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| The zheng, a plucked-string Chinese instrument composed of moveable bridges supporting each string above a rectangular sound box, has a history that can be traced back three millennia. According to a second-century historical document, Fengsu Tongyi,1 the earliest zheng had only five silk strings and a bamboo body. The performance of the zheng was first documented in Shiji (lit. “Record of History,” 237 B.C.), which noted how people of the Qin state (221-206 B.C.), now Shanxi province, China, played the zheng at that time.2During the Tang dynasty (618-907 A.D.), the number of silk strings increased from five to twelve or thirteen, and the bamboo frame was replaced by wu-tong wood. The zheng at this time was used not only as a regional instrument, but also became a regular fixture at the imperial court as one part of a string and wind ensemble to perform xianghege-- a type of ancient Chinese singing (sung by one person or a group of people3) accompanied by an ensemble. Meanwhile, the art of the zheng was introduced intoJapan as the thirteen-string koto and to Korea as the twelve-string kayagum. Later, in the Qing dynasty (1644-1911 A.D.), a zheng having sixteen steel strings became popular. The number of strings on the zheng has been increased again from sixteen or eighteen to twenty-one, twenty-five or twenty-six during the last half century. Since the early 1980s, the 21-string Shanghai zheng became an internationally favored model. This modern zheng uses strings that are made of steel wound with nylon and has a wider range and a strong, mellow sound. Each of the bridges on the zheng divide the string into two parts: the right side strings, are tuned into a pentatonic scale and plucked by the right-hand with picks on the top of fingers; and the left side of each string is the place for the left-hand bending to create pitch variations and ornamentations. In the present, the Zheng has developed a wider range, depth, and versatility. Musicians are constantly refining new playing techniques for the instrument. New generations of the Zheng musicians are broadening the scope of the Zheng and take it to a higher level. Since the mid-19th century, Zheng solo repertoire has been growing and evolving towards an increasing technical complexity.
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1. Han Mei, The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd edition, Vol. 27, P 802
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