Historical Instruments from China (Part 3)

Hello, again lovely people. Today I will be again talking to you about ancient instruments from China, and I promise you that this will be the last part. Well, I hope you enjoy and learn something. Buckle up because your gonna be looking at some amazing instruments. These are also my favourite ones so I will be putting demonstrations of it.

1. Guqin

Credit: Wikipedia

Guqin, the oldest musical instrument in China, it is also known as the Seven-stringed instrument. The body of the Erhu is a long and narrow wooden sound box. It is usually 130 centimetres long, 20 centimetres wide and 5 centimetres high. The surface is commonly made of paulownia wood or China fir and has seven strings drawn along it. On the edges are 12 inlaid jade markers. Catalpa wood is used for the base, and there are two holes, one big and one small, which are named the 'Phoenix pool' and 'Dragon Pond', to emit the sound.

The fingering abilities are known as a recital, rubbing, plucking, concentration, floating notes and harmonious notes. The instrument is mellow in tone colour with airy and floating notes, which can be called the sound of harmony. The most unique part of the Guqin probably lies in its performance etiquette. Before giving a performance, players should take a shower and burn aroma in the room. They are to keep their minds tranquil and concentrated to ward of foul spirits.

The Story Of Guqin

During the Spring and Autumn Period (770BC - 476BC), there was a man named Yu Boya, who was a popular music master at that time. He happened to meet Zhong Ziqi. No matter what kind of piece of music Yu played, Zhong could understand very well, therefore, they became bosom friends. They agreed on a meet at the same place in the following year. Unfortunately, Zhong died before they could ever meet. Yu played at Zhong's graveyard for the last time and crashed his Guqin. He decided never to play the Guqin any more to show his deep friendship to Zhong and how difficult to meet a bosom friend.

2. Erhu 

Erhu is a set of bowed instrument, is the most symbolic instrument in the Chinese traditional folk musical instrument. As one of the most popular Chinese string instruments, the two-stringed vertical fiddle has a sustained history of more than 1,000 years.  Competent of making a powerful and eerie sound, Erhu is extremely popular in China today. 

Credit: DHgate.com

Although recognised as a Chinese violin, Erhu is quite diversified from its western counterpart. There is a vertical post with the fingerboard across the sides of a resonator at its base. This resonator is covered with a piece of stretched python skin that produces a unique 'whining' tone. The Erhu bow is located between its two strings namely in the inner and outer strings. Traditionally the two strings are made of silk, but metallic strings are also handled. An Erhu performer regularly sits with the instrument on his or her left upper thigh in front of the left hip. The Erhu's range spans over three octaves and the tune shares some features with the violin, although it produces a more nasal tone, which is gentle but firm.  

The tone of Erhu resembles a human voice. Besides, it can intimidate many natural sounds, such as bird and horse. As a very expressive instrument, Erhu can play not only melancholy tunes but also joyful melodies. Erhu is usually employed in national orchestras. In smaller orchestras, there are usually two to six Erhu's, in larger ones there are ten to twelve. 

3. Chinese Chimes

Credit: topchinatravel.com

Chinee Chimes are a large-scale musical instrument in China, which arose in the Western Zhou Dynasty (1046BC - 771BC), and reached heyday during the Warring States period (770BC- 221BC). Chinese Chimes are made flat with sharp corners like two tiles pieced together. So the sounds wane faster, making it possible to organize the bels into groups and play them as a rhythm instrument.  Zeng Houri's Bronze Chimes, thousands of years from now, are perhaps the greatest find among all the chimes unearthed so far in terms of the size and importance.

The bells fill a 60-square meter area and a total weight of five tons. The heaviest one is 203.6 kilogram and is 1.5 meters tall, while the smallest one is 2.4 kilogram and 20.4 centimetres high. Tests have shown that each bell can provide two different high-pitched notes, depending on where they are fastened.

The instrument has a range of five octaves and is one of the earliest instruments with 12 semitones. After  2,500 years in the tomb, the instrument can still play ancient music. The beautiful pitch produced can be modulated, giving some idea of the musical complexity available even in the early times. Acoustic tests have found that the mixture of tin and lead in the bronze instrument fits with modern metallurgy. Even today, making such bells is by no means an easy job, especially big ones. 

The unearthed instruments not only have accurate tonality but also are inscribed with elaborate patterns such as humans, beasts, dragons and words making tones of each bell, indicating the ancient Chinese had already mastered and advanced bronze making techniques at that time. It is presumed that the complexity of manufacture prevented the chimes from getting popular and the technique disappeared after the Han Dynasty (206 BC - 220BC). 

4. Pipa

Credit: AliExpress.com

Pipa is a four-stringed lute with 30 frets and a pear-shaped body. The musician holds the instrument upright and plays with five small plectrums attached to each finger of the right hand. The history of Pipa dates back at least 2,000 years. This instrument has an extremely wide dynamic range and is remarkably vibrant and warm.

The original Pipa comes to us from the second century BC. Poetry and drawings portray an instrument held horizontally and named for the forward and backward plucking of the strands.

The Pipa has a long history with the Chinese people. Compositions were passed from master to student over hundreds of years. While many of these compositions have been lost over time, several still exist to delight listeners today. As the Chinese people rediscover their history, so too has there been a reemergence in interest in classical instruments such as the Pipa. Some contemporary performers have even started to also integrate the music with western sounds to create a new generation of Pipa music.

5. Guzheng

Credit: Wavesfactory 

Chinese Zither/Guzheng is one of the traditional musical instruments in China. It's a kind of plucked instrument. It originated during the Warring Period more than 2,500 years ago in China. The earliest known version was constructed with a bamboo frame and use silk strings. Its scale was pentatonic using notes DO, RE, MI, SO and LA with a major note for each of its five string. Because Guzheng was developed in a region called Qin Guo, its name became known as the Qin Zheng.

Guzheng became very popular in the imperial court and among the common people. Historical records from an ancient book and scholarly writings give vivid accounts of the instrument and its music. Hou Jin, a scholar of the Eastern Han Period (25 AD - 220 AD) wrote that Guzheng's sound touches the heavens above and the gods and spirits below.

By the Tang Dynasty (618 AD - 907 AD), the number of strings had increased from five to thirteen, and the bamboo had been replaced with wu-tong or paulownia wood for the frame of the instrument. In addition, many new forms of Guzheng appeared through cultural exchanges with Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Vietnam and many other Asian countries.

Guzheng remained popular through the late Qing Dynasty (1644AD - 1911AD), where contemporary Guzheng musicians began the first attempts to formalize Guzheng music by compiling and arranging both classical and popular works such as 'High Mountain and Flowing Water' and 'The Homebound Fisherman'. In 1948, the renowned musician Cao Zheng established the first university-level Guzheng program in China. The old silk strings were replaced with nylon strings, which are still being used today. The music played by the GUzheng suits both refined and popular tastes, and it's still popular musical instrument in China.

Reflection: I have to say I did extremely well because I had to replace the other words with my own words. Next time try to include a diagram. 

Well, everyone, that was the last. I hope you have learnt something and I also hope you find this interesting. Anyways have a great day, bye!