| Name | Image | Description | Video |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sheng |  | The sheng (Chinese: 笙) is a mouth-blown free reed instrument from China. . It is commonly called as the "Chinese mouth organ" by western people. Sheng is one of the oldest Chinese musical instruments. It consists of 13-17 bamboo pipes with different lengths that are mounted together onto a gourd-shaped base. Each bamboo pipe has a free reed made of brass. Traditionally, the sheng has been used as an accompaniment instrument for solo suona or dizi performances. In the modern symphonic Chinese orchestra, it is used for both melody and accompaniment. | |
| Sihu |  | The sihu (四胡) is a Chinese bowed string instrument with four strings. It is a member of the huqin family of instruments. Its soundbox and neck are made from hardwood and the playing end of the soundbox is covered with python, cow, or sheep skin. The sihu is primarily associated with the mongolian culture. It is also used as a traditional instrument in the Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang provinces of China. | |
| Sil-snyan |  | Sil-snyan is a pair of small hand cymbals linked togehther. It is accompanied by the dung-dkar (a conch instrument) and the “mchod-rnga” (an offering drum) in an ensemble, a traditional offering to Buddha. The sound of the ensemble is said to make the ghosts panic and Buddha happy. | |
| Singing Bowl |  | Singing bowls (also known as 'Himalayan bowls' or 'rin' or suzu gongs in Japan) are a type of bell, specifically classified as a standing bell. Rather than hanging inverted or attached to a handle, standing bells sit with the bottom surface resting. The sides and rim of singing bowls vibrate to produce sound. Singing bowls were traditionally used throughout Asia as part of Bön and Tantric Buddhist sadhana. Today they are employed worldwide both within and without these spiritual traditions, for meditation, relaxation, healthcare, personal well-being and religious practice. | |
| Suona |  | The suona, also called laba (Chinese: 喇叭) or haidi (Chinese: 海笛), is a Han Chinese shawm (oboe). It has a distinctively loud and high-pitched sound, and is used frequently in Chinese traditional music ensembles, particularly those that perform outdoors. It is an important instrument in the folk music of northern China, particularly the provinces of Shandong and Henan, where it has long been used for weddings, festival and military purposes. | |
| Tanggu |  | Tanggu (堂鼓) is a medium-sized barrel drum from China. The drum is covered with two drumheads of cowhide or pig skin. Four lateral iron rings around the shell allow the drum to be vertically suspended in a frame. It is struck with a pair of wooden beaters. The drum is traditionally used with other instruments like luo (gong) and bo (cymbals) in folk festivals and ensembles. The Jing Tanggu in used in Peking opera. | |
| Waist Drum |  | A waist drum (or yaogu) is a drum used by Chinese people during the waist-drum dancing to greet the Spring Festival (first day of the first lunar month) and the Lantern Festival (15th of the first lunar month.) A dancer with a red drum tied to her waist holds a drumstick with red silk, beating the drum while dancing. The rhythmical drum sound and graceful dance show the straightforward and uninhibited character of villagers in northern Shanxi Province and is an expression of their happy and passionate feelings. | |
| Whistle |  | A simple whistle is a woodwind instrument which produces sound from a stream of forced air. Many types exist, from small police and sports whistles (also called pea whistles), to much larger train whistles, which are steam whistles specifically designed for use on locomotives and ships. Although whistles have a musical characteristic (for example train whistles sound a minor-seventh musical chord) whistles are not usually considered "musical" in the sense of being able to play a chosen melody, but mainly the small whistles can also be used as a – very shrill and loud – noise and rhythm instrument. The whistle has its roots dating back to ancient China. Chinese night watchmen used to blow into the tops of acorns in order to alert the towns of invading Mongolians. | |
| Wooden Fish |  | A wooden fish (Chinese: 木魚; mùyú), (Japanese: mokugyo), (Korean: moktak), is a wooden percussion instrument similar to the Western wood block. The wooden fish is used by monks and laity in the Mahayana Buddhist tradition. The wooden fish is mainly used by Buddhist disciples in China, Japan, Korea, and other East Asian countries where the practice of Mahayana, such as the ceremonious reciting of sutras, is prevalent. In Buddhism the fish, which never sleeps, symbolizes wakefulness. Therefore, it is to remind the chanting monks to be concentrate on their sutra. The round wooden fish comes in many sizes, ranging from 6 inches to 4 feet. The image shows a huge 3 foot wide Mokugyu drum at the Chapin Mill Buddhist Retreat center located near Batavia New York. It sounds like a heart beat. | |
| Xiao |  | The xiao (Chinese: 簫) is an ancient Chinese vertical end-blown flute. It is generally made of dark brown bamboo (called "purple bamboo" in Chinese). It is also sometimes called dongxiao (traditional Chinese: 洞簫), dong meaning "hole." The ancient name for the xiao is shùdí (豎笛, literally "vertical bamboo flute".) | |
| Xiaoluo |  | The xiaoluo (Chinese: 小鑼) is a small Chinese gong made of high-tin bronze. It is beaten with a stick. The image shows a xiaoluo played by a member of the Nakhi (Naxi) Orchestra, China. | |
| Xun |  | The xun (Chinese: 塤) is a Chinese vessel flute made of clay or ceramic. It is one of the oldest Chinese instruments. The xun is made in several sizes and is in the shape of an egg. It has a blowing hole on top and generally eight smaller finger holes (three each for the index, middle, and ring fingers of each hand, and one for each thumb). | |
| Yangqin |  | The trapezoidal yangqin (Chinese: 揚琴) is a Chinese hammered dulcimer originally from the Middle East. It is also known by the name "santur" or "cymbalom." The Thai and Cambodian khim are nearly identical in their construction, having been introduced to those nations by southern Chinese musicians. The yangqin was traditionally fitted with bronze strings, which gave the instrument a soft timbre. The modern yangqin can have as many as five courses of bridges and may be arranged chromatically. Traditional instruments, with three or more courses of bridges, are also still widely in use. The instrument's strings are struck with two lightweight bamboo beaters (also known as hammers) with rubber tips. The yangqin is used both as a solo instrument and in ensembles. The image shows a yangqin played by a member of the Nakhi (Naxi) Orchestra, China. | |
| Yazheng |  | The yazheng (Chinese: 軋箏; also spelled ya zheng or ya cheng) is a Chinese string instrument. It is a long zither similar to the guzheng but bowed by scraping with a sorghum stem dusted with resin, a bamboo stick, or a piece of forsythia wood. The instrument was popular in the Tang Dynasty, but is today little used except in the folk music of some parts of northern China, where it is called yaqin (Chinese: 軋琴.) The Korean ajaeng (hangul: 아쟁; hanja: 牙箏) is derived from the yazheng. The image shows Chinese musicians performing classical music. Musician at left is playing a Chinese zither (probably a yaqin). Musician in foreground is playing a long-necked plucked lute. | |
| Yehu |  | The yehu (椰胡) is a Chinese bowed string instrument in the huqin family of instruments. Ye means coconut and hu is short for huqin. It is used particularly in the southern coastal provinces of China and in Taiwan. The instrument's soundbox is made from a coconut shell, which is cut on the playing end and covered with a piece of coconut wood instead of the snakeskin commonly used on other huqin instruments such as the erhu or gaohu. As with most huqin the bow hair passes in between the two strings. Many players prefer to use silk strings rather than the more modern steel strings generally used for the erhu, giving the instrument a distinctly hollow, throaty timbre. | |
| Yu |  | The yu (Chinese: 敔) was a wooden percussion instrument carved in the shape of a tiger with a serrated back comprising 27 "teeth," used since ancient times in China for Confucian court ritual music. It was played by striking its head three times with a bamboo whisk, and then scraping it across the serrated back once to mark the end of a piece of music. The yu is mentioned, along with another percussion instrument called zhu (柷), in pre-Qin Dynasty annals, and appears in the Classic of History. The yu was adopted by the Korean court in ancient times, where it was known as uh, and is still used in Confucian ritual music. | |
| Yueqin |  | The yueqin (Chinese: 月琴, also called moon guitar, moon-zither) is a traditional Chinese string instrument. It is a lute with a round, hollow wooden body which gives it the nickname moon guitar. It has a short fretted neck and four strings tuned in courses of two (each pair of strings is tuned to a single pitch), generally tuned to the interval of a perfect fifth. According to legend, the instrument was invented in China during the Qin dynasty. It is an important instrument in the Beijing opera orchestra. A similar Japanese instrument, called the gekkin, was formerly used in Japan. Another very similar instrument, called đàn đoản or đàn tứ, is occasionally used in Vietnam. | |
| Yunluo |  | Yunluo (云锣; literally "cloud gongs" or "cloud of gongs") is a traditional Chinese musical instrument. The yunluo is a set of usually ten small tuned gongs mounted in a wooden frame, with each gong being about 9-12 cm in diameter, and the height of the frame being about 52 cm. The yunluo's gongs are generally of equal diameter but different thicknesses; the thicker gongs produce a higher pitch. It is often used in wind and percussion ensembles in northern China. The image shows a ten-gong yunluo used by a Nakhi (Naxi) band of China. | |
| Zhonghu |  | The zhonghu (中胡) is a low-pitched Chinese bowed string instrument. It is an alto member of the huqin family together with the erhu and gaohu, and was developed in the 20th century to be used in Chinese orchestras. The zhonghu is the same as the erhu but is slightly larger and is lower pitched. Its body is covered on the playing end with snakeskin. The instrument has two strings, which are generally tuned to the interval of a fifth, to A and E or to G and D. | |
| Zhongruan |  | The zhongruan (or zhong ruan; 中阮; literally "medium ruan"), is a Chinese plucked string instrument that may be played with a plectrum or fingerstyle, similar to the pipa. The zhongruan is the tenor size of the ruan (moon guitar.) It has a straight neck, a round sound box, and 24 frets on the fretboard. | |
| Zither |  | The zither is a musical string instrument, mainly used in folk music, most commonly in German-speaking Alpine Europe and East Asian cultures. Like many other stringed instruments, acoustic and electric forms exist; in the acoustic version, the strings are stretched across the length of the soundbox, and neither version has a neck. They can be divided into two classes: fretted and fretless. The earliest known instrument of the zither family is a Chinese guqin found in the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng dating from 433 BC, featuring tuning pegs, a bridge and goose-like feet. The image shows a concert zither with a fretted fingerboard. |
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