Chinese Musical Instruments

Musical instruments, throughout a history that spans 7000 years, have been a very integral part of ancient and contemporary Chinese religion as well as entertainment. Excavated artifacts indicated that flutes have existed since Neolithic China. By the Han Dynasty in 206 B.C. music was already being organized and edited by an imperial-decreed music bureau.

There are four main categories of traditional Chinese musical instruments: percussion, string, wind, and plucked instruments. Percussion instruments, which in the past consisted primarily of bells and chimes, were originally reserved for the imperial members of society for religious reasons. Other percussion instruments were used to create a regular knocking sound in order to aid meditation.

The Erhu, a string instrument, is played with a bow that is dragged along vertical strings. Flutes are the most common wind instrument in China; the earliest found was made out of bone the Neolithic period. Flutes were more often made out of bamboo. The pipa, or lute, consists of a body shaped like a gourd with vertical strings, which are plucked with a musician’s fingers to make music.

Quick Facts

• Traditional Chinese belief is that music affects the harmony of the universe. For this reason, it was historically frowned upon to produce music for entertainment’s sake
• Confucius used and taught others to use musical instruments as a means to calm feelings of lust and passion
• Music was not enjoyed by common Chinese people until the Tang Dynasty, 690-705 A.D.