Yazheng

Yazheng

Court musician playing a yaqin (left)
Classification

Related instruments

The yazheng (simplified: 轧筝; traditional: 軋箏; pinyin: yàzhēng; 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 musical 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 (simplified: 轧琴; traditional: 軋琴).

The Korean ajaeng (hangul: 아쟁; hanja: 牙箏) is derived from the yazheng.

In 2002, the People's Republic of China released a postage stamp featuring the instrument.

The zhengni (筝尼) is a similar instrument used by the Zhuang people of the southern Chinese region of Guangxi.

See also

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