The oldest plucked instrument in China: Guqin

Guqin has a history of more than 3,000 years. It is known as the first of the four arts of chess, calligraphy and painting, and was the most noble musical instrument in ancient times. . Guqin is full of legendary symbols: 3 feet, 6 inches and 5 minutes long, representing the 365 days in a year; 13 emblems, representing the 12 months of the year and leap months. The curved surface of the piano represents the sky, while the flat bottom represents the earth, which represents the round sky and the earth. Some Western musicians commented: The structure of this instrument is designed based on the Chinese concept of the relationship between heaven and earth, which reminds people of the legendary music that only gods in the sky can hear.

China’s earliest wind instrument: bone whistle

The earliest well-documented wind instrument in China is the “bone whistle” from the Neolithic Age. According to radioactive carbon-14 isotope testing, the upper limit of its age is confirmed to be about 7,000 years ago. From the perspective of the entire history of orchestral instruments and national musical instruments of various countries, the bone whistle is also the oldest. The Hemudu site in Yuyao, Zhejiang is one of the earliest Neolithic sites discovered so far in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River in China. The 160 bone whistles found at the site were made by cutting out the middle limb bones of birds. The length of the bone whistle ranges from 4 to 12 centimeters, and the shape is slightly curved. Most bone whistles have a round hole grinded out on the convex side and at both ends of the proximal limb bones. One of the bone whistles had a limb bone inserted into the cavity when it was unearthed. Its shape is similar to that of modern bamboo whistles. When using the bamboo whistle, put the end with the hole in your mouth and blow gently while twitching the bamboo stick in the cavity. Whistle a simple tune.

The earliest stringed instrument in China: Xi Qin

The earliest stringed instrument in China is the Xi Qin in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Before bowed string instruments appeared in the world, musical instruments that produced sound by rubbing silk strings with sticks and bamboo pieces appeared in China. According to Chen Ci's "Music Book": "Xiqin is the original Hu music" and "it is made by rolling bamboo pieces between the two strings, and it is still used by the people today." The book also includes a picture of a Xi Qin, whose shape is very similar to the later Hu Qin.

The earliest Chinese instrument to enter Western orchestras: Chinese gongs

The musical instrument arrangement of Western orchestras has gradually become stable after hundreds of years of practice. Although the world's major symphony orchestras have different compositions, they all have the same percussion instrument - the Chinese Gong. A foreign musician once said that a symphony orchestra without a big gong would be somewhat inferior. ”

The largest musical instrument in ancient China: chime bells

Chime bells are large-scale percussion instruments of the Han nationality in ancient China. Chime bells emerged in the Western Zhou Dynasty and flourished from the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period to the Qin and Han Dynasties. It is made of bronze and consists of large and small Different oblate bells are arranged in order of pitch and hung on a huge bell stand. The bells are struck with a T-shaped wooden hammer and a long rod respectively, which can produce different sounds because the pitch of each bell is different. Different, according to the music score, you can play beautiful music. A set of copper bells with different pitches are hung on the wooden frame, and the ancient maids use small mallets to beat the music.