Traditional Chinese musical instruments
posted at 2011-08-04 02:35 Wan Yi Ping
posted at 2011-08-04 02:35 Wan Yi Ping
Pipa
The Pipa is a four-stringed Chinese instrument, belonging to the plucked category of instruments (弹拨乐器).
Tone colour:
clear and melodious
Sometimes called the Chinese lute, the instrument has a pear-shaped wooden body with a varying number of frets ranging from 12–26
PIPA appeared in the Qin Dynasty (221 - 206 BC) and was developed during the Han Dynasty. The PIPA became a favorite in the Tang Dynasty It is one of the most popular Chinese instruments and has been played for nearly two thousand years in China.
Several related instruments in East and Southeast Asia are derived from the PIPA; these include the Japanese biwa日本琵琶 , the Vietnamese đn tỳ b, and the Korean bipa伽倻琴 . The Korean instrument is the only one of the three that is no longer used. Attempts to revive the instrument have failed, although examples survive in museum
Pipa with Chinese poesy
大弦嘈嘈如急雨 : The bold strings rattled like splatters of sudden rain,
小弦切切如私语 : The fine strings hummed like lovers’ whispers.
嘈嘈切切错杂弹 : Chattering and pattering, pattering and chattering,
大珠小珠落玉盘 : As pearls, large and small, on a jade plate fall.
Konghou
The konghou (Chinese: 箜篌; pinyin: kōnghóu) is an ancient Chinese harp. The konghou, also known as kanhou,[citation needed] went extinct sometime in the Ming Dynasty, but was revived in the 20th century. The modern instrument does not resemble the ancient one.
Tone color:
mellow and liquid
The konghou was used to play yayue (court music) in the Kingdom of Chu. During the Han Dynasty (206 BC–220 AD) the konghou was used in qingshangyue (a music genre). Beginning in the Sui Dynasty (581-618), the konghou was also used in yanyue (banquet music). Konghou playing was most prevalent in the Sui and Tang dynasties. It was generally played in rites and ceremonies and gradually prevailed among the ordinary people.
The wo-konghou, or horizontal konghou, was first mentioned in written texts in the Spring and Autumn period (770–476 BC). The su-konghou, or vertical konghou first appeared in the Eastern Han Dynasty (25–220AD). The phoenix-headed konghou was introduced from India in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420 AD).
The girl has to learn a lot of craft including Konhou when they are very young in ancient China.
Guzheng
The modern-day guzheng is a plucked, half-tube zither with movable bridges and 21 strings, although it can have anywhere from 15 to 25 strings (a customized version exists with more than 34 strings)
Tone color
Dulcet
The guzheng, or gu zheng (Chinese: 古筝; pinyin: gǔzhēng) or zheng (筝) (gu- means "ancient") is a traditional Chinese musical instrument. It belongs to the zither family of string instrument .
The guzheng has a large resonant cavity made from wu tong wood (Paulownia tomentosa). Other components may be made from other woods, usually for structural and decorative purposes.
History of Guzheng
The guzheng has existed since the Warring States Period and became especially popular during the Qin dynasty. The ancient guzheng had 12 strings, which gradually evolved into it current forms.
The guzheng is tuned to a pentatonic scale, the 16-string zheng is tuned to give three complete octaves, while the 21-string zheng has four complete octaves.
Bianzhong
The chime-bell, cast with bronze, is a member of the percussion instrument family in ancient China. It consists of oval bells in different sizes arranged to the order of the pitch, which are hung on a huge bell cot. Different tones can be produced when beating the bells with a wood hammer and a long stick, and beautiful music can be performed when beating to the tune.
The chime-bells of King Yi of the Zeng State are a complete set of percussion instrument excavated from the tomb of King Yi of the Zeng State in the Warring States Period (433 B.C.). It reflects the luxurious life of the aristocrats in that period, as well as the proficiency in bronze casting in ancient China .
It is the embodiment of our great achievement in bronze casting, our proficiency in music science and the wisdom of our people in ancient China. It’s a real pride of our ancestor.
The excavation of the chime-bells astounded the world’s archeological society, since it’s extremely rare in the world cultural history to find such exquisite musical instruments and magnificent band existed over 2000 years ago.
The Pipa is a four-stringed Chinese instrument, belonging to the plucked category of instruments (弹拨乐器).
Tone colour:
clear and melodious
Sometimes called the Chinese lute, the instrument has a pear-shaped wooden body with a varying number of frets ranging from 12–26
PIPA appeared in the Qin Dynasty (221 - 206 BC) and was developed during the Han Dynasty. The PIPA became a favorite in the Tang Dynasty It is one of the most popular Chinese instruments and has been played for nearly two thousand years in China.
Several related instruments in East and Southeast Asia are derived from the PIPA; these include the Japanese biwa日本琵琶 , the Vietnamese đn tỳ b, and the Korean bipa伽倻琴 . The Korean instrument is the only one of the three that is no longer used. Attempts to revive the instrument have failed, although examples survive in museum
Pipa with Chinese poesy
大弦嘈嘈如急雨 : The bold strings rattled like splatters of sudden rain,
小弦切切如私语 : The fine strings hummed like lovers’ whispers.
嘈嘈切切错杂弹 : Chattering and pattering, pattering and chattering,
大珠小珠落玉盘 : As pearls, large and small, on a jade plate fall.
Konghou
The konghou (Chinese: 箜篌; pinyin: kōnghóu) is an ancient Chinese harp. The konghou, also known as kanhou,[citation needed] went extinct sometime in the Ming Dynasty, but was revived in the 20th century. The modern instrument does not resemble the ancient one.
Tone color:
mellow and liquid
The konghou was used to play yayue (court music) in the Kingdom of Chu. During the Han Dynasty (206 BC–220 AD) the konghou was used in qingshangyue (a music genre). Beginning in the Sui Dynasty (581-618), the konghou was also used in yanyue (banquet music). Konghou playing was most prevalent in the Sui and Tang dynasties. It was generally played in rites and ceremonies and gradually prevailed among the ordinary people.
The wo-konghou, or horizontal konghou, was first mentioned in written texts in the Spring and Autumn period (770–476 BC). The su-konghou, or vertical konghou first appeared in the Eastern Han Dynasty (25–220AD). The phoenix-headed konghou was introduced from India in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420 AD).
The girl has to learn a lot of craft including Konhou when they are very young in ancient China.
Guzheng
The modern-day guzheng is a plucked, half-tube zither with movable bridges and 21 strings, although it can have anywhere from 15 to 25 strings (a customized version exists with more than 34 strings)
Tone color
Dulcet
The guzheng, or gu zheng (Chinese: 古筝; pinyin: gǔzhēng) or zheng (筝) (gu- means "ancient") is a traditional Chinese musical instrument. It belongs to the zither family of string instrument .
The guzheng has a large resonant cavity made from wu tong wood (Paulownia tomentosa). Other components may be made from other woods, usually for structural and decorative purposes.
History of Guzheng
The guzheng has existed since the Warring States Period and became especially popular during the Qin dynasty. The ancient guzheng had 12 strings, which gradually evolved into it current forms.
The guzheng is tuned to a pentatonic scale, the 16-string zheng is tuned to give three complete octaves, while the 21-string zheng has four complete octaves.
Bianzhong
The chime-bell, cast with bronze, is a member of the percussion instrument family in ancient China. It consists of oval bells in different sizes arranged to the order of the pitch, which are hung on a huge bell cot. Different tones can be produced when beating the bells with a wood hammer and a long stick, and beautiful music can be performed when beating to the tune.
The chime-bells of King Yi of the Zeng State are a complete set of percussion instrument excavated from the tomb of King Yi of the Zeng State in the Warring States Period (433 B.C.). It reflects the luxurious life of the aristocrats in that period, as well as the proficiency in bronze casting in ancient China .
It is the embodiment of our great achievement in bronze casting, our proficiency in music science and the wisdom of our people in ancient China. It’s a real pride of our ancestor.
The excavation of the chime-bells astounded the world’s archeological society, since it’s extremely rare in the world cultural history to find such exquisite musical instruments and magnificent band existed over 2000 years ago.
