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Traditional Chinese musical instruments
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Traditional Chinese musical instruments comprise a wide range of string, wind, and percussion instruments. Traditionally, they were classified according to the materials used in their construction.
eight categories are: silk, bamboo, wood, stone, metal, clay, gourd and hide. There are other instruments which may not fit these classifications.
instruments are mostly string instruments (including those that are plucked, bowed, and struck).
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Encyclopedia
Traditional Chinese musical instruments comprise a wide range of string, wind, and percussion instruments. Traditionally, they were classified according to the materials used in their construction.
The Eight Sounds
The eight categories are: silk, bamboo, wood, stone, metal, clay, gourd and hide. There are other instruments which may not fit these classifications.
Silk
Silk instruments are mostly string 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
- Guqin - 7-stringed zither
- Se - 25-stringed zither with moveable bridges (ancient sources say 13, 25 or 50 strings)
- Guzheng - 16-26 stringed zither with movable bridges
- Konghou - harp
- Pipa - pear-shaped fretted lute with 4 or 5 strings
- Sanxian - plucked lute with body covered with snakeskin and long fretless neck
- Ruan - moon-shaped lute in five sizes: gaoyin-, xiao-, zhong-, da-, and diyin-; sometimes called ruanqin
- Liuqin - small plucked, fretted lute with a pear-shaped body and four strings
- Yueqin - plucked lute with a wooden body, a short fretted neck, and four strings tuned in pairs
- Qinqin - plucked lute with a wooden body and fretted neck; also called meihuaqin (???, literally "plum blossom instrument," on account of its flower-shaped body)
- Duxianqin - plucked zither with only one string
Bowed
*Huqin - family of vertical fiddles
- Erhu - two-stringed fiddle
- Zhonghu - two-stringed fiddle, lower pitch than erhu
- Gaohu - two-stringed fiddle, higher pitch than erhu; also called yuehu
- Banhu - two-stringed fiddle with a coconut resonator and wooden face, used primarily in northern China
- Jinghu - two-stringed fiddle, very high pitched, used mainly for Beijing opera
- Jing erhu - erhu used in Beijing opera
- Erxian - two-stringed fiddle, used in Cantonese, Chaozhou, and nanguan music
- Tiqin - two-stringed fiddle, used in kunqu, Chaozhou, Cantonese, Fujian, and Taiwanese music
- Yehu - two-stringed fiddle with coconut body, used primarily in Cantonese and Chaozhou music
- Daguangxian - two-stringed fiddle used in Taiwan and Fujian, primarily by Min Nan and Hakka people; also called datongxian, guangxian, and daguanxian
- Datong - two-stringed fiddle used in the traditional music of Hunan
- Kezaixian - two-stringed fiddle with coconut body, used in Taiwan opera
- Liujiaoxian - two-stringed fiddle with hexagonal body, similar to the jing erhu; used primarily in Taiwan
- Tiexianzai - a two-stringed fiddle with metal amplifying horn at the end of its neck, used in Taiwan; also called guchuixian
- Hexian - large fiddle used primarily among the Hakka of Taiwan
- Huluqin - two-stringed fiddle with gourd body used by the Naxi of Yunnan
- Huluhu - two-stringed fiddle with gourd body used by the Zhuang of Guangxi
- Maguhu - two-stringed fiddle with horse bone body used by the Zhuang and Buyei peoples of southern China
- Tuhu - two-stringed fiddle used by the Zhuang people of Guangxi
- Jiaohu - two-stringed fiddle used by the Gelao people of Guangxi, as well as the Miao and Dong
- Sihu - four-stringed fiddle with strings tuned in pairs
- Sanhu - 3-stringed erhu with an additional bass string; developed in the 1970s
- Zhuihu - two-stringed fiddle with fingerboard
- Zhuiqin (traditional: ??; simplified: ??) - two-stringed fiddle with fingerboard
- Leiqin - two-stringed fiddle with fingerboard
- Dihu - low pitched two-stringed fiddles in the erhu family, in three sizes:
- Xiaodihu - small dihu, tuned one octave below the erhu
- Zhongdihu - medium dihu, tuned one octave below the zhonghu
- Dadihu - large dihu, tuned two octaves below the erhu
- Dahu - another name for the xiaodihu
- Cizhonghu - another name for the xiaodihu
- Gehu - four-stringed bass instrument, tuned and played like cello
- Diyingehu - four stringed contrabass instrument, tuned and played like double bass
- Laruan - four-stringed bowed instrument modeled on the cello
- Paqin - modern bowed instrument
- Dixianqin
- Niutuiqin or niubatui (??? or ???) - two-stringed fiddle used by the Dong people of Guizhou
- Matouqin - (Mongolian: morin khuur) - Mongolian two-stringed "horsehead fiddle"
- Xiqin - ancient prototype of huqin family of instruments
- Yazheng (simplified: ??; traditional: ??) - bowed zither; also called yaqin (simplified: ??; traditional: ??)
- Zhengni - bowed zither; used by the Zhuang people of Guangxi
- Aijieke - four-stringed bowed instrument used in Xinjiang; similar to kamancheh
- Sataer - long-necked bowed lute used in Xinjiang
Struck
- Yangqin - hammered dulcimer of varying strings struck using two bamboo hammers
- Zhu - ancient zither, struck or plucked with a stick
- Jiaoweiqin
Bamboo
Bamboo mainly refers to woodwind instruments, which includes;
Oboes
- Guan - cylindrical double reed wind instrument made of either hardwood (Northern China) or bamboo (Cantonese); the northern version is also called guanzi or bili (traditional: ??; simplified: ??), the Cantonese version is also called houguan, and the Taiwanese version is called ????, ???, or Taiwan guan
- Suona - double-reed wind instrument with a flaring metal bell; also called haidi
- Nazi - suona reed and bocal played melodically, with or without amplifying horn
Free reed pipes
- Bawu - side-blown free reed pipe with finger holes
- Mangtong (??; pinyin: mángtong) - end-blown free reed pipe producing a single pitch
Wood
Most wood instruments are of the ancient variety:
- Zhu - a wooden box that tapers from the top to the bottom, played by hitting a stick on the inside, used to mark the beginning of music in ancient ritual music
- Yu - a wooden percussion instrument carved in the shape of a tiger with a serrated back, played by hitting a stick with an end made of approximately 15 stalks of bamboo on its head three times and across the serrated back once to mark the end of the music
- Muyu - a rounded woodblock carved in the shape of a fish, struck with a wooden stick; often used in Buddhist chanting
- Paiban - a clapper made from several flat pieces of wood; also called ban, tánban, mùban, or shuban; when used together with a drum the two instruments are referred to collectively as guban
- Zhuban (??, a clapper made from two pieces of bamboo)
- Chiban
- Bangzi - small, high-pitched woodblock; called qiaozi or qiaoziban in Taiwan
- Nan bangzi
- Hebei bangzi
- Zhui bangzi
- Qin bangzi
Stone
The "stone" category comprises various forms of stone chimes.
- Bianqing - a rack of stone tablets that are hung by ropes from a wooden frame and struck using a mallet
- Teqing - a single large stone tablet hung by a rope in a wooden frame and struck using a mallet
Metal
- Bianzhong - 65 to 100 bronze bells hung on a rack, struck using poles
- Fangxiang - set of tuned metal slabs (metallophone)
- Nao - may refer to either an ancient bell or large cymbals
- Bo (?; also called chazi, ??) - cymbals
- Xiaobo (??, small cymbals)
- Zhongbo (??, medium cymbals; also called naobo or zhongcuo
- Shuibo (??, literally "water cymbals")
- Dabo (??, large cymbals)
- Jingbo
- Shenbo - deep, flat gong used in Chaozhou music; also called gaobian daluo
- Luo (; pinyin: luó) - gong
- Daluo - a large flat gong whose pitch drops when struck with a padded mallet
- Fengluo - literally "wind gong," a large flat gong played by rolling or striking with a large padded mallet
- Xiaoluo - a small flat gong whose pitch rises when struck with the side of a flat wooden stick
- Yueluo - small pitched gong held by a string in the palm of the hand and struck with a small stick; used in Chaozhou music
- Jingluo - a small flat gong used in the traditional music of Fujian
- Pingluo - a flat gong
- Kailuluo
- Yunluo - literally "cloud gongs"; 10 or more small tuned gongs in a frame
- Shimianluo - 10 small tuned gongs in a frame
- Qing - a cup-shaped bell used in Buddhist and Daoist ritual music
- Daqing - large qing
- Pengling (??; pinyin: pènglíng) - a pair of small bowl-shaped finger cymbals or bells connected by a length of cord, which are struck together
- Dangzi - a small, round, flat, tuned gong suspended by being tied with silk string in a round metal frame that is mounted on a thin wooden handle; also called dangdang
- Dianqing - an inverted small bell affixed to the end of a thin wooden handle
- Yunzheng - a small flat gong used in the traditional music of Fujian
- Chun (?; pinyin: chún) - ancient bell
- Weichun - ancient hanging bell
- Bronze drum
- Laba - A long, straight, valveless brass trumpet
Clay
- Xun (?, ) - ocarina made of baked clay
- Fou - clay pot played as a percussion instrument
Gourd
- Sheng - free reed mouth organ consisting of varying number of bamboo pipes inserted into a metal (formerly gourd or hardwood) chamber with finger holes
- Baosheng - larger version of the sheng
- Fangsheng - sheng with a rectangular arrangement of 14 pipes
- Paisheng - very large version of the sheng
- Yu - ancient free reed mouth organ similar to the sheng but generally larger
- He - ancient free reed mouth organ similar to the sheng but smaller
- Hulusi (; pinyin: húlúsi) - free-reed wind instrument with three bamboo pipes which pass through a gourd wind chest; one pipe has finger holes and the other two are drone pipes; used primarily in Yunnan province
- Hulusheng (; pinyin: húlúsheng) - free-reed mouth organ with a gourd wind chest; used primarily in Yunnan province
Hide
- Dagu - - large drum played with two sticks
- Huapengu - flowerpot-shaped large drum played with two sticks; also called ganggu
- Huzuo Dagu
- Huzuo Wujia Gu
- Jian'gu
- Bangu - small, high pitched drum used in Beijing opera
- Biangu - flat drum, played with sticks
- Paigu - set of three to seven tuned drums played with sticks
- Tanggu - medium-sized barrel drum played with two sticks; also called tonggu or xiaogu
- Biqigu - a very small drum played with one stick, used in Jiangnan sizhu
- Diangu (??; also called huaigu, ??) - a double-headed frame drum played with a single wooden beater; used in the Shifangu ensemble music of Jiangsu province and to accompany to kunqu opera
- Huagu - flower drum
- Yaogu - waist drum
- Taipinggu - flat drum with a handle; also called dangu
- Zhangu (?? or ??) - war drum; played with two sticks
- Bajiao gu - octagonal tambourine used primarily in narrative singing from northern China
- Yanggegu - rice planting drum
- Bofu - ancient drum used to set tempo
- Jiegu - hourglass-shaped drum used during the Tang Dynasty
- Tao (?; pinyin: táo) or taogu - a pellet drum used in ritual music
Others
- Gudi - an ancient flute made of bone
- Hailuo - conch shell
- Lilie - reed wind instrument with a conical bore played by the Li people of Hainan
- Lusheng (; pinyin: lúsheng) - free-reed mouth organ with five or six pipes, played by various ethnic groups in southwest China and neighboring countries
- Kouxian - Jew's harp, made of bamboo or metal
- Muye - tree leaf used as a wind instrument
Playing contexts
Chinese instruments are either played solo, or collectively in large orchestras (as in the former imperial court) or in smaller ensembles (in teahouses or public gatherings). Normally, there is no conductor in traditional Chinese music, or use of musical scores or tablature whilst in performance. Music was generally learned orally and memorized by the musician(s) beforehand, then played without aid, meaning totally accuracy and teamwork is required. But nowadays, music scores can be used, or a conductor if the number of musicians is large enough for that need.
External links
- Leisure and Cultural Services Department, Hong Kong
- A look at ancient Chinese instruments
- (Chinese)
- (English)
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See also
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