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PitchPipaYueqin (moon lute)RuanDizi

The liuqin's shape is a complete simile: it looks like a willow leaf — and it is actually made of willow wood.

It is also called the *willow-leaf qin*, the "earth pipa" and the "steel-leg"; and the famous film song "Pluck my beloved earth pipa" from *Railway Guerrillas* is about this very instrument.

⚠️ But the real point of this page is something else: the traditional liuqin had two strings and seven frets (the frets cut from sorghum stalks), a range of a sixth over an octave, no easy modulation, and monotonous technique — "its expressive power was greatly limited." Then, from 1958, it was deliberately rebuilt: two strings to four · silk to steel · seven frets to twenty-nine · finger-cap to plectrum · range to four octaves. ⭐⭐ Rule ㊷: the post came first, the instrument second — the liuqin was not grown, it was *filled in*. The stated goal is blunt: "it filled the gap of a treble plucked instrument in the Chinese orchestra." Every instrument so far in this batch found its post after existing; the liuqin is the reverse: the orchestra lacked a seat, and someone built the instrument for it.

A willow leaf, and how it used to be

⭐ Three points:

1. The shape is the name. Willow wood, willow-leaf shape — hence "willow-leaf qin." 2. The frets start in a field. Traditionally they were cut from sorghum stalks — a village-opera instrument tuned with what the fields provided. 3. ⭐ The old playing method was odd: a bamboo tube worn on the index finger, pinched by the thumb, sound struck by flicking the wrist; the bamboo split easily, so a hollow ox-horn tube replaced it (the "liuqin sleeve"). The least plucked-like plucking gesture this batch has recorded.

A directed rebuild: two strings to four, seven frets to twenty-nine

⭐ The full list (as the sources give it): rosewood back · two strings to four · silk to steel · bamboo frets (later metal-edged) · seven frets to twenty-nine · chromatic spacing · finger-cap to triangular plectrum · tuning g · d¹ · g¹ · d².

And the purpose throughout was one sentence: "it filled the gap of a treble plucked instrument in the Chinese orchestra."

• Three-string liuqin (end of 1958, 24 frets) → four-string treble liuqin (1970s, 29 frets, four octaves);
• Its post is stated just as plainly: "in the orchestra the liuqin is the treble of the plucked section, penetrating and hard to drown out." Its value is that it cannot be covered (compare the yueqin, whose value is that it *points*).

The opera named after the instrument

⭐ One line deserves its own paragraph:

"Liuqin opera was first called 'soul-pulling tune'; in 1953 it was named *Liuqin opera* after its accompanying instrument."

— a whole opera genre renamed itself after its own accompaniment. (This belongs to the same family as the bangzi page's "bangzi aria": what an opera names itself after shows what it thinks matters most — the bangzi remembered the beat, Liuqin opera remembered the instrument.)

⚠️ And its own origin has three competing accounts (as the sources themselves list):

(Account 3 is the most moving: it was built to make a living — echoing how it was later rebuilt to fill a seat: both times, this instrument was *made*, not grown.)

Range

柳琴属弹拨弦鸣乐器。传统形制（二弦七品）音域仅一个半八度且不便转调；1958 年起改革：四弦 · 二十九品 · 半音排列 · 钢弦，音域扩为四个八度。定弦口径有两说：改革者所述为 g · d¹ · g¹ · d²，另有资料记为 d¹ · g¹ · d² · g²。本图按四弦高音柳琴取 G3–G6（约四个八度）示意。记谱即实音。

Common misconceptions

• "The liuqin is a kind of pipa." ⚠️ It is nicknamed "small pipa / earth pipa," and early makers did model it on the pipa — but it is an independent modern instrument: four strings, 29 frets, its own tuning; the four-string treble liuqin of the 1970s is one of the youngest instruments in this batch.
• "It has always looked like this." ⚠️ The reverse: before 1958 it had two strings and seven sorghum frets, one and a half octaves. Today's form is the result of a directed rebuild.
• "It came from musical demand." ⚠️ More precisely, from an organisational gap — "it filled the gap of a treble plucked instrument in the Chinese orchestra": seat first, instrument second.
• "Earth pipa means it is inferior." ⚠️ "Earth" means homegrown: it was the village-opera instrument of the Su–Lu–Wan border country, and the song from *Railway Guerrillas* sings about it.
• "It only accompanies." ⚠️ It now has solos and concertos (*Spring Comes to the Yi River* and others), plays alongside the flute in Changzhou silk-string music, and can lead the ensemble.

Timbre, and how to hear it

Three cues:

1. Hear the cut. That is its whole job: it cannot be drowned out — a treble voice that refuses to sink into the plucked section. 2. Hear three colours. The first string clear and transparent; the middle strings soft and expressive; the fourth thick, with a long ring — one string apart, three personalities. 3. Hear the countryside underneath. It came from opera troupes and villages: the push in its plucking and tremolo is what "soul-pulling tune" left behind.

The family

Next

The plucked section continues — and the next one is special: it is not plucked, it is *struck*.

Two bamboo hammers in the hand, beating the strings: it settled in China only a few centuries ago, yet became the busiest instrument in opera and storytelling — rhythm *and* harmony at once.

Yangqin. :::

Sources

• ⭐⭐ 名字与形状：「柳琴，又称柳叶琴 · 金刚腿 · 土琵琶……因其仿照琵琶 · 月琴的样子，用柳木制成，形似柳叶而得名」；「柳琴原是苏北 · 鲁南 · 皖北一带柳琴戏 · 泗洪戏（泗州戏）的伴奏乐器，由于背板用柳木做成，形状像柳叶，也叫柳叶琴。也有称之为金刚腿 · 土琵琶的。电影《铁道游击队》中《弹起我心爱的土琵琶》就是这种乐器」；另有别名「小琵琶 · 闻子灵」依器物资料与地方资料
• ⭐⭐ 传统形制与旧奏法：「最早的柳琴，构造较简单，只有两条丝弦，7 个用高粱秆做成的品位，音域很窄，仅有一个半八度，还不便转调。当时的琴体较大，演奏时有一竹筒套在食指上，用拇指捏紧，靠手腕甩动而拨弦发音，演奏形式别具一格。后以竹套质脆易裂，使用挖空的牛角圆筒代替」；「弹奏柳琴戏的柳琴为 2 弦 7 品，音域 1 个半八度，右手中指戴一竹筒或牛角筒『柳琴套』」；「传统柳琴的不足在于音域狭窄 · 不便转调 · 音色欠佳 · 技巧单调，所以音乐表现力受到很大的限制」依乐器资料
• ⭐⭐⭐ 1958 年起的定向改造：「1958 年济南军区歌舞团的王惠然老师与徐州乐器厂一起对原来的柳琴进行了一系列的改革：背板用红木制作 · 琴弦增加为四根 · 把丝弦换成钢弦 · 品用竹品（后又改为镶金属条的竹品）· 增加到 29 个品 · 依半音阶排列 · 用弹片演奏 · 定弦为 g · d¹ · g¹ · d²。美化了音色 · 扩大了音域 · 方便了转调 · 丰富了表现力。添补了民族乐队中高音弹拨乐器的空白」；「1958 年底，第一代新型柳琴——三弦柳琴诞生……品位由 7 个增加到 24 个」；「70 年代出现了第二代新型柳琴——四弦高音柳琴」；「将 7 品增为 29 品，音域扩为 4 个八度。改丝弦为钢弦和合金缠弦」；「在演奏方式上，改传统柳琴的指套为赛璐珞 · 玳瑁或塑料片等材料制作的三角形拨子」依器物资料 · 地方资料与文旅资料
• ⭐ 京剧……不，是柳琴戏的命名：「柳琴戏最初称为『拉魂腔』，1953 年根据其伴奏乐器柳琴定名为柳琴戏」—— ⭐ 戏因器得名（与本站梆子页的「梆子腔」同一族：一个声腔拿什么命名，取决于它认为什么最要紧）依通行资料
• ⭐ 来源三说并存：「其来源有多种说法：① 1860 年代，鲁南一带的拉魂腔艺人仿照琵琶 · 月琴，将柳树挖空而制成；② 滕县苏楼村一苏姓秀才与当地艺人与木工研制而成；③ 临沂拉魂腔艺人武大 · 武二仿持国天王所持琵琶，造成 2 弦土琵琶弹唱行乞之用」依通行资料
• ⭐⭐ 它在乐队里的岗位：「在民族乐团中，柳琴是弹拨乐器的高音乐器，穿透力强，不易被其它乐器所掩盖，常用来演奏高音区的主旋律，有时也演奏华丽 · 技巧性高的华彩乐段」；「其一弦高音区清脆 · 明亮 · 透明 · 富有光彩，穿透力强；第二 · 三弦中音区音色优美 · 柔和，富于表情；四弦低音区浑厚结实，余音颇长」；「填补了民族乐队弹拨乐声部缺乏高音的空白」；「常州丝弦中，柳琴能与主奏的笛子密切配合，起到陪衬 · 增强对比和装饰作用，亦可于合奏中领奏」依文旅资料与器物资料
• ⭐ 演奏技法：「改传统柳琴的指套为……三角形拨子，用右手大指和食指持拨，以手腕旋转之力弹奏。柳琴擅长于运用弹挑 · 小轮演奏节奏鲜明 · 富有弹性的快板；运用长轮及和弦长音演奏气势磅礴 · 高亢洪亮 · 激情昂扬的慢板 · 广板；运用推 · 拉 · 吟 · 揉 · 沥 · 打 · 琶音等技巧」；「柳琴已经积累了一套左右手近 40 种规范化的演奏技法」；「由于柳琴的琴颈细长，把位窄小，换把方便，跳把灵巧，所以十分擅长于炫技性的快速技巧」依文旅资料
• ⭐ 定弦口径：有记「定弦为 g · d¹ · g¹ · d²」（改革者所述 · 徐州口径），另有记「采用固定音高定弦法，如 d¹ · g¹ · d² · g²」—— 两说并存，此处并注依资料整理
• ⭐ 规格：「形似琵琶而略小，通体长约 65 公分」；「一般為 24 品位，亦有增加到 28 品位，按半音排列」；构造含「琴头 · 琴轴 · 面板 · 音窗 · 山口 · 琴品 · 琴码 · 微调 · 琴托」；代表作品有《春到沂河》《幸福渠》《木棉花开》等依辞书与地方资料
• 「现柳琴已发展到东南亚各国 · 港澳台地区及世界上所有的华人地区。各大音乐院校及师范院校也都开设了柳琴专业」依地方资料
• 「柳琴属于八音中的丝」依通行资料

Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.