Audio	Currently Playing:
• Reed Catkins  • Harvest Gongs and Drums  • Autumn Moon over Ancient Palace  • Musical Brocade  • A Spring Morning on Snowy Mountain  • Melody of Orioles

Si (silk) and xian (string) are interchangeably used to denote stringed instruments in Chinese music. In ancient times strings were commonly made of silk and therefore string instruments were categorized as “silk” according to the classic Chinese instruments classification system known as bayin (“eight tones”). Today three types of string instruments are widely used and they are differentiated by the way in which the sound is produced (i.e., plucked, bowed, struck).

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