中國樂器 Chinese Instruments Family:彈撥樂器 plucked strings instruments

Yangqin(揚琴) IMG_0153

Guzheng(古箏) IMG_0194

Zhongruan(中阮) IMG_0653

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Pips(琵琶) IMG_0446

Zhongruan is a Chinese instrument with a quiet, soft and poetic tone.

It is a traditional East Asian playing instrument. It has a history of more than 2,000 years in China. The earliest instrument called "Pipa" appeared around the Qin Dynasty.

Yangqin is a Chinese national musical instrument. It is also known as dulcimer, daqin, bangqin, fanqin, batqin, butterflyqin, etc. (in modern times, it is almost uniformly called "dulcimer"). It has the characteristics of both a percussion instrument and a stringed instrument.

It is often used to play melody or verses in ensembles, and has a moving effect.

When used as an accompaniment, its rich rhythm changes can highlight the characteristics of the music.

Two or more middle ruan are used in the orchestra. The Ruan part playing the harmony will make the midrange part of the plucked instrument group fuller.

Guzheng, also known as Guzheng, Qinzheng and Hanzheng, is a traditional Chinese plucked string instrument with a history of more than 2,500 years.

In the Han Dynasty, it had become a common musical instrument in China. Before the Wei, Jin and Northern and Southern Dynasties, the pipa could be used to refer to all pluck instruments. In the Tang Dynasty, it was introduced to the curved neck pipa by Guizi. The modern pipa is an improved curved pipa, which was finalized in the Ming Dynasty.


The Hu pipa is the earliest pupa that was introduced to China, but not all the pipa belongs to the Hu pipa . The handle of the piano is bent backwards, and the body is half pear-shaped, which was transmitted from the Western Guizi to the Northern Zhou Dynasty of China during the Wei, Jin and Northern Dynasties.

The shape of the guzheng is a rectangular wooden speaker, and the string frame "zither post" can be moved freely

In the second year of Yuanding (115 BC), Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Zhang Qian went to Wusun as an envoy. King Kunmi of Wusun intermarried with the Han Dynasty. Before Princess Wusun got married, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty made a musical instrument for her to relieve his longing for the long distance. The musical instrument is "Ruan", which was called "Qin Pipa" in ancient times.

According to legend, the predecessor of the dulcimer is called Zither, which was introduced to China from Persia in the late Ming Dynasty. It was first popular in Guangdong as an accompaniment for folk arts.

There are more than 30 playing methods for the right hand, such as playing, picking, hooking, wiping, buckling, slicing, wheeling, whisking, dividing, shaking, sweeping, rolling, etc. The fingering methods for the left hand also include pan, hitting, hooking, belting, sliding, pushing, pulling, etc. More than 10 types of chanting, patterning, rubbing, etc.

One string and one note, arranged according to the pentatonic scale. The earliest twelve-string zither was the most common.

The instrument is composed of the headstock, neck, body, pegs, saddle, binding and strings.

Now called "Pipa" is mainly a Chinese-style pipa made by combining the characteristics of the Chinese direct pipa and the Western Regions. The shape of this pipa was basically fixed in the Ming Dynasty.

Sorry I can’t find a better part of “Zhongruan”,so I put the video of all “Ruan”.