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The erxian takes many years to master
Word of the week: One of China’s most important traditional bowed instruments with an unmistakable sound, dating back at least 2,000 years, with a hardwood neck and a rounded bamboo soundbox and two strings, it looks simple, but takes years to master
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Varieties of bamboo and other sheng
Word of the week: A traditional Chinese instrument, representing natural harmony and life from the ground (made originally from bamboo), dating back at least 3,000 years, it could be described as a complex form of mouth organ played by breathing in and out, with a free reed, finger holes, mouthpiece and vertical pipes
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A xun has a blowhole on the top and finger holes for notes of the scale
Word of the week: An egg-shaped vessel flute from China (埙) with a blow and finger holes, it’s one of that civilisations oldest instruments with a haunting, delicate sound, mostly made clay or ceramic, but sometimes bone, wood, stone, gourd, even bamboo
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Yatga player Altantsetseg Badgar
Word of the week: Related to the Chinese guzheng, this beautiful and delicate sounding instrument is a traditional fingernail-plucked Mongolian zither, the other hand applying pressure to strings to change the notes
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The yangqin, a Chinese dulcumer, also known in other cultures and forms variously as santur, cymbalom and zither
Word of the week: We return with a sweet sounding instrument thats a big hit in, and particularly associated with China, part of the hammered dulcimer family played in music across the Far and Middle East, India, Iran, Pakistan and Eastern Europe
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One of many visual impressions of the imagined stately pleasure palace
Word of the week: It’s an idealised location of magnificence and beauty with Chinese origins described in Coleridge’s poem, and a 1980 film starring Olivia Newton-John and song performed with ELO, but where else does it appear in lyrics?
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