GUZHENG- plucked instrument
The guzheng[古筝] is a plucked string instrument that is part of the zither family. It is one of the oldest Chinese instruments, including others like the Pipa, Ruan and many more. It has a long history and thus, is named guzheng, where “gu” in Chinese stands for “ancient” and “zheng” which stands for “Chinese plucked zither”. It is also played solo and the guzheng solo repertoire has been growing and evolving towards an increasing technical complexity.
The word zheng,筝, comes with a legend: There was a master of se, a 25-stringed zither, who had 2 talented daughters who loved to play the instrument. Now there came a time that the master became too old, and wanted to pass his instrument over to one of his daughters. However, both daughters wanted to have it. The master felt very sad that he had only one instrument. As a result, out of desperation, he decided to split the instrument into two - one with 12 strings, and the other 13. To his amazement, the new instrument sounds mellow and it’s sound was even more beautiful than the se. The happy master gave the new instrument a new name "zheng".
The origin of the Chinese character representing this instrument seems to indicate that the early version of the instrument was made of bamboo, which is different from that of today.
The Guzheng is build with a special wooden sound body with strings arched across movable bridges along the length of the instrument for the purpose of tuning. In the early years, the guzheng had 5 strings; later on developed into 12 to 13 strings in the Tang and 16 strings in the Song and Ming dynasty. The present day guzheng usually has 21-25 strings.
There are many ways to play the guzheng. The player plucks the strings skillfully with her right-hand fingernails, while her left-hand applies pressure to the strings to create vibrations, which will come out as a melodious and elegant sound.
A 21 string zither.
Well- knowned song by Jay Chou- Ju Hua Tai, played on a guzheng. Sounds Amazing doesn't it?
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