Guzheng

The Wölbbrettzither Guzheng (Chinese古筝, Pinyin gǔzhēng, gǔ means " classic " or " old " ) or Zheng (Chinese筝, Pinyin Zheng, also Cheng ) is one of the classical Chinese musical instruments with a long tradition. It consists of strings, which are plucked with the help of finger plectra, a sound body of wood and movable bridges. When tuning the instrument, the pitch can be adjusted by sliding the bars, quite unlike many other instruments in which the webs are fixed.

The Zheng first appeared during the time of the Warring States ( 481-256 BC) and was then first became popular. The elegant sound and the many expressive possibilities of the instrument were decisive for the Chinese music. Originally Zheng had five strings. During the Tang Dynasty ( 618-906 AD) extended to the number of strings on the 13th Today, Zheng can have up to 25 mostly pentatonic tuned strings. Typical are 21 strings.

It emerged since the time of origin in Central China, many individually different Zheng species. The instrument is thus the " ancestor " of various Asian zither instruments. The role of China could be compared to the influence of Greek culture in the Mediterranean during the period of antiquity. The Japanese Koto example came as Zheng during the Tang Dynasty of China to Japan.

In the fifties and sixties of the 20th century, Zheng has been further improved, both in terms of design as well as the expansion of the playing techniques, who adapted more and more to the needs of contemporary music and the orchestral playing. Living in Germany, guzheng player Xu Fengxia connects with partly experimental playing techniques of classical Chinese music with jazz and free improvisation. The also lives in Germany Chan Yuan Zhao plays classical Chinese music and the Silk Road Duo and modern adaptations.

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