-221BC) period. Originally, it was an indispensable instrument only played in the royal courts. As time went by, Read the rest of this entry »

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