The guzheng is an ancient national musical instrument. Its structure consists of a panel, wild goose pillars, strings, front yueshan, string nails, tuning box, piano feet, back yueshan, side panels, sound outlet, bottom plate, through It consists of string holes; the shape of the zither is a rectangular wooden speaker, and the string frame "zither pillar" (i.e., the wild goose pillar) can move freely. One string and one note are arranged according to the pentatonic scale. At the earliest, the 25-string zither was the most common (divided into zithers). ), there were thirteen strings in the Tang and Song Dynasties, and later increased to sixteen, eighteen, twenty-one strings, etc. The most commonly used specification at present is twenty-one strings; usually the guzheng model is preceded by S163-21, S It represents the S-shaped Yueshan Mountain, which was co-invented by Wang Xunzhi and Miao Jinlin. 163 represents the length of the guzheng, which is about 163 centimeters, and 21 represents the number of 21 strings in the guzheng. The guzheng is an ancient national musical instrument that was popular in the "Qin" region during the Warring States Period. Sima Qian's "Historical Records" records "Li Si Lie Zhuan." The materials cited in "Jian Zhu Ke Shu" are quite worthy of our attention. Li Si's "Book of Remonstrance and Chasing Guests" describes the music and dance of the Qin Dynasty: "The husband beats the urn, knocks the fou, plays the zither, and beats the harp, and the song is so sweet that it is the sound of the real Qin. Zheng, Wei, Sang, Shao and Yu , The martial elephant is the joy of a foreign country. Now we abandon the knocking on the fou and the urn and go to the Zhengwei, and withdraw from the zither and take the shaoyu. "Sound", so it has always been called "Qin Zheng", but from the perspective of the writing, there is something worthy of our scrutiny, that is, "beating the urn, knocking on the fou" and "Zheng Wei Sangjian", and "playing the urn" "Zheng, Bobi" and "Shao Yu, Wu Xiang" are opposed to each other, so there is a violation of the commandment: "Now abandon the knocking fou, hit the urn and go to Zheng and Wei, withdraw the zheng and go to Shao and Yu, what if this is the case?" . The antithesis here is obviously not for literary talent, but the form and content of "joy" and "dance". The so-called "voice of Zheng and Wei" is "Sangjian Pushang", which is the work of Zheng Guo and Wei Guo Folk music, it can be seen that "knocking on the fou and beating on the urn" was the folk music of the Qin Dynasty at that time, that is, "Shaoyu" is "Shaoxiao", which is why Confucius praised it as "I don't know the taste of meat in March" "Shao". There is also a saying that the zheng is a weapon during the Warring States Period, used to swing vertically to hit people. There is also an old saying that goes, "The sound of a zither is a joy, and an army can be formed on the ground." Later, strings were added to it, and when it was plucked, it sounded pleasant to the ears, so it developed into a musical instrument. As time went by, weapons became lighter and lighter, and weapons as bulky and heavy as the zheng were abandoned. Therefore, the zithers that people see now all appear in the form of musical instruments, with beautiful shapes and decorations. It is said that this music was composed by Dayu. The above refers to music; this music is obviously not folk music, but court music. It can be seen that at the latest when Ying Zheng came to power, the Qin State had replaced the Zheng with the "Shaoxiao". The Zheng was a musical instrument used by the court at that time, and it should be more elegant than the Fou and the Urn. As for "Bou Bi", what I want to challenge is "Wu Xiang". This "Wu", also known as "Da Wu", is music and dance, which was sung by Zhou people to praise King Wu for defeating Zhou. It can be seen that "Bobi" should be the court music and dance of Qin State. The examples given by Li Si prove that the songs, dances, and music used in the Qin court are from other countries. In order to refute the political ban, Zhang Ben is not a guest. The article has already mentioned that Li Sijin submitted the "Book of Remonstrance and Expulsion of Guests" in 237 BC, so the popularity of zheng in Qin must have been before that. The emergence of Zheng is relatively complete and should be earlier than Li Si's "Book of Remonstrance and Chasing Guests". There are two theories about the name of the zither. One is that it comes from the split of zi, the other is that it got its name from the clank sound. "Ji Yun" maintains the saying of "dividing the harp into a zheng": "The Qin customs are weak and evil. If father and son fight over the harp, each will take his half. At that time, it was called the zheng." Of course, in addition to the theory of father and son quarreling over the steed, there are also stories about brothers quarreling over the steed and sisters quarreling over the steed. These similar legends also illustrate the unreliability of these statements. In addition, as far as common sense is concerned, if the zi is divided into two, it becomes a broken zi. How can it be considered a zheng? If you break a zither into two and repair it into a zither, it will probably be far more difficult than making a zither and a zither, right? Another theory is that it got its name because of the nature of its pronunciation. Liu Xi's "Shi Ming" states that "Zheng, the string is high, and the string is high, and the zither is straight". It is said that the zheng is pronounced "Zheng Zhengran" because of the "high strings". This timbre obviously refers to the soothing tone of the zither, which connects the zither and the zither. Indeed, our national musical instruments can be named after the origin of the instrument (such as the huqin), or they can be named after the development method (such as the pipa), or even named after the timbre (such as the Bawu). The zheng here is pronounced "Zheng" because of the timbre. (Zheng) Zhengran”, so it’s not a bad idea to get the name. Judging from the following text, the original zheng and harp were not closely related, which lost the significance of the contrast in the timbre of the zither and the harp, making this theory difficult to fully believe. The naming of the zheng mentioned above also involves the origin of the zheng. Since the theory of "breaking a zither into a zheng" is not credible, then the zheng that happened was not made from a broken zither. So how did the zither form? Han. Ying Shao's "Customs of Customs" contains the following article: "Zheng, according to the Book of Rites and Music, has five strings and is used to build the body. Today, the shape of the zither in Bing and Liang states is like a zither. I don't know who modified it. It may be said that it was made by Meng Tian." " From Ying Shao's "Customs of Customs", we can see that the system of the zheng before the Han Dynasty should be "five strings, building the body", but at that time "the shape of the zheng in the two states of (Mountain) and Liang (Gansu) was like a zither", Ying Shao I don’t know who made the reforms, but also recorded the rumor that it was “made by Meng Tian”. This also shows that the harp-shaped zither had been spread in the northwest region during the Han Dynasty. Du You of the Tang Dynasty wrote in "Tongdian." "Le Four" says: "Zheng is the sound of Qin. Fu Xuan's "Preface to Zheng Fu" says: "I thought it was made by Meng Tian."

Looking at the instrument now, the top is as high as the sky, the bottom is as flat as the earth, the hollow is accurate to the six directions, the string pillars are like the twelfth month, the four images are there, and the drums are five tones. This is an instrument of benevolence and wisdom, how can it be thought of by Guan Si, the minister of Tian's subjugation? . There is also a note that says: "Today's Qing dynasty music zithers have ten or two strings, but his music zithers have ten or three strings. To roll the zither, use bamboo pieces to moisten its ends and roll it. To play the zither, use bone claws, more than an inch long, to represent the fingers. "The above two pieces of information are worthy of our attention. Ying Shao was born in the late Eastern Han Dynasty (the end of the second century and the beginning of the third century). The "five strings and body building" he recorded were based on the records in "Book of Rites and Music" and were not witnessed by his own eyes. , and what he saw was that "in Bingzhou and Liangzhou, the zheng shape is like a zither", but he did not mention whether the zheng shape was different in other areas. Du You, who lived in the ninth century at the end of the Tang Dynasty, explained in detail the complete shape of the zheng at that time in "Tongdian", which was also in line with the standards of orthodox ritual utensils. Of course, Du You also raised questions about the legend of "Mengtian making a kite". Was the Zheng created by Meng Tian? In recent years, some people believe that Meng Tian is a versatile man in both civil and military affairs, and it is entirely possible for him to build a zither. However, judging from the age, this possibility is not possible for Meng Tian to build a kite. Meng Tian's grandfather, Meng Ao, died in 240 BC (the seventh year of the Qin Dynasty). At this time, Meng Tian was only a young man in his 20s. Even though the young Meng Tian had the talent to make a kite, it took only a few years to complete it. It seems not possible that it became popular in Qin and became a court instrument of Qin at that time. Some people even say that the zheng was made by Meng Tian when he was building the Great Wall. This statement is even less possible. Because Meng Tian built the Great Wall after the Qin Dynasty was destroyed in the 26th year of King Qin (221 BC), which was at least 16 years later than Li Sicheng's "Book of Remonstrance and Expulsion of Guests"! It is also said that Meng Tian made it as "Bi", and the ancient traditional "Bi" is similar to "Zheng". Due to errors in the records, this theory has been passed down by mistake. According to Ying Shao's "Customs of Customs", the zheng has "five strings to build the body". But what kind of "construction" it is, the literature of the past dynasties is unclear. In 1973, a Han Dynasty artifact was unearthed from Han Tomb No. 3 in Mawangdui, Changsha. The reason why this vessel is said to be an Ming vessel is that although it is painted with black paint, it is carved from a single piece of wood. It is solid, which is not conducive to the sound of the drum. If it is used for playing, it will not be able to obtain sufficient volume. In addition, the overall length of this instrument is about 34 centimeters, which is obviously too short for playing. According to "Tongdian", the building in the Tang Dynasty was four feet and three inches long. Although there are differences in the evolution of Chinese architecture into the Tang Dynasty, the difference is not that big. Great disparity. These reasons are enough to prove that it is an Ming vessel. The vessel is like a small zither with a handle. There are horizontal rows of bamboo nails nailed to the top of the building surface, five in a row. This is consistent with the records in "Customs". The style of this Ming ware zhu is the same as that of zi, which seems to indicate that the styles of zi, zhu and zither are very similar. If it is true that the styles of zither, zhu and zither are similar, then we can only conclude that the difference between zither and zither is not only the timbre, but also the main external difference is the number of strings, that is: zither has between twenty-five and fifty strings. points, while the zheng in the Tang Dynasty only had twelve and thirteen strings, and the zhu at that time also developed into twelve and thirteen strings. So what is the difference between zhu and zheng? "Tongya" notes under the zither that "the bone claws are used to step on the zither, which is more than an inch long, to refer to it"; when it notes the construction, it quotes the statement from "Shi Ming": "the construction is made of bamboo drums." From this point of view, in fact, the main difference is that the zheng is a plucked instrument. Of course, "Tongya" also notes under the zhu: "like a zheng, with fine items". This "thin item" has become the main difference in the shape of a zheng and a zheng. It turns out that the first test of Zhu was to hold the neck with the left hand and play with the right hand. Therefore, the "thin item" in the Tang Dynasty was more than four feet long and obviously impossible to hold. This thin item seems to have preserved the old style. It's just a system. "Tongya" also notes under the entry of Zheng that "the ends of the Zheng are rolled with bamboo slices to moisten them, and bone claws are used to play the Zheng. It is more than an inch long, and it is used to refer to it." This annotation is to explain that CHOU (Hand 诌 Que Yan) and Jia Zheng are originally the same instrument. The only difference in their names is that one means playing and the other means pulling. Of course, some people think that the Chinese zither came from foreign countries. In his "History of Oriental Music", Naoio Tanabe of Japan put forward the view that the koto was introduced to the Qin State from the West at the end of the Warring States Period. Another Japanese scholar, Hayashi Kenzo, believes that Tanabe's arguments are insufficient. From the above discussion, it can be seen that whether it is a zither built like a zither or a zither built like a zither, the initial shape of the zither has not yet been clarified. Therefore, the origin of the zither is still a mystery and we need to continue to explore it. The search for the origin of the zheng obviously cannot be based on literature, and it seems that we must turn to new archaeological discoveries. In short, the zither is probably derived from a simple instrument with five or less strings made of a large bamboo tube. The date should be during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period or before the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and it cannot be in the Qin Dynasty after Qin Shihuang unified China. The relationship between zheng, zhu and se is neither that se is divided into zheng, nor that zhu evolved into zheng, but it is likely that zheng and zhu have the same origin, while zheng and se coexist. The five-string bamboo zither evolved into the twelve-string wooden zither, and the barrel-shaped zither structure evolved into the long box-shaped zither structure. It may have been reformed with reference to the structure of the zither. The string is made of metal (steel string or copper string), and the peg is installed on the left side of the panel parallel to the code. When playing, you usually wear a tortoise shell armor plate on your right hand. The tuning and tuning are in the three-octave range of the pentatonic scale (i.e. the first key 561235612356i235). The key of G or F is mostly used, and the key of D or C is rarely used. Hakka Zheng and Chaozhou Zheng have been coexisting in the same area for a long time, so they will naturally influence and absorb each other; they have many similar repertoires, and the shape of the Zheng they use is also the same.

As for the differences, for example, the Hakka Zheng uses Gongchi notation, while the Chaozhou Zheng uses Ersi notation; when playing, the Hakka Zheng uses the middle finger more often, while the Chaozhou Zheng uses the index finger more often, and the interval and fluctuation of the portamento in the former are greater than The latter makes the sound of the zither linger. In terms of style, the Hakka Zheng is melodious, profound, simple and elegant, while the Chaozhou Zheng is smooth and graceful. The guzheng performance of Guangdong Han music has a long history. It is mainly based on the "Old Music Score of Han Gao" (i.e. Han Diao Music), and is influenced by local style and dialect to form a quiet and reserved style. Hakka Zheng music is a solo piece gradually formed from the ensemble form of "silk string music" in Hakka music (a small ensemble composed of guzheng, pipa, coconut flute, and dongxiao), which has been enriched, enriched, developed, and refined by successive generations of Hakka zheng players. The Hakka Zheng has a wide range of repertoire, which can be divided into "major tune" and "string tune". The major tune is strictly sixty-eight ban, which is consistent with the ban tou tune in Henan, and the rest are string tunes. Hakka Zheng music is known for its simplicity, elegance and elegance. "Water Lotus" can be said to be one of the typical representatives of this artistic style. There is no fixed number of string tune boards, which has the characteristics of opera music. In order to facilitate the grasp of the tonality of the music, the application of techniques and the development of the content of the music, the music is classified into "soft sets", "hard sets" and "reverse lines". Traditional hand-made ruler scores and printed versions mostly record the "tuning bones" of the backbone of the melody. When playing, the performer's understanding of the music and his cultivation of Hakka music are used to arrange the fingerings, "variations" and "adding flowers". . Zhejiang Zheng: Wulin Zheng, also known as Hang Zheng, is popular in Zhejiang and Jiangsu. It is said that the zheng had been introduced to Jiankang (Nanjing) in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. By the Tang Dynasty, it was more commonly used in poetry and writing. In terms of origin, the origin of the guqin is the zither, and the origin of the guzheng is the zither. In terms of the number of strings, the guqin has only seven strings, while the guzheng has 21 strings. In terms of appearance, the guqin is generally 120-125 cm long, and the guzheng is generally 163 cm long. , Guzheng is almost twice as thick as Guqin, one-third wider than Guqin, and the cavity of Guzheng is much larger than that of Guqin. In terms of timbre, the sound of Guzheng is bright and crisp, the sound of Guzheng has long rhyme, and the sound of Guzheng is three-dimensional and upward. The sound of the guqin is deep and downward. Although some of the playing techniques have the same name, the playing forms are very different. Both instruments have their own unique techniques, such as the shaking and trembling of the guqin, and the chanting of the guqin. It should be noted that the strings of the guzheng are much tighter than those of the guqin, so you need to wear fake nails to play, while the guqin does not. Both belong to the category of "qin" in the ancient name "qinqi, calligraphy and painting". Guqin is mostly made of sycamore wood and has seven strings. Its tone is mainly deep and thick, and it is commonly used by literati to express their feelings. The number of strings in the guzheng is not uniform: the Qin Zheng in the Warring States Period more than 2,000 years ago had only five strings, and before the Han and Jin Dynasties, it had twelve strings. However, after more than 1,300 years, one string was added in the Tang and Song Dynasties; Since the Qing Dynasty, it has gradually increased to fourteen or fifteen strings. As for sixteen strings, it did not appear until the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China. The number of strings in the modern guzheng has traditionally developed to twenty-five or six strings, while the number of strings in the modern modified guzheng has increased to Forty or fifty. It has a wide range of sounds and was popular among people in ancient times.

Guqin is the oldest plucked instrument in my country. It was formed more than 3,000 years ago and is said to be made by "Fuxi" and "Shennong". Guzheng was much later and was formed in the Qin Dynasty. According to legend, In the Qin Dynasty, there was a Wanwuyi man who passed the zi (instrument) to two women. The two women fought with each other and broke into two, so they called it "Qin Zheng". This is the difference between the two formation years. In terms of composition and structure:

The body of the guqin is made of a single wood, with seven strings tied to the surface, so it was called "lyre" in ancient times. The strings are tied with velvet ropes and tied to the pegs. It is a "horseless instrument" in the plucked music category; the guzheng is composed of a frame plate, a panel and a bottom plate. The earliest zither had 5 strings, which developed into 12 strings at the end of the Warring States Period, 13 strings in the Sui Dynasty, 16 strings in the Qing Dynasty, 21 strings in the 1960s, and increased to 24-26 strings in recent years. The strings are evenly arranged on the surface of the zither, and each string is supported by a herringbone bridge. It is a "horse instrument" in the plucked music category. Although the guqin has only seven strings, one string has multiple notes, and its sound range is as wide as more than four octaves. With the help of the thirteen "qin signs" on the panel, many overtones and fret notes can be played. The timbre is implicit and deep, simple and elegant, and the expression is rich in connotation and extremely rich. Therefore, it was ranked first among "qin, chess, calligraphy, and painting" by literati in ancient times. The guzheng basically has 1-2 tones per string. By moving the string horse (column) in the same string, the pitch can be adjusted, the range is wide, the volume is huge, the tone is pure and beautiful, melodious and sweet. In terms of musical expression techniques:

Guqin music score has its own style. In ancient times, it was called "Zizi score", and after the Tang Dynasty, it was called "Zuzi score"; Nowadays, "simplified musical notation" and "five-line musical notation" are mostly used. The oldest representative piece of Guqin music is "Jieshi Diao. Orchid", which describes Confucius' failure and used the orchid in the empty valley to describe himself. It has been more than 1,400 years ago. There are also "Guangling San", "Xiaosha Yunshui", "Three Plum Blossoms", etc. There are about thousands of existing piano scores. Our country's historical records include the legend of Yu Boya and Zhong Ziqi meeting their close friends in the mountains and flowing water, and the story of Kong Ming in the "Three Kingdoms" who cleverly used the empty city strategy to retreat from Sima's 100,000-strong army by playing the harp. They all talk about the guqin rather than the guzheng. In 1977, the "Voyager" spacecraft launched by the United States crossed the solar system and headed for the Milky Way space. The song "Flowing Water" played by the spacecraft was a famous song played on the Chinese guqin; the representative ancient music of the zither includes "Fishing Boat Sing" "Late", "Jackdaws Playing in the Water", "Water Lotus", "Flowers on the Brocade", etc.

The sound of the guzheng is loud and beautiful, and it has a strong blessing when played.

It's perfect if you want to use it to get drunk. Therefore, since ancient times, it has been mostly girls practicing their skills. Guqin has a small sound and is relatively introverted. Only under certain special circumstances will it move people particularly, and often it is only the piano player himself who is moved. Some masters have also played songs with strong blessing power, which make people feel as if they are listening to thousands of pines and are extremely intoxicated. But judging from the structure and development history of the guqin, the real significance of the guqin lies not in skill and touching, but in state of mind and nature. The unity of man and nature is the final destination of a piano player. Therefore, guzheng is more likely to be played for others to listen to, while guzheng is more likely to be played for oneself. Guzheng and Guqin should have certain similarities at the beginning. For example, they both had about 5 strings at first, and their shapes were also similar. Similar to them is the musical instrument "Zhu". There has always been a saying that "Zhengzhu has the same origin". In addition to zhu, there is also se, which is closely related to zheng. However, later zhu and se gradually disappeared and withdrew from the stage of history, while guzheng and guqin continue to this day.

The development of guzheng and guqin have become very different, and they have become two completely different musical instruments. Nowadays, guzheng has different string numbers such as 21, 25, and 29, among which the 21-string guzheng is more common. Historically, guzheng has different forms such as 12-string and 16-string. The guqin was finalized with 7 strings about 25,000 years ago, and the current guqin still has 7 strings.

Because the number of strings is different, their volumes are also very different. The guzheng is larger, with a length of more than 160 centimeters. The guqin is much smaller. According to ancient records, its length corresponds to the number of days in a year, which is about three feet and six inches. When converted to the metric system, it should be about 120 centimeters. Guzheng has a string, and each string is supported by a string. Guqin has no code. Guzheng basically has one string and one tone, but sometimes you can use some techniques to play different pitches on the same string. Guqin has one string and multiple tones. There are emblems on its panel. You can use your left hand to play different emblem positions on it. By pressing strings or overtones, you can play more notes of different pitches. In terms of playing techniques, Guqin and Guzheng are also quite different. Guzheng players generally wear fake armor and rely on the fake armor to pluck the strings to produce sound. Guqin does not use fake nails and is played directly with human fingers.