In addition to the use of court music in ancient times,[2] it was also widely spread among the people. It is often used for solo, ensemble and song and dance accompaniment, and is used in large national orchestras. In ancient times, there were three forms of "Historical Records and Fengshen Shu": "So the South Vietnam, the Prayer Shrine Taiyi, the Houtu, began to use music and dance, Yi Zhao Song, and made twenty-five strings and empty Hou Qinse. "Tang Dynasty Du You's "General Dictionary": "Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty made the music of the Hou Tune...... Now according to its shape, it seems to be small, seven strings, and it is played like a pipa with a pluck. "This belongs to the lycopodium of the genus of the Qin Se class. Judging from the brick book of the Wei and Jin tombs in Jiayuguan, Gansu Province, there is no pillar on its panel. Vertical Gong Hou, introduced from the Western Regions in the Han Dynasty, later called "Hu Gong Hou". "Sui Book Music Chronicle" records: "The pipa and the vertical head of the gonghou are from the Western Regions, and are not Chinese musical instruments. ”

Judging from the vertical gonghou painted in a large number of ancient performance images and the remnants of China's Tang Dynasty lacquer gonghou and luogonghou preserved in Nara Shoan-in Temple, Japan, its speaker is located on a curved wood that bends upward. The shape of the phoenix head is similar to that of the vertical gonghou, and it is often named after the phoenix head as a decoration, and its speaker is located in the part of the horizontal wood below, and the upward curved wood is provided with the role of the bow or the ring, which is used to tighten the string. As contained in the "Book of Le Tang": "The phoenix head is like a head", and Du You's "General Dictionary": "The phoenix head is a dragon, and the head is a head". Images with or without a depiction are found in the Dunhuang wall books. Fengshou Gonghou was introduced from India and used for Tianzhu music in the Sui and Tang dynasties, and was still painted in the Song Dynasty Sui Yang's "Book of Music" with a variety of forms of Konghou that existed at that time, and was lost after the Ming Dynasty.

According to research, Konghou has a history of more than 2,000 years. In addition to the use of court bands in ancient times, Konghou was also widely spread among the people. During the Tang Dynasty (618-907) in China, with the rapid development of economy and culture, the art of gonghou performance also reached a very high level, and it was during this period that ancient Chinese gonghou was successively introduced to neighboring countries such as Japan and Korea. In the temple of Torya Daiji Temple in Japan, there are still two remnants of the Tang Dynasty Gonghou. However, this ancient instrument, which had fallen out of fashion since the late 14th century, slowly disappeared, and only a few patterns of gonghou can be seen on the frescoes and reliefs of the past.

During the Eastern Han Dynasty, a kind of horn-shaped harp was introduced into China by Persia (now Iran), also known as Konghou. In order to avoid confusion with the Han Konghou, it is called the vertical Konghou, or "Hu Konghou".

During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, there was Tianzhu (present-day India), and there was this kind of vertical gong in a piece of music given to the former Liang regime. The origin of the harp can be traced back to ancient Assyria, Babylon, Egypt, Greece and other very popular musical instruments called the harp. Now, although the ancient Konghou object no longer exists, there are many portraits of people playing the Konghou on the murals of the Han and Wei dynasties, such as the 431 Cave of Mogao Caves in Dunhuang that plays the Gonghou, which is exactly the same as the harp seen on the Assyrian reliefs.

The vertical gonghou is like a half-cut bow back, curved resonance groove, located on the curved wood that bends upward, and has a foot post and ribs, with more than 20 strings, vertically embraced in the arms, from both sides with the thumb and index finger of both hands to play at the same time, so the Tang Dynasty people called playing the gonghou is also called "qinggonghou". The "General Dictionary" records: "Vertical Gong Hou, Hu Leye, Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty is good, the body is curved and long, twenty-two strings, vertically held in the arms, and the two hands play in unison, commonly known as 'Gong Hou'". According to ancient murals and documents, there are 23, 22, 16, and 7 strings.

Fengshou Konghou was introduced from India to the Central Plains in the Eastern Jin Dynasty and lost after the Ming Dynasty. At the beginning of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the phoenix head was introduced into our country from India through Central Asia, and the Jin Cao Bi "Gong Hou Fu" was described as "the dragon body and the phoenix shape, even turning over the slender hair, and the tassels were golden color, and the network was emerald algae". It can be known that it is named after the phoenix head as the decoration.

The shape of the phoenix head is similar to that of the vertical gonghou, and its speaker is located in the part of the horizontal wood below, which is boat-shaped, and the upward curved wood is equipped with the role of a bow or a wheel to tighten the strings. There is a crested head carved at the end of the curved neck, as contained in the "Book of Le Tang": the phoenix head is like a basket, there is an item such as a hand, and Du You's "General Dictionary": the phoenix head is a phoenix, and the head has a head. Images with or without a depiction are found in the Dunhuang wall books. Now Xinjiang Kizil Ancient Cave 38 Cave Jin Dynasty Thinking Bodhisattva Musical Instrument is the phoenix head Gonghou.

In the Sui and Tang dynasties, it was used in Tianzhu music, Bi Guole and Gaoli music. During the reign of Emperor Dezong of the Tang Dynasty (78O~805), it was also transmitted from the country of Piu (present-day Burma) to Fengshou Gonghou. This is a kind of phoenix-headed gonghou with a silk line, which is still circulating in Myanmar, called "Sanke" or "bent qin", also called "Burmese harp". In China, the phoenix head was lost after the Ming Dynasty.

Wo Gong Hou is similar to Qin Se, but there is a product, it is a traditional Chinese musical instrument, popular from the Han to the Sui and Tang dynasties, and was lost after the Song Dynasty.

In ancient royal music, the gonghou was indispensable, and it was also one of the main musical instruments in the performance. Thanks to its array of strings, it can play not only melodies but also chords, which is ideal for solo or accompaniment than other instruments.

As far back as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Chu State already had a Wo Gong Hou similar to Qin and Se. In the Han Dynasty, Wogong Hou was included in the "Qing Shang Music" as a representative instrument of "Huaxia Zhengsheng", when there were more than ten columns with five strings, with bamboo as a groove, played with water pulling, not only popular in the Central Plains and the south, but also spread to the northeast and North Korea. This kind of musical instrument was popular in the Han Dynasty, and it was often used in poetry, such as "Peacock Flying Southeast" in Han Yuefu, which has "thirteen can weave, fourteen learn tailoring, fifteen play gonghou, and sixteen recite poems";

"Historical Records: Feng Zen Book": "So the South Vietnam, pray for the temple Taiyi, Houtu, began to use music and dance, Yi Zhao song, make twenty-five strings and empty waiting for the qin from then on. "Historical Records: Filial Piety and Martial Piety": "So the South Vietnam, pray for the Taiyi, Houtu, began to use music and dance, Yi Zhao Song, and made twenty-five strings and Gong Hou Se from then on. "Tang Dynasty Du You's "General Dictionary" contains Konghou is "Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty made the music of the Hou tune, with the ancestral temple Taiyi." Or by Yun Hou Hui. Its sound is in the season, and it is called Kanhou. ...... The old saying is based on the piano system. Now according to its shape, it seems to be small and small, seven strings, and it is played with a pluck, such as a pipa. "It's a kind of Wo Gong Hou that belongs to the Qin Se class, although the Wo Gong Hou is similar to the Qin Se, but its long resonant body speaker panel has a taste like a pipa, which is the main peculiarity of its difference from the Qin Se in shape. The musical instrument played in the Goguryeo murals in Ji'an, Liaoning (now Ji'an, Jilin) is the Wogonghou.

Wogonghou was used in the Goryeo music of the Sui and Tang dynasties, and then gradually disappeared in our country, and was lost after the Song Dynasty. However, it has been inherited in North Korea, and it has become today's Xuanqin after being passed down and improved through generations. In Japan, it was introduced from the Baekje Kingdom (Goryeo and Baekje were the ancient names of Korea) and was called Baekje.

In ancient royal music, the gonghou was indispensable, and it was also one of the main musical instruments in the performance. Thanks to its array of strings, it can play not only melodies but also chords, which is ideal for solo or accompaniment than other instruments.

As far back as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Chu State already had a Wo Gong Hou similar to Qin and Se. In the Han Dynasty, Wogong Hou was included in the "Qing Shang Music" as a representative instrument of "Huaxia Zhengsheng", when there were more than ten columns with five strings, with bamboo as a groove, played with water pulling, not only popular in the Central Plains and the south, but also spread to the northeast and North Korea. This musical instrument was popular in the Han Dynasty and was often used in poetry, such as "Ancient Poems for Jiao Zhongqing's Wife" in Han Yuefu, which has "thirteen can weave, fourteen learn tailoring, fifteen play gonghou, and sixteen recite poetry books";

"Historical Records: Feng Zen Book": "So the South Vietnam, pray for the temple Taiyi, Houtu, began to use music and dance, Yi Zhao song, make twenty-five strings and empty waiting for the qin from then on. "Tang Dynasty Du You's "General Dictionary" contains Konghou is "Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty made the music of the people to wait for the tune, to the ancestral temple Taiyi." Or by Yun Houhui. Its sound is in the season, and it is called Kanhou. ...... The old saying is based on the piano system. Now according to its shape, it seems to be small and small, seven strings, and it is played with a pluck, such as a pipa. "It's a kind of Wo Gong Hou that belongs to the Qin Se class, although the Wo Gong Hou is similar to the Qin Se, but its long resonant body speaker panel has a taste like a pipa, which is the main peculiarity of its difference from the Qin Se in shape. The musical instrument played in the Goguryeo murals in Ji'an, Liaoning (now Ji'an, Jilin) is the Wogonghou.

Xiao Konghou, a plucked stringed instrument played by ethnic minorities in the north of China in ancient times. It is also known as the angular gonghou. It is a kind of vertical gonghou, which belongs to the smaller of the vertical gonghou. It has a long history, simple structure, beautiful shape and easy to use. It has been circulated in the court and the people for a long time, and was lost in the Qing Dynasty. In the 30s of the 20th century, it was revived, and in the 80s, it was renewed, and the small gonghou with different shapes appeared on the music stage of our country and the world, and were used for solo, ensemble or accompaniment.

Image

Xiao Konghou

The small gonghou with a long history originated from the ancient hunting bow, and has the initial type of the development of the ancient musical bow to the ancient musical instrument. Since the Eastern Han Dynasty was introduced to the Central Plains of China from Persia through the Western Regions, it has been used in the courts of previous dynasties, and has been used in the Western Liangle, Qiuzi Music, Shule Music, Gaoli Music and Tianzhu Music in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. In the murals from the Northern Wei Dynasty to the Tang and Song dynasties in Dunhuang, you can see the angular gonghou of the ancient instrumentalists who "hold them vertically in their arms" and "play with both hands in unison", which still retains the traces of ancient musical bows, but thickens the resonance groove that bends upward. Not only is it easy to tie the strings, but the number of strings is mostly eight. The author thinks: this is the small Konghou in the angular Konghou. The Tang Dynasty Du You's "General Dictionary": "Twenty has two (one for three) strings" and Wu Zimu's "Dream Lianglu" in the Song Dynasty "Zhang Twenty-five Strings" are obviously the big gonghou in the angular gonghou. According to the law of development of things, it is generally simple first and then complex, and the angular gonghou is also bound to be small first and then large, and the strings are less and more. Xiaogonghou has been passed down until the end of the Ming Dynasty, and the Qing Dynasty has been lost, but it is still recorded in historical books. In the "General Examination of Qing Dynasty Continued Literature", it is said: "Xiao Konghou, played by women, copper strings, tied to its handle on the waist. With the bullet, the head hangs down the tassel, and the shape is very beautiful. ...... According to the string instrument, the only player who can walk and play is the small gonghou. The book is accompanied by an image of Xiao Konghou.

In the Chinese Musical Instrument Museum of the Music Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Arts in Beijing, there are two small gonghou. One of them is a small gonghou shaped like a half-sided wooden comb, its type is close to the remnants of the Luodian groove gonghou in the Tang Dynasty in China's collection of Shosoin in Nara, Japan, and is similar to one of the vertical gonghou painted in Chen Yang's "Book of Music" in the Song Dynasty. The small Konghou painted in the "Qing Dynasty Continued Literature General Examination" is also the same as the shape of this small Konghou, and it is the earliest Xiaokonghou treasure in China. This heirloom small gonghou, made of elm wood, is 80 cm high, 23.5 cm long at the bottom, and 5.5 cm wide, shaped like a half-sided wooden comb (pictured). The resonance box is hollowed out on the inside of the angular curved wood, covered with walnut thin boards, forming a curved resonance groove, and the lower end of the case is inlaid with butterfly-shaped bone ornaments. The upper end of the horn-shaped curved wood is a convex spiral head, one end of the string is tied to the knob of the lower crossbar, and the other end is tied to the back of the curved resonance groove. Zhang has 13 strings, all of which are silk strings of the same diameter, with different string lengths and different pitches. The exterior is beautifully decorated, with symmetrical phoenixes, cloud heads and floral ornaments carved on both sides of the angular curved wood, and engraved with regular script. There is no lacquer throughout. When playing, the left hand is supported, and the right hand is played to sound the strings, which is mostly used in ancient honor guard bands. This qin is about a product of the Ming Dynasty. Originally collected by the famous pianist Zheng Yingsun, it was purchased by the state from Zheng's place in 1958 and is now in the collection of the Music Research Institute. It has been included in the large album of "Illustrated Chinese Musical Instruments". The other is made of mahogany, with a height of 83.5 cm, a base length of 24.5 cm, and a width of 3.5 cm. The shape is different from the former, the horizontal wood under the corner has been expanded into a narrow box-shaped resonance box, the two sides are covered with paulownia thin boards, the right side is placed with mahogany strips, the upper part is inlaid with ivory horse peaks, the lower part is placed with boxwood strings, and the upper end of the strings is tied to the right side of the angular curved wood. Zhang has 10 strings, all of which are silk strings of the same thickness, and the pitch varies according to the length of the strings. The head of the piano is convex and spiral-shaped, and the whole body is painted with transparent lacquer. When playing, the left hand holds the small gonghou and the right hand plays, which is used in the ancient honor guard band. This piano is a product of the Qing Dynasty, which was originally collected by Mr. Cheng Yanqiu, a famous Peking Opera performance artist in China, and donated it to the country in 1958.

In the early 30s of the 20th century, the Shanghai Datong Music Association, a well-known national music society in China, initiated and produced 143 ancient and modern national musical instruments for the purpose of promoting China's long-standing music culture, and made reform attempts on 20 musical instruments, including Xiaogonghou. The form of this small Konghou is more unique, it is not only different from the "shape like a half-sided wooden comb" contained in the "Dream Lianglu", nor does it set up the string horizontal wood at the bottom, but the angular curved wood is extended downward in an arc to become a semicircle, and the appearance seems to add a foot post at the lower end of the phoenix head gonghou, and it looks like a multi-stringed bow with a handle. The strings are stretched out in the middle of the bow-shaped curved wood, and the pitch is set according to the length of the strings. The outermost one is the bass string, and it is modeled after the "Qing Dynasty Continuation of the Literature General Examination": the vertical gonghou, the first string of the handle has ten frets, when playing the treble string, the left fret, the right string, and its attached picture, in the innermost treble string, set up a string fretboard with a fret, expanding the range of the high range of the small gonghou. It is a pity that the small gonghou made by the Datong Music Club has not been preserved due to wars or other reasons over the years.

In the early 80s, China successfully developed a variety of small gonghou with different shapes. On the basis of making the goose pillar gonghou in 1980, Suzhou National Musical Instrument Factory No. 1 has successfully developed two small gonghou with different shapes in 1982. One is a hand-plucked transposed small gonghou designed by Wang Xiang and made by Jiang Baisong, and the headstock is carved with a phoenix head. This piano is included in the large album of "Illustrated Chinese Musical Instruments", and the second is a small gonghou designed by Zhang Zirui and made by Jiang Baisong, absorbing the shape of the ancient vertical gonghou. These two small gonghou, both of which are framed and equipped with piano posts, are 115 cm high and 60 cm wide. The resonance box is a three-dimensional double-sided pipa-shaped with a paulownia wood panel. The upper curved wood is flanked by metal pins. On the panels on both sides, there is a column horse under each string, which can move up and down, and is arranged in a row of geese, so it is also called a goose column, which is the conductor of string vibration. Zhang has two rows of strings on the left and right, with a total of 54 strings. Vocal range A1-e3, up to four and a half octaves.

Konghou

In August 1983, Zhang Kun, one of the designers of Yanzhu Konghou, was invited by the Shaanxi Provincial Classical Orchestra to design an imitation Tang Yanzhu Xiaogonghou for the troupe's large-scale music and dance program "Imitation Tang Music and Dance", which was produced by the factory of Shenyang Conservatory of Music, so that the musical instruments and the stage scene shape and temperament were coordinated and unified, reflecting the grand occasion of music and dance in the Tang Dynasty and the charm of the Tang Dynasty. This small gonghou, due to the small pillar, has a beautiful appearance and an angular gonghou that is "shaped like a half-sided wooden comb". It is 130 centimeters high and 70 centimeters wide, with 56 strings and double rows. Its structural principle is the same as that of the Yanzhu Konghou, but all parts of the piano have been simplified, and the shape is like a phoenix ready to fly. The vocal range ranges from A1 to A3 up to five octaves, and can also be transferred to four major relationships. This Xiao Konghou and its performer, Liu Li, participate in the instrumental ensemble and twelve dance accompaniments in "Imitation of Tang Music and Dance". In 1984, he participated in the 9th Asian Arts Festival held in Hong Kong with the troupe, and visited Japan, Spain, Northern Europe and other countries as a friendly envoy.

Chang Dunming and Xu Jinyuan of Shanghai National Musical Instrument Factory No. 1 designed and produced the imitation Tang Dynasty Baogonghou, decorated with a phoenix-headed dragon body, with a horizontal wood below as the piano case, and a mahogany bamboo girder with a fixed chassis, which is also unique.

Zhao Guangyun of Shenyang Conservatory of Music also successfully designed and produced a portable non-transposing Xiao Konghou in July 1990. When playing, use a seated position and place the small gonghou on the ground or on a special piano stand. The resonance box is held in his arms, and the two hands play the strings on the left and right sides respectively, and the playing technique is the same as that of the Yanzhu Gonghou. It has been used for solo, duet, instrumental ensemble or as an accompaniment to singing and dancing, and can be used to play both soothing classical tunes and modern fast-paced pieces. The solo pieces composed and adapted by Xiao Konghou include "Tang Palace Nocturne", "Plum Blossom Three Alleys", "Fishing Boat Singing Evening", "Sifan", "Palace Maid's Resentment" and "Palace Banquet Music", etc., and the ensemble pieces include "Yangguan Three Stacks", "Qujiang Caprice" and "Liangzhou San" by the trio of Konghou, Sheng and Guanzi.

Double-row string gonghou

The double-row string gonghou is a new type of plucked string instrument in China. In the long history of nearly 2,000 years, it has been following the structure and appearance when it was introduced, but this phenomenon was finally changed in the 70s of the 20th century. Musical instrument maker Han Qihua was the first to create a successful double-row string gonghou in the field of gonghou, which not only made the structure and performance techniques of gonghou have made great progress, but also made the appearance of gonghou look new, and in terms of acoustics, it also has a distinctive style, which has been used in music practice, and used gonghou for the first time in film music.

In 1958, Han Qihua, a national musical instrument maker of Shenyang Musical Instrument Factory, began the excavation of the musical instrument heritage of the ancient northern ethnic minorities in China - Konghou. He consulted more than 70 pieces of relevant historical books and materials, collected more than 50 Konghou patterns, and visited and investigated more than 30 units and musicians and musical instrument makers of the older generation, including the National Institute of Cultural Protection Science and Technology, the Palace Museum, the Institute of Literature and Art of the Ministry of Culture (now the Music Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Arts), and the Beijing Institute of Musical Instruments, so as to gain a deeper understanding of the historical situation of Konghou.

In 1963, Han Qihua completed the design and production of the first draft of Konghou, but failed to receive the desired results. After 1975, he carried out the design and production of the second and third drafts, and continued to achieve results in the excavation and development work in accordance with the principle of "one imitation, two reforms, and three creations" formulated by himself. In 1978, after 20 years of research, exploration and experimentation, Han Qihua finally completed the design and production of his fourth draft of the gonghou, creating a new double-row string gonghou, which made contributions to the development of China's musical instrument industry.

This double-row string gonghou, with a height of 175 cm and a base length of 85 cm, has a column on the side of the bass string, which is a frame-type vertical gonghou. The resonance box is made according to the harp, and above the headstock and the pinboard, a phoenix bird is carved to fly, and it is made in the shape of a "phoenix looking back" (pictured). Zhang has 88 strings, divided into two rows between the pins and the case, each row of 44 strings, each two corresponding strings have the same pronunciation, that is, 44 tones, the scale is arranged according to the C major seven-tone scale, the range D1-e4, a total of six octaves. G-e2 in the string series is the vibrato area, here the design principle of "lever conduction and two strings are used", the structure is very unique, it uses the lever device, so that the tension of the two strings of the same tone is equal, when the left string is played, the right string can also be pressed at the same time, so that the tension of the left string also increases with the right string, so as to obtain the vibrato effect like the guzheng. Han Qihua's first kind of gonghou with lever tremor device, has a richer expressiveness, in addition to the guqin, guzheng and pipa playing fingering, but also absorb the harp performance skills, can play Chinese and foreign music, especially in the performance of Chinese music with a strong national style, more beautiful and beautiful. There is a solo gonghou in the music of the documentary film "Yungang Grottoes", which is played with this double-row string gonghou. In the Chinese Musical Instrument Museum of the Music Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Arts in Beijing, there is a double-row string gonghou on display. It is made of pine wood, with a height of 188.5 cm, a base length of 57 cm, and a width of 13 cm. The resonance box is oblique and narrow, and it forms a phoenix tail with angular curved wood, and there are two money-like eye-shaped sound holes on it. A hardwood string shaft is placed on the bentwood beam, and a flat beam is provided below the beam as a horse, and the horse peaks on both sides support the strings on both sides. There are 71 double-row strings (35 on the left and 36 on the right), and there is no fingerboard on one side of the treble string. The head of the piano is flat-topped, unadorned, and the whole body is painted with brown and black lacquer, depicting a golden phoenix. When playing, stand on the ground, hold the string with both hands, and play the corresponding string with the left and right hands. This piano was designed and produced by Li Ruilin in 1932, and was once treasured by Mr. Cheng Yanqiu, a famous Peking Opera artist in China. In 1958, Mr. Cheng donated it to the country.

The documentary film "Yungang Grottoes" depicts the famous grottoes built by the Northern Wei Dynasty in Wuzhou Mountain, Datong, Shanxi Province in the second half of the 5th century AD. There are 51 large caves here, more than 50,000 statues, the project is huge, the spirit is majestic, reflecting the glorious achievements of China's ancient culture. In the music of this film, the song "Finely Carved Carving" is performed by Cui Junzhi, a sloist of the Central Chinese Orchestra, with a deep bass, like the sound of a guqin, and a bright and crisp treble, as if the guzheng is "singing", and sometimes it makes a gurgling harp sound. What a beautiful and moving music, this is the first time that Konghou has been used in film music, and the antique music is accompanied by colorful pictures, bringing people into that distant era.

Wild goose pillar gonghou, a new type of plucked string instrument. It is named because the goose pillar is used as the sound guide body. It is another new achievement in the development of Konghou after the double-row chord pressure trembling gonghou. Zhang Kun, a senior experimenter of Shenyang Conservatory of Music, an expert in piano tuning and maintenance, and a reformer of national musical instruments, cooperated with experts in the music and musical instrument circles to adopt a three-dimensional double-sided pipa-shaped resonance box and a zheng-style goose column, drawing on the design of the form and chord column of the harp, absorbing Han Qihua's "double-row string trembling" structural principle, and successfully designed and produced the goose pillar gonghou, so that the thousand-year-old music has entered the world music scene with a new look. In the spring of 1978, at the concert performed by the Central Chinese Orchestra to the National Science Conference, Han Qihua's "Double-row String Pressure Trembling Gonghou" appeared on the music stage of the capital for the first time. This kind of double-row string gonghou, at the upper end of the string is supported by a lever, the tension of the two strings is balanced, so that it emits the same degree of sound, under the action of the lever, it can play a national style of kneading, slipping, pressing, vibrato and other sound effects, which is undoubtedly the direction and breakthrough of the reform of the gonghou, and it also has a strong vitality. However, due to the use of the resonance box of the harp, the tension of the strings is large, and the double row of strings is limited, so the volume is relatively small. And because of the limitations of the structural layout, the transfer has become a problem. In order to develop this musical instrument art as soon as possible, Zhang Kun thought and thought about ....... He established the belief that it is necessary to closely integrate modern science with modern music, and absorb the advantages and experience of ancient and modern Chinese and foreign stringed instruments, in order to create a well-constructed and high-performance gonghou.

Zhang Kun is a senior experimenter of Shenyang Conservatory of Music, he has been engaged in the piano tuning and maintenance of the Conservatory of Music for a long time, and has become a well-known piano expert, and he also actively participates in the reform of China's national musical instruments. As early as 1958, he designed a keyboard sheng according to the pronunciation principle of the sheng, with a vocal range of four and a half octaves, and better harmonic effect, which was well received by the music industry and included in the "Anthology of Chinese National Musical Instrument Improvement". After 1958, he cooperated with Cui Zuoxin to jointly study the problem of guzheng transposition, after four generations of thirteen drafts, twenty years of continuous improvement, and finally in 1978 successfully developed the column-shifting type transposing zither, in 1981 won the third prize of major scientific and technological achievements in Liaoning Province, and the fourth prize of scientific and technological achievements of the Ministry of Culture.

In 1979, China organized experts to tackle key problems in Konghou. Under the leadership and care of the Art Bureau, the Science and Technology Bureau of the Ministry of Culture and the Chinese Musicians Association, the Central Chinese Orchestra has set up a Konghou design and development team headed by Guan Liren, the deputy head of the orchestra. Zhang Kun was invited to participate in the design, and the team members also included Cui Junzhi, a soloist of the Central Chinese Orchestra, Wang Xiang, a researcher at the China Institute of Stage Science and Technology, and Jiang Baisong, a string instrument producer of Suzhou National Musical Instrument No. 1 Factory. Based on the experience of reforming the guzheng transposition, he believed that it was necessary to make the gonghou have a performance function that surpassed that of the harp in order to have the possibility of its existence and development. First of all, he determined the structural principle of absorbing Han Qihua's "double-row string pressure and trembling gonghou", so that he could play the effects of kneading, sliding, pressing and vibrato, which have the characteristics of China's national music. Secondly, the violin gave him an important revelation, why can a violin, with such a small case, produce such a loud and beautiful sound? If the back plate is also equipped with horses and strings, won't it solve the resonance of the double row of strings? In order for the gonghou to be able to transpose, the lever that acts as the tension balance of the double chord must be installed at the lower end of the string, and the upper end of the string can be used to house the modulation mechanism. The blueprint of the Yanzhu modulation Gonghou came to mind: a vertical double-sided resonance box was adopted, the Yanzhu was the sound guide body, the balance shaft and the balance lever were installed under the strings, and the mechanical modulation method of the harp was transplanted to the upper end of the strings, so that the double-row strings could be transposed at the same degree and at the same time. The shape should inherit the national tradition, and the decoration adopts the image of looking back on the phoenix. Based on this idea, it was through brainstorming, brainstorming, and forty days of experimentation to prove that a design on paper could be turned into a reality. Subsequently, Jiang Baisong and other string instrument makers of Suzhou National Musical Instrument Factory No. 1 completed the trial production task of Yanzhu Konghou after five months of hard work.

In March 1980, China's first Yanzhu Gonghou was successfully developed in Suzhou (pictured). It has 72 double rows of strings, each with 36 strings, corresponding to two strings with the same tone. The scales are arranged in C major heptonic scale, with a range of A1-a3, up to five octaves. The timbre is bright, similar to the guzheng, the overtone effect is like the guqin, the expressiveness is very rich, you can play arpeggios, chords and polyphonic melodies, especially the kneading, slipping, pressing, vibrato effect is better, so as to form the unique sound effect and national style of Yanzhu Konghou. It can be used for solo, ensemble or accompaniment to singing and dancing and other instruments, and can be performed with ethnic or Western orchestras. At the opening ceremony of the National Minority Art Performance held in September of the same year, Cui Junzhi, a sown performer of the Central Chinese Orchestra Konghou, used this Konghou to solo the ancient song "Plum Blossom Three Alleys" and the Gaohu duet "Fishing Boat Singing Evening". The image of Cui Junzhi playing this gonghou at that time was included in the large album of "Illustrated Chinese Musical Instruments".

Seventeen years later, in 1997, a simple structure and low cost of the popular Yanzhu Gonghou was successfully developed by the author and Zhang Kun of the Shenyang Conservatory of Music in Beijing.

This kind of popular Konghou adopts a vertical double-sided trapezoidal resonance box, and the soundboard is made of sycamore wood, with an arched surface and a scientific and reasonable thickness distribution. Zhang double row of strings, each row of 36 strings, a total of 72 strings, corresponding to the two strings of the same tone. The series is arranged according to the seven-tone scale of C major, with a range of C-c4, a total of five octaves. In the string sequence, D-C3 can play the effects of kneading, sliding, pressing and vibrato through the lever device, and it can use the playing techniques of guqin, guzheng, pipa and harp like the wild goose pillar gonghou. The sound quality is bright and beautiful, and it is full of strong national characteristics.

Cui Junzhi, a famous Konghou player in China, gave a very high evaluation to this popular Konghou, she wrote in the appraisal: "On December 3, 1997, I tried to play the popular Konghou jointly developed by Lesheng and Zhang Kun, I think: their design is concise and reasonable, the headstock and the piano seat can be folded, and this innovation gives the greatest inspiration to the popularization and convenience of carrying the Konghou. I hope to continue to improve and promote it in the process of small production to meet the current worldwide demand for gonghou instruments. This is undoubtedly a powerful impetus for the development of China's Konghou cause. "The advent of the popular gonghou will become one of the preferred stringed instruments for ladies and children to learn to play, suitable for general working-class family consumption, and suitable for music academies, cultural centers, children's palaces and other units or individuals to hold performance training classes. Through systematic training and learning, it can not only meet the urgent needs of music lovers, but also cultivate a large number of gonghou performance talents for the country.

Transposition of the gonghou, a new type of plucked stringed instrument. On the basis of the wild goose pillar gonghou, the design and production of the transposition mechanical structure, making it a perfect structure, beautiful shape, strong expressive instrument.

In April 1981, the Yanzhu transfer of the Gonghou was officially included in the scientific research project of the Shenyang Conservatory of Music, Zhang Kun completed the design of the transfer mechanical structure on the basis of the original Yanzhu Konghou, and the factory of the institute undertook the trial production task, and the Department of Folk Music also sent the third-year student Zhao Guangyun to participate in the production, painting and assembly of the piano body. In December 1982, he first produced the eight-tone Yanzhu Modulation Gonghou, which was identified by the Academic Committee of Shenyang Conservatory of Music and handed over for teaching use. At the appraisal meeting, Zhang Ailan, a lecturer at the Shenyang Conservatory of Music, used this gonghou to play ancient and modern music such as "Mountain People", "Fishing Boat Singing Evening", "Erquan Reflecting the Moon" and "Autumn Thoughts", which are quite distinctive, especially can be used to play polyphonic music works.

In 1984, Zhang Kun cooperated with Sun Haitao, Yang Pinqing, Yang Lanzhi and others of the institute to finally complete the scientific research project of Yanzhu to Konghou. The development of this large Konghou is 200 centimeters high, 90 centimeters long at the bottom, and 20 centimeters wide. The pillar is in the shape of a phoenix, and the headstock is carved with a "phoenix looking back" decoration. The base is equipped with a pedal flap and a pitch-changing transmission device, and the upper curved wood is inlaid with thick copper plates on both sides and a metal pin. The resonance box below is in the shape of a three-dimensional double-sided pipa, with fish scale pine or paulownia wood panels on both sides, and a zither-type movable goose pillar on the top. Two rows of 88 nylon strings or nylon wire-wound strings, each row of 44 strings, arranged according to the C major seven-tone scale, corresponding to the two strings of the same tone, a total of 44 notes. The vocal range bB2 - #c4, up to six octaves and two other tones, in the middle of the three octaves is the tremolo region. Through the control of the pedal valve, 12 tones can be turned, and the relationship between each scale and interval is accurate after transposition. This kind of gonghou has been included in the large album of "Illustrated Chinese Musical Instruments".

In 1988, Yanzhu was transferred to Konghou at the first International Exhibition of Inventions in Beijing, and immediately received wide attention from friends from all over the world. The U.S. "China Daily" and Thailand's "Star Siam Daily" respectively reported. In 1989, this piano won the third prize of scientific and technological progress of the Ministry of Culture. In April 1991, the music magazine "Chime" published in Leiden, the Netherlands, also gave a detailed introduction to this gonghou.

Zhao Guangyun of Shenyang Conservatory of Music, on the basis of summarizing and inheriting a large number of practical experience of his predecessors, integrating the achievements of the past dynasties and absorbing the advantages of Yanzhu Konghou, also made a transposition Konghou at the end of 1984, and invited Cui Junzhi, a sloist of the Central Chinese Orchestra, to audition and identify.

Cui Junzhi is the first Konghou performer in contemporary China, a native of Beijing, who grew up in a scholarly family since childhood. He graduated from the Instrumental Music Department of the China Conservatory of Music in 1979, majoring in piano and erhu, and also studied harp, matouqin, guqin, guzheng and pipa. The piano was taught by Professor Hong Dalin, the erhu was studied by Master Wang Guotong, the harp was studied by Wei Xiaoman, Gan Peixue, Zuo Yin and other famous artists, and the harp was studied at the Vienna State Conservatory of Music under the famous German virtuoso Müller. In her long-term artistic practice, she has innovated a set of gonghou playing techniques based on the performance skills of stringed instruments of various ethnic groups and drawing on the playing techniques of the harp. When playing, sit with the resonance box on your chest, and play the strings on both sides with your left and right hands, or with your left hand and your right hand. It can be used on the double-row strings to rub largely, slide, press and vibrato techniques, which is unique, and can also play various techniques of overtones, finger shakes, wheel fingers and various timbre changes, and can be used in overtone melodies, and can use kneading and pressing techniques in overtone melodies, due to the superior structure and performance of the instrument, you can play melody and harmony with both hands at the same time. The modulation of the gonghou has a wide range, rich harmonic colors, delicate and soft timbre, not only the acoustic effect of the harp, but also the charm of the guqin and the guzheng, which can perfectly express the characteristics and styles of China's national music.

The successful development of the modulation gonghou has revived and highly sublimated the thousand-year-old ancient music gonghou, filling the gap of China's national orchestra, and it not only stands on the Chinese stage with a new look and unique style, but also on the world music scene. Since 1981, Cui Junzhi has held solo concerts in Japan, Hong Kong, Austria, Singapore, the United States, Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Switzerland. In the past ten years, she has been invited to participate in the World Harp Congress three times and held solo concerts, which has pushed my country's Konghou onto the world music scene. In addition to being good at playing folk music that reflects China's long-standing culture, she can also freely play the works of Chopin, Debussy and other piano masters and world harp songs on the gonghou, which has won praise from international peers and musicians and audiences from all over the world. A French musician said: "I have never heard a solo gonghou, it turns out that it is a unique oriental beauty. At the 3rd World Harp Congress, the participants praised the Yanzhu Gonghou as "the most beautiful harp instrument in the Oriental harp, rich in Chinese national characteristics." Mr. Qigong, a famous calligrapher in China, was pleased to inscribe the poem: "Gong Hou Gu Yale, lost for many years, revitalized and recreated, happy to have Cui Junzhi." Mr. Fan Zeng, a famous painter, said in the poem "Gift to Cui Junzhi": "Knocking on the jade beads is demonic, and the clouds temporarily curb the microwave." Xiao Xiao Yan Zi Gong Hou leads, melancholy thousands of years of memories of crossing the river. Cui Junzhi has been awarded the Gonghou Performance Excellence Award by the Ministry of Culture, the Performance Memorial Award at UNESCO Headquarters, and the Artist Honor Award at the First World Harp Competition in the United States. In 1996, Cui Junzhi compiled his many years of practice in the art of gonghou performance into "Konghou Tiandi" and published it, which is the first collection of gonghou performance methods and music in China. She has also cultivated performance talents for song and dance troupes in Shaanxi, Jiangsu, Shandong and other places in China, and Liu Li of the Shaanxi Classical Orchestra has now become a well-known gonghou player at home and abroad. Her students also come from countries and regions such as Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, the United States and Switzerland.

In recent years, Chinese composers have composed and adapted many pieces of music for Konghou, including solo pieces: "Mountains and Flowing Water" (Li Huanzhi), "Xiangfei Bamboo" (Cui Junzhi), "Fishing Boat Singing Evening" (Cao Zheng, Cui Junzhi), "Moon Height" (Qu Chunquan, Cui Junzhi), "Yangguan Three Stacks" (Yang Tongba, Liu Wenjin), "Sifan" (Tang Hongyun), "Face" (Li Haihui), "Quatrain" (Li Haihui), "Luoshen" (Feng Guangying), "Wenxin Carving Dragon" (Cui Junzhi) and "Folk Song Suite" (Zhang Fuquan, Cui Junzhi) etc., the ensemble includes: Gong Hou, Xiao Duo "Qingming Riverside Picture" (Liu Weiguang), Gong Hou Dong Xiao Duo "Makeup Table Autumn Thought" (Du Ciwen), Gong Hou Harp Duo "Fish Beauty" (Wu Zuqiang, Du Mingxin, Arrangement of Du Yong), etc., Concerto Works: Gong Hou and the National Band "Miluo River Fantasy" (Li Huanzhi), Gong Hou and the Chorus, the National Band "Gong Hou Yin" (Li Huanzhi), Gong Hou and the National Band "Guling Caprice" (Shi Wanchun, Yang Qing), Gong Hou and the Band "Peacock Flying Southeast" (He Zhanhao), Gong Hou and the String Band Yi Dance (Yang Zhihua) and Konghou and string orchestra "Erquan Reflecting the Moon" (Chen Jiaju, Zhang Dinghe) and so on. "Mountains and Flowing Water" expresses the artistic concept of "towering ambition in the mountains, and oceanic ambition in flowing water". "Xiangfei Bamboo" is based on the famous song "Plugged" in the Han Dynasty as the material, the music depicts the scenery of the Xiangfei bamboo forest on the shore of Dongting Lake in autumn and evening, and praises the noble spirit of bamboo with elegant and open musical connotation. This song won the second prize of the first national instrumental music creation competition. "Fishing Boat Singing Evening" shows the joyful scene when the sun sets, the lakes and mountains are infinitely beautiful, and the fishermen return to the boat with their oars. "Moon Er Gao" is based on the famous song of the Tang Dynasty "Ni Dress and Feather Dance", and it is rumored that the original song was composed by the emperor of the Tang Dynasty who sleepwalked in the Moon Palace and woke up. "Sifan" is adapted from the Kunqu opera singing "Nun Sifan", with a moving introduction and epilogue, reproducing the artistic conception of Xiantao Nunnery's morning bell and dusk drums and cigarette smoke. "Face" uses modern freehand techniques to reproduce the personalities of various characters in traditional Chinese dramas. Based on the music of the Song Dynasty music master Jiang Baishi, and based on the famous painting "The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival" by the great Song Dynasty painter Zhang Zeduan, this song has won the first prize of Asian Radio Music and the Best Music Award in Australia.