Konghou
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Image:Konghou.jpg
Female musician playing 14-string konghou, from ancient Chinese engraving
The konghou (Chinese: 箜篌; pinyin: kōnghóu) is an ancient Chinese harp. The konghou, also known as kanhou,[citation needed] went extinct sometime in the Ming Dynasty, but was revived in the 20th century. The modern instrument does not resemble the ancient one. The main feature that distinguishes the modern konghou from the Western concert harp is that the modern konghou's strings are folded over to make two rows, which enables players to use advanced playing techniques such as vibrato and bending tones. The two rows of strings also make it suitable for playing fast rhythms and overtones.
History
The konghou was used to play yayue (court music) in the Kingdom of Chu. During the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD) the konghou was used in qingshangyue (a music genre). Beginning in the Sui Dynasty (581-618), the konghou was also used in yanyue (banquet music). Konghou playing was most prevalent in the Sui and Tang dynasties. It was generally played in rites and ceremonies and gradually prevailed among the ordinary people. The konghou in other placesThe instrument was adopted in the ancient times in Korea, where it was called gonghu (hangul: 공후; hanja: 箜篌), but it is no longer used there. There were three subtypes according to shape:
Similarly, the kudaragoto (also called kugo) of Japan was in use in some Togaku (Tang music) performances during the Nara period, but seems to have died out by the 10th century. It has recently been revived in Japan, and the Japanese composer Mamoru Fujieda has composed for it.[1] External links
Video
Listening
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