The () is a Chinese plucked string instrument. In ancient China, the term came to refer to three different musical instruments: a zither and two different types of

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orchestras or ...

. Today, usually refers the modern '' concert harp'', which was invented in the last century. refers to an extinct vertical angular harp, and to an extinct arched harp. During the Tang dynasty it was also used as a general term for string instruments from other countries that played in the Chinese court. It may not have meant a specific type of instrument at that time.

History

There were three types of variations of the name, and scholars have been working to match them to musical instruments. The variations are ''wo konghou'', ''shu konghou'' and ''feng shou konghou''.

Wo konghou

With the () (literally "horizontal )," there have been two lines of thought; neither has been proven. One use of ''wo konghou'' could have been applied to a fretted bridge zither whose strings were plucked with a slender bamboo stick). The other possibility for the wo-konghou is as an angular harp turned on its side to function as a horizontal harp.

Zither

The zither form was first mentioned in written texts in the

Spring and Autumn period The Spring and Autumn period () was a period in History of China, Chinese history corresponding roughly to the first half of the Eastern Zhou (256 BCE), characterized by the gradual erosion of royal power as local lords nominally subject t ...

(770–476 BC). It is one of the oldest

Chinese musical 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 s ...

, similar to the Korean '' geomungo''. The was used to play (court music) in the Kingdom of Chu. During the

Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

(206 BC–220 AD) the was used in the genre. This instrument seems to have been no longer used, but recently China has been reviving the wo-konghou and bringing it into the traditional orchestra.

Horizontal harp

In 1996, horizontal angular harps from the 5th century B.C. were found in Zagunluq village, Qiemo county, Xinjiang autonomous region, China. The harps bear close resemblance to harps from Pazyryk,

Assyria Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , ''māt Aššur'') was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization that existed as a city-state from the 21st century BC to the 14th century BC and eventually expanded into an empire from the 14th century BC t ...

and

Olbia Olbia (, ; ; ) is a city and communes of Italy, commune of 61,000 inhabitants in the Italy, Italian insular province of Sassari in northeastern Sardinia, Italy, in the historical region of Gallura. Called in the Roman age, Civita in the Middle ...

. Archeological finds show details of construction; for instance, the soundboxes were carved from diversiform-leaved poplar. The finds are evidence of contact between Xinjiang and Altai,

and the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

region. The finds show a pre-

konghou, that may date as far back as 1000 B.C.: that date is speculative and needs more evidence.

Shu konghou

The () or vertical first appeared in the Eastern Han dynasty (25–220 AD). It can be divided into big and small varieties. The playing of the was most prevalent in the Sui and Tang dynasties. It was generally played in rites and ceremonies and gradually increased in popularity among the ordinary people. It is also the most common type of in Chinese cultural relics, murals and poetry. The Chinese harp refers to this kind of .

Feng shou konghou

The ''feng shou konghou'' (, literally "phoenix-headed ''konghou''"), an arched harp, was introduced from India in the Eastern Jin dynasty (317–420 AD). Beginning in the

Sui dynasty The Sui dynasty ( ) was a short-lived Dynasties of China, Chinese imperial dynasty that ruled from 581 to 618. The re-unification of China proper under the Sui brought the Northern and Southern dynasties era to a close, ending a prolonged peri ...

(581–618), it was also used in (banquet music). The instrument became extinct sometime in the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

Modern

The modern appeared in the 20th century and is different from the ancient . Its shape is similar to Western concert harps. Modern concert ''konghous'' may be contrasted from the Western concert harps by looking at the strings, which are folded over on the ''konghou'' to make two rows. This allows players the use of "advanced playing techniques", including vibrato, bending tones and overtones. Paired strings on opposite sides of the instrument are tuned to the same note. They start from a tuning peg and travel over two bridges on opposite sides of the instrument, down through the playing area and are then fixed at the far end to opposite sides of a freely moving lever. Depressing the lever changes the pitch in one of the strings in the pair, raising the pitch of the other. The two rows of strings also make it easier to play swift rhythms. Today, the classical is usually referred to as to differentiate it from the modern .

In other places

Korea

In Korea, like China, the names for the harps started as terms for nonspecific foreign stringed instruments. The ''konghou'' was adopted in Korea, where it was called ''gonghu'' (hangul: 공후; hanja: 箜篌), but its use died out (although it has been revived by some South Korean musicians in the early 21st century). There were three subtypes according to shape: *''Sogonghu'' (hangul: 소공후; hanja: 小箜篌; literally "small harp")photo
/sup> The ''sogonhu'' was a vertical angular harp, one small enough to be carried in the musicians hands while playing. *''Sugonghu'' (hangul: 수공후; hanja: 豎箜篌; literally "vertical harp")photo
/sup> This is the same harp as the shu konghou and looks like vertical harps from ancient Assyria. *''Wagonghu'' (hangul: 와공후; hanja: 臥箜篌; literally "lying down harp") The ''wagonhu'' today is designated for arched harps that have the appearance of the arched harp from Myanmar, the saung.

Japan

In Japan, the ''wo-konghou'' (fretted zither) was called ''kudaragoto'' ( 百済琴 / くだらごと), and the ''shu-konghou'' (angular harp) was called ''kugo'' ( 箜篌 / くご). These instruments were in use in some Togaku ( Tang music) performances during the Nara period, but seem to have died out by the 10th century. The ''kugo'' ( angular harp) has been revived in Japan since the late 20th century, and the Japanese composer Mamoru Fujieda has composed for it.
Tomoko Sugawara commissioned a playable ''kugo'' harp from builder Bill Campbell and earned an Independent Music Awards nomination for her 2010 album, ''Along the Silk Road'', playing traditional and newly written works for the instrument.

Gallery

File:唐箜篌抚琴模印砖.jpg, alt=stone tablet depicting two figures playing instruments, Konghou (left) and guqin, Tang dynasty (618–907), unearthed in Jiuquan. Museum of Gansu Province. File:Konghou from silk painting by Qiu Ying, "Spring Morning in the Han Palace".jpg, alt=sitting Asian woman in fine dress plays, ''Konghou'' from silk painting by Qiu Ying (1494–1552), "Spring Morning in the Han Palace" File:Vertical Konghou (10096201556).jpg, alt=instrument on display, Vertical ''konghou'' File:Ancient Chinese instrumentalists.jpg, alt=drawing depicting band of ten playing traditional instruments, Ancient Chinese instrumentalists File:鳳首箜篌 .jpg, alt=Base is an egg-shaped-prism soundbox, neck arches over it and then recurves, the end carved in a bird head. Painted all over with a pattern of brown-edged pale green feathers between squares outlined in yellow rubification-like dots; the diagonal axis of the squares parallel to the edges of the structural members, to give a diamond patter. Strung with red, green, and white strings in varying shades. In a museum case., Phoenix-headed konghou (a type of harp), Tang dynasty (618–907). Presumably a reconstruction. File:Harp Player in a Pavillion - Qiu Ying.jpg, Woman playing ''konghou'', details of a painting by Qiu Ying, Ming dynasty File:Mingrenwu58a.jpg, Konghou in women's sketching in the Ming dynasty File:Color-painted Relief Scene of Musicians Playing (Five Dynasties,China).jpg, konghou in color-painted Relief Scene of Musicians Playing (Five Dynasties,China)

References

External links

''Konghou'' photo.
CUHK.edu
Page with ancient picture of Konghou.
{{Traditional Japanese musical instruments Chinese musical instruments Harps Angular harps