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Traditional Chinese Instruments
Chinese musical instruments are traditionally grouped into eight categories (classified by the material from which the instruments were made) known as (). The eight categories are silk, bamboo, wood, Rock (geology), stone, metal, clay, gourd and skin; other instruments considered traditional exist that may not fit these groups. The grouping of instruments in material categories in China is one of the first musical groupings ever devised. Silk Silk () instruments are mostly stringed instruments (including those that are plucked, bowed, and struck). Since ancient times, the Chinese have used twisted silk for strings, though today metal or nylon are more frequently used. Instruments in the silk category include: Plucked * ( zh, c=wikt:古琴, 古琴, p=gǔqín) – 7-stringed zithers * ( zh, c=wikt:瑟, 瑟, p=sè) – 25-stringed zither with movable bridges (ancient sources say 14, 25 or 50 strings) * () – 16–26 stringed zither with movable bridges * () – harp * () – four-st ...
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Huluqin
The ''huluqin'' ( 葫芦琴) is a plucked string instrument. It is a four-stringed lute with a gourd body and is used by the Naxi people and Zhuang people of Yunnan. Sometimes, huluqin play with instruments of Tibetan dodar music from Labrang Monastery, Gansu In history, huluqin is a plucked string instrument from unique frescoes to Mogao caves of Dunhuang, which is not recorded in history books. The huluqin painted in the mural has two forms-four-string and five-string (sometimes there are types that use 6 strings). The prototype of the giant huluqin comes from Cave 262 (Sui) five-string huluqin. Under the creative transformation of the designers and producers of Shanghai No. 1 National Musical Instrument Factory, the huluqin is decorated with African red sandalwood and boxwood outlines the phoenix platform. It makes the huluqin not only noble and domineering, but also simple and simple. On the huluqin panel are painted two flying heavens flying above the Dunhuang frescoes, smili ...
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秦琴
The qinqin ( 秦 琴; pinyin: qínqín; Vietnamese: Đàn sến) is a plucked Chinese lute. It was originally manufactured with a wooden body, a slender fretted neck, and three strings. Its body can be round, hexagonal (with rounded sides), or octagonal. Often, only two strings were used, as in certain regional silk-and-bamboo ensembles. In its hexagonal form (with rounded sides), it is also referred to as ''meihuaqin'' (梅花琴, literally "plum blossom instrument"). The ''qinqin'' is particularly popular in southern China: in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p .... A similar instrument, the two-stringed '' đàn sến'', has been adapted from the ''qinqin'' for use in the traditional music of southern Vietnam. The frets on all Chine ...
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Qinqin
The qinqin (wiktionary:秦, 秦wiktionary:琴, 琴; pinyin: qínqín; Vietnamese: Đàn sến) is a plucked China, Chinese lute. It was originally manufactured with a wooden body, a slender fretted neck, and three strings. Its body can be round, hexagonal (with rounded sides), or octagonal. Often, only two strings were used, as in certain regional silk-and-bamboo ensembles. In its hexagonal form (with rounded sides), it is also referred to as ''meihuaqin'' (梅花琴, literally "Prunus mume, plum blossom instrument"). The ''qinqin'' is particularly popular in southern China: in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau. A similar instrument, the two-stringed ''đàn sến'', has been adapted from the ''qinqin'' for use in the traditional music of southern Vietnam. The frets on all Chinese lutes are high so that the fingers never touch the fretboard itself—distinctively different from western fretted instruments. This allows for a greater control over timbre and intonation than their wes ...
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Yueqin
The ''yueqin'' (; ; ; or ), also called a moon lute or moon guitar, is a traditional Chinese musical instruments, traditional Chinese string instrument. It is a lute with a round, hollow soundboard, a short fretted neck, and usually four strings. It is an important instrument in the Peking opera orchestra, often taking the role of main melodic instrument in lieu of the bowed string section. The instrument was invented in China in the 3rd to 5th centuries AD, during the Jin Dynasty (265–420), Jin dynasty. The Ruan (instrument), ruan, another Chinese instrument, is the ancestor of the yueqin. The name ''yueqin'' once applied to all instruments with a moon-shaped soundboard, including the Ruan (instrument), ruan; however, "yueqin" now applies to a separate category from the Ruan (instrument), ruan family. Etymology The word ''yueqin'' is made of two characters, ''yuè'' (月 "moon") and ''qín'' (琴 "stringed instrument, zither"). Its name in Korean (''wolgeum''), Japane ...
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Ruan (instrument)
The ''ruan'' () is a Traditional Chinese musical instruments, traditional Chinese plucked string instrument. It is a lute with a fretted neck, a circular body, and four strings. Its four strings were formerly made of silk but since the 20th century they have been made of steel (flatwound for the lower strings). The modern ''ruan'' has 24 frets with 12 semitones on each string, which has greatly expanded its range from a previous 13 frets. The frets are commonly made of ivory or in recent times of metal mounted on wood. The metal frets produce a brighter tone as compared to the ivory frets. It is sometimes called ''ruanqin'', particularly in Taiwan. Sizes The ruan comes in a family of five sizes: *soprano: ''gaoyinruan'' (高音阮, lit. "high pitched ''ruan''"; tuning: G3-D4-G4-D5) *alto: ''xiaoruan'' (小阮, lit. "small ''ruan''"; tuning: D3-A3-D4-A4) *tenor: ''zhongruan'' (中阮, lit. "medium ''ruan''"; tuning: G2-D3-G3-D4) *bass (instrument), bass: ''daruan'' (大阮, l ...
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柳琴
The ''liuqin'' ( Chinese: , pinyin: ) is a three, four or five-stringed Chinese mandolin with a pear-shaped body. The range of its voice is much higher than other Chinese plucked string instrument, and it is used in both orchestral music and solo pieces in Chinese music. This has been the result of a modernization in its usage in recent years, leading to a gradual elevation in status of the ''liuqin'' from an accompaniment instrument in folk Chinese opera, to an instrument known for its unique tonal and acoustic qualities. The instrument is held diagonally like the Chinese ruan and yueqin. Its strings are elevated by a bridge and the soundboard has two prominent soundholes. Finally, the instrument is played with a pick with similar technique to both ruan and yueqin. Therefore, the liuqin is most commonly played and doubled by those with ruan and yueqin experience. Historically, the ''liuqin'' was commonly made of willow wood (柳 ''liǔ'' literally meaning "willow") ...
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琵琶
琵琶 is an East Asian string instrument. 琵琶 may refer to: *Bipa, a Korean pear-shaped lute *Biwa, a Japanese short-necked fretted lute *Pipa The pipa, pípá, or p'i-p'a () is a traditional Chinese musical instrument belonging to the plucked category of instruments. Sometimes called the "Chinese lute", the instrument has a pear-shaped wooden body with a varying number of frets rangi ..., a Chinese plucked string instrument * Tỳ bà or ''đàn tỳ bà'' (檀琵琶), a Vietnamese traditional plucked string instrument {{chinese title disambiguation ...
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Pipa
The pipa, pípá, or p'i-p'a () is a traditional Chinese musical instrument belonging to the plucked category of instruments. Sometimes called the "Chinese lute", the instrument has a pear-shaped wooden body with a varying number of frets ranging from 12 to 31. Another Chinese four-string plucked lute is the liuqin, which looks like a smaller version of the pipa. The pear-shaped instrument may have existed in China as early as the Han dynasty, and although historically the term ''pipa'' was once used to refer to a variety of plucked chordophones, its usage since the Song dynasty refers exclusively to the pear-shaped instrument. The pipa is one of the most popular Chinese instruments and has been played for almost two thousand years in China. Several related instruments are derived from the pipa, including the Japanese biwa and Korean bipa in East Asia, and the Vietnamese đàn tỳ bà in Southeast Asia. The Korean instrument is the only one of the three that is no longer wi ...
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Tang Dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. Historians generally regard the Tang as a high point in Chinese civilisation, and a Golden age (metaphor), golden age of cosmopolitan culture. Tang territory, acquired through the military campaigns of its early rulers, rivalled that of the Han dynasty. The House of Li, Li family founded the dynasty after taking advantage of a period of Sui decline and precipitating their final collapse, in turn inaugurating a period of progress and stability in the first half of the dynasty's rule. The dynasty was formally interrupted during 690–705 when Empress Wu Zetian seized the throne, proclaiming the Wu Zhou dynasty and becoming the only legitimate Chinese empress regnant. The An Lushan rebellion (755 ...
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