Related

TimbreLiuqinYueqin (moon lute)PipaBianzhong

The yangqin is an instrument that was *edited twice* — and both edits left a paper trail.

⚠️ The first edit was the tool. The 1744 gazetteer of Macao, China records a "bronze-stringed zither" there, "struck with split bamboo, ringing and chiming" — and the sources state plainly that the book records the change of the striking tool "from the imported wooden hammer to the bamboo *qinzhu*." ⚠️ The second edit was the name. "Qiu Heshou's *Qinxue Xinbian* records changing the imported 'yangqin' (洋琴, foreign zither) to 'yangqin' (扬琴)." ⭐⭐ Rule ㊸: to be accepted, a foreign instrument must be edited twice — the tool first, the name second. Wooden hammer to bamboo (easier in the hand), 洋琴 to 扬琴 (easier on the ear). And this is the first instrument in the batch whose rename has a named author — compare the guanzi: its name was simply *said* into being; the yangqin's name was *changed* by someone.

Two notes on one string

⭐ Three points:

1. It is struck. Bamboo hammers (the *qinzhu*) hit the strings — the odd one out in this plucked section: strings, yes, but the sound comes from a blow (the sources call it "grain and ring" at once). 2. Two peak-and-valley bridges. "The peaks carry strings; the valleys let the other bridge's strings pass" — two rows interleaved into a pitch map; treble left, bass right. 3. ⭐ Two notes on one string: early yangqins placed a bridge at two-thirds of each string so it "sounded two notes a fifth apart" — the same cleverness as this site's two-pitch bell (rule ㉙): the bell splits two notes by its shape; the string splits two notes by its bridge position.

From *yangqin* (洋琴) to *yangqin* (扬琴): two edits

⭐ The rarest thing about this page: its rename has a named author.

⭐ And "洋" was the era's general prefix for imported things — 洋片 · 洋火 · 洋琴 (this batch even has a song called 《拉洋片》, "peep-show slides"). The yangqin swapped its own 洋 out: same sound, different character. (Names-history item ⑳: homophone re-charactering, erasing the foreign feel — the twin of item ⑮: one changes the word, the other changes the character.)

"China's only world instrument"

The source's own words: "the yangqin is the only world instrument among Chinese instruments." It has two routes:

• Westward: "originating in ancient Assyria in Mesopotamia," reaching Europe via Persia by the 15th century — where its kin is the dulcimer; in West Asia it is still the santur; in Hungary, the cimbalom.
• Eastward: "about 1580, during the Wanli reign, entering Guangdong by the maritime Silk Road" (or, by another account, overland via the Pamirs) — and once landed, its first step was to be *edited*.

⚠️ Also recorded: some Chinese scholars hold a "Yangzhou origin" view; this page sets both accounts side by side without adjudicating.

Range

扬琴属击弦弦鸣乐器。传统形制音域有限：双八型 f¹—c² · 双十型 d¹—d³ · 双十二型 c—e³；20 世纪改革后：401 型 54 个音位 · 音域 G—a³（半音相对齐备 · 可转调）· 402 型在 401 基础上增半音音位 · 501 型 77 个音位 · 音域 E—c⁴ · 可转 12 个调。本图按 401 型取 G3–A6 示意。记谱即实音。

Where it works hardest: *qinshu* and opera

⭐ One sentence from the sources carries weight:

"At first the yangqin was used mostly to accompany narrative singing and local opera. Among these, every region's *qinshu* ('zither books') took the yangqin as its chief accompanying instrument."

— the very name of the *qinshu* genre comes from it. (Shandong qinshu, Sichuan qinshu, Henan qinshu, Xuzhou qinshu… the "qin" is the yangqin.)

⭐ So this batch's thread of "genres named after instruments" now has three examples:

Each wrote its most essential thing into its name — for one it was the beat, for another the accompaniment, for the third the instrument itself.

Its roster is crowded: Guangdong music · Jiangnan silk-and-bamboo · Yangzhou qingqu · Guangxi wenchang · Changde sixian · Sichuan / Henan / Shandong qinshu · Yulin xiaoqu — few instruments in this batch span so many genres.

Common misconceptions

• "The yangqin is plucked." ⚠️ It is struck, with bamboo hammers — the odd one out in the plucked section, like the piano and the bells: strings or metal, but sound by blow.
• "It is native Chinese." ⚠️ The mainstream view is imported (Mesopotamia–Persia line, entering Guangdong about 1580); a "Yangzhou origin" account coexists.
• "It was always called yangqin." ⚠️ It was first 洋琴 (foreign zither), also *daqin*, *hudieqin*, *tongsqin*, *shanmianqin* — and Qiu Heshou's book records a rename: 洋琴 → 扬琴.
• "It only accompanies." ⚠️ It has solos (*Spring Dawn at Green Lake*, *Thunder in Drought*, *Yi Dance*) and concert works; the 401 / 402 / 501 reforms carried it from "a sixth over an octave, badly out of tune" to free modulation and a wide range.
• "A foreign instrument stays foreign." ⚠️ It had its tool, name, bridges and layouts all altered — "sinicisation" was not a gesture but a series of concrete technical edits.

Timbre, and how to hear it

Three cues:

1. Hear "grain *and* ring." Contradictory words, both true: a strike is a dot first, then a line. 2. Hear the "horizontal" habit. The sources say it favours "horizontal" melodic ornamentation — it embellishes the tune rather than owning it (exactly its role in qinshu and opera). 3. Hear the damping. Post-reform models added a damper — too much ring muddies; knowing when to stop is a skill.

The family

Next

The plucked section continues — the next one has only one string, yet can sing a whole melody.

It does it not by fingering or frets but with a sliding rod you push and pull — pitch is played by the wrist.

Duxianqin, the one-string zither. :::

Sources

• ⭐⭐ "两次中国化"（关键史料）：「清乾隆九年（1744）负责中国澳门的官员印光任 · 张汝霖在所撰地志中记载，把扬琴的击弦工具由外来的木质『琴槌』改为竹质的『琴竹』。而丘鹤寿在《琴学新编》中记载，把外来『洋琴』改为『扬琴』」；「清乾隆九年（1744）设中国澳门同知，印光任 · 张汝霖相继任职，在所撰地志中记载，那里有一种『铜弦琴』，『削竹叩之，铮铮琮琮然』，即指扬琴」；清嘉庆年间麟庆《鸿雪因缘图记》「铜琴，刳木作匣，拈铜为丝，敲以细竹，俗称洋琴」依古籍与器物资料
• ⭐⭐ 来源与传入：「扬琴起源于古代两河流域的亚述地区，15 世纪经波斯传入欧洲并演变为德西马等变体。约明万历八年（1580 年）通过海上丝绸之路传入中国广东，初称桑图尔琴」；「（另有）中国本土学说……认为扬琴起源于扬州」；「现代学者认为扬琴是由其他国家传入的，有两条线路：一条……经海路从广东 · 中国澳门一带传入；另一条……走帕米尔高原地区的丝绸之路传入中国新疆地区」；「当下人们普遍认为扬琴是从其他国家传入中国的」；「扬琴是中国乐器中唯一的世界性乐器」；「最早的图像是苏美尔人……（公元前 4—3 世纪）使用扬琴的图像，保存在一个古老的苏美尔纪念碑上」依器物资料与百科资料
• ⭐⭐ 形制：「琴身呈梯形，使用竹制琴槌击奏金属琴弦，音色清脆明亮，具有颗粒感和延绵感」；「传统扬琴……音箱呈蝴蝶形或扁梯形，长 90—97 · 宽 32—41 · 高 5.7—7 厘米……上置两个用竹 · 红木或牛角制 · 呈峰谷状条形琴码，左为高音码，右为低音码，峰部用以支弦，谷部有另一码上的琴弦通过」；「琴竹又称琴箭 · 琴签，为两支有弹性的竹制小棰」；「少者 8—10 档，多者 13—18 档，每档 2—4 根弦」；「初期的扬琴是梯形或长方形的琴箱，面板上张以几十条钢弦，在弦的 2/3 处支有条马，使每条弦发出五度关系的两个音」依百科与器物资料
• ⭐ 传统规格与音域：「常用扬琴有八音（实发二十四音）· 十音（实发三十音）· 十二音（实发三十六音）三种，又称双八型 · 双十型 · 双十二型。音域分别为：八音 f¹—c²，十音 d¹—d³，十二音 c—e³」；「传统扬琴有『双七音』『双八音』两种，音域仅一个半八度，并存在走音现象」依乐器资料
• ⭐⭐ 用途（它最忙的地方）：「最初扬琴大多用于说唱音乐和地方戏曲伴奏。其中凡各地的『琴书』，都以扬琴为主要伴奏乐器」；「清末以来，扬琴用于广东音乐 · 江南丝竹 · 扬州清曲 · 广西文场 · 常德丝弦 · 四川琴书 · 河南琴书 · 山东琴书 · 榆林小曲等乐种 · 曲种」；「作为伴奏乐器，长期服务于琴书 · 戏曲及民族管弦乐」依器物资料
• ⭐⭐ 20 世纪改革：「20 世纪改良出四排音码的 401A 型扬琴，配备半音调节装置，实现自由转调」；「401 型扬琴：共鸣箱呈扁梯形，面板上置四排条马，另有一排小条马在左上方高音部位，构成 54 个音位，音域为 G—a³。半音相对齐备，转调方便。音位采用横向五度 · 纵向大二度的排列方式」；「402 型：将琴马降低 0.4—0.5 厘米，第二 · 三条马的顶部加三个半音音位，并用镍合金缠弦替代铜缠弦」；「501 型（70 年代末）：五排条马……77 个音位，音域为 E—c⁴，可转 12 个调」；「装置活动山口以简便的微调方法消除跑弦走音现象，添设了控制余音的止音器装置」依乐器资料
• ⭐ 演奏技法与音色：「演奏方法有单竹类 · 齐竹类 · 轮竹类 · 颤竹类 · 滑抹类 · 揉弦类 · 拨弦类 · 抓弦类 · 点弦类及装饰音类」；「通过各种顺打 · 慢打 · 齐打 · 密打 · 分打 · 连打 · 夹打，衬音 · 坐音 · 顿音 · 花音 · 装饰音，轮竹 · 浪竹 · 颤竹 · 滑颤等技巧的运用，形成丰富多样的花点 · 线条」；「音色清脆悠扬，讲究织体『横线性』的旋律润饰加花」依乐器资料
• ⭐ 曲目：《翠湖春晓》《三六》《倒垂帘》《大浪淘沙》《木兰辞》《旱天雷》《彝族舞曲》等依乐器资料
• 「扬琴在八音中属丝（击弦弦鸣）」依通行资料

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