五弦与击筑

Wuxian and Jizhu [Five strings zither and Zhu zither in Ancient China]

曾侯乙墓出土之五弦之琴,即先秦别称之为“筑”的复弦乐器。筑是战国末年新兴弦琴。文章考证:先秦弦琴击筑,当是上古匏琴与竹胴琴之综合、音量细弱、弦距狭窄、一弦多音、以左手扼之、右手持竹尺击之、兼击五弦的调律之器。

The five-stringed zither,unearthed from the tomb of Zeng Houyi,was made in the preQin period,named Zhu,or Jizhu called popularily,used as a tuner,which was an instrument with multiple strings with weak volume.It was a new stringed instrument in the late Warring States period.The article shows that the Zhu is a combination of ancient Pao-chin(a single stringed zither)and Zhutong-chin(a bamboo zither),whose strings are narrowly spaced and one string makes multiple notes.The performer would typically hold its neck with his left hand and strike on different parts of the strings with something like a bamboo ruler in the right hand so as to choose notes for a tune.