{"id":13917,"date":"2017-12-07T09:00:37","date_gmt":"2017-12-07T13:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/?p=13917"},"modified":"2017-12-03T10:34:44","modified_gmt":"2017-12-03T14:34:44","slug":"chinese-plucked-stringed-instruments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/chinese-plucked-stringed-instruments\/","title":{"rendered":"Chinese Plucked Stringed Instruments"},"content":{"rendered":"

These days, young Chinese carry iPhones and listen to pop music <\/strong>(\u6d41\u884c\u97f3\u4e50 – li\u00fa x\u00edng y\u012bn yu\u00e8) by day, and they hit KTV (karaoke) clubs at night. Walking around Chinese mega-malls, you’re bound to hear the likes of Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, or Cantonese\/Taiwanese pop stars. So, you may be asking yourself, where is the traditional Chinese music? Well, head to a local park<\/strong><\/a> (\u516c\u56ed – g\u014dng yu\u00e1n), and you’re likely to stumble upon Chinese elders either practicing tai chi<\/strong> (\u592a\u6781\u62f3 – t\u00e0i j\u00ed qu\u00e1n) while listening to traditional music, or playing traditional Chinese instruments<\/strong> (\u4e50\u5668 – yu\u00e8 q\u00ec). In a new series here, I’ll introduce a variety of Chinese instruments along with some of China’s musical history.<\/p>\n

Eight Sounds of Chinese Instruments<\/h2>\n

To begin with, there are eight sounds\/tones <\/strong>(\u516b\u97f3 – b\u0101 y\u012bn) used to classify most of China’s instruments:<\/p>\n