Chinese Music Instruments
According to legend, Fu-His(伏曦氐), the divine bringer of order, is said to have invented musical instruments. Certainly there is evidence of musical instruments like flutes and drums in existence as early as 1300 BC, and by the Chou Dynasty, musical instruments had been classified into eight categories or “sounds” (八音). They were based on eight materials found in nature: stone, metal, silk, reed, wood, skin, gourd and clay. Today’s instruments are divided into categories of sound: string, wind, and percussion. Our musicians will be happy to show you their instruments after the show.

Cymbals, gongs and clappers
Percussive instruments, such as cymbals, gongs and clappers are often used in Chinese music, especially in celebratory dances, like the Dragon and Lion dances as well as in operas, to emphasise crescendos. Cymbals were originally used in Buddhist rituals; although they were found in Persia and Ancient Greece, Chinese cymbals of a larger dished size. They are now widely used for accompanying lion dances and operas. Evidence has been found of gongs as early as the Tang Dynasty, consisting of a round metal plate with a turned up edge. Another popular percussive instrument is the flower drum or dagu (花鼓), so called because of its flower vase shaped body, suspended on a wooden frame, and played by two wooden mallets. Several dagu are sometimes used to perform solo passages of a melodic nature in orchestras.

Ruan 阮
The ruan (阮) is a four stringed , moon shaped lute, capable of producing a large variety of tones. It is named after its greatest exponent Ruan Xuan, one of the famous Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove in the Three Kingdoms era. There are various sizes available, and is often used in orchestral as well as operatic accompaniments.

Yangqin 楊琴
Like the erhu, the yangqin (楊琴) did not originate in China, but was introduced in the Ming Dynasty from the Middle East. Similar to the European dulcimer in construction, the yangqin is played with a pair of bamboo sticks, and is capable of producing not only single notes but also chords and arpeggios. Over the years, stops have been developed to increase the range of the instrument and provide semitones and rollers have been in added in order to modulate. The yangqin is an essential component of Chinese orchestra, but it is also widely used as a solo instrument.

Erhu 二胡
The erhu (二胡) is a two stringed bowed instrument, supposedly to have been invented when a hunter plucked absentmindedly at his bow and found it made a pleasant sound, very much like that of the violin. However, like other bowed instruments, it was probably brought by traders from Central Asia during the T’ang Dynasty. During the golden age of operas in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the erhu served as an accompaniment to the operas, whilst the twentieth century has brought a rapid development in solo erhu repetoire. The influence of Western music has led to the introduction of a range of two stringed instruments, for example, the zhonghu (中胡).