konghou

Shu-konghou refers to an extinct vertical angular harp, and feng shou konghou to an extinct arched harp. During the Tang dynasty it was also used as a general term for string instruments from other countries that played in the Chinese court. It may not have meant a specific type of instrument at that time. In the Song dynasty, because the konghou was increasingly associated with lower-status courtesans and singing girls, its music was considered licentious and dangerous, earning it the nickname “the Marquis (hou) of the Empty (kong) State” (kongguo zhi hou 空國之候).

• Name — Konghou • Background — string • Classification — chordophone

There were three types of variations of the konghou name, and scholars have been working to match them to musical instruments. The variations are wo konghou, shu konghou and feng shou konghou.

With the, there have been two lines of thought; neither has been proven. One use of wo konghou could have been applied to a fretted bridge zither whose strings were plucked with a slender bamboo stick). The other possibility for the wo-konghou is as an angular harp turned on its side to function as a horizontal harp.

The zither form was first mentioned in written texts in the Spring and Autumn period (770–476 BC). It is one of the oldest Chinese musical instruments, similar to the Korean geomungo. The wo-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 the qingshangyue genre. This instrument seems to have been no longer used, but recently China has been reviving the wo-konghou and bringing it into the traditional orchestra.

In 1996, horizontal angular harps from the 5th century B.C. were found in Zagunluq village, Qiemo county, Xinjiang autonomous region, China. The harps bear close resemblance to harps from Pazyryk, Assyria and Olbia. Archeological finds show details of construction; for instance, the soundboxes were carved from diversiform-leaved poplar. The finds are evidence of contact between Xinjiang and Altai, Assyria and the Black Sea region. The finds show a pre-Han dynasty konghou, that may date as far back as 1000 B.C.: that date is speculative and needs more evidence.

The or vertical konghou first appeared in the Eastern Han dynasty (25–220 AD). It can be divided into big and small varieties. The playing of the shu-konghou was most prevalent in the Sui and Tang dynasties. It was generally played in rites and ceremonies and gradually increased in popularity among the ordinary people. It is also the most common type of konghou in Chinese cultural relics, murals and poetry. The Chinese harp refers to this kind of konghou.

• Illustration — Phoenix headed konghou (Konghou fengshou), 10th century A.D., Bezeklik Caves, cave 48. The, an arched harp, was introduced from India in the Eastern Jin dynasty (317–420 AD). Beginning in the Sui dynasty (581–618), it was also used in yanyue (banquet music). The instrument became extinct sometime in the Ming dynasty.

• Illustration — Modern Western-influenced concert konghou, 2017 The modern konghou appeared in the 20th century and is different from the ancient konghou. Its shape is similar to Western concert harps. Modern concert konghous may be contrasted from the Western concert harps by looking at the strings, which are folded over on the konghou to make two rows. This allows players the use of "advanced playing techniques", including vibrato, bending tones and overtones. Paired strings on opposite sides of the instrument are tuned to the same note. They start from a tuning peg and travel over two bridges on opposite sides of the instrument, down through the playing area and are then fixed at the far end to opposite sides of a freely moving lever. Depressing the lever changes the pitch in one of the strings in the pair, raising the pitch of the other. The two rows of strings also make it easier to play swift rhythms. Today, the classical konghou is usually referred to as shu-konghou to differentiate it from the modern konghou.

In Korea, like China, the names for the harps started as terms for nonspecific foreign stringed instruments. The konghou was adopted in Korea, where it was called gonghu (hangul: 공후; hanja: 箜), but its use died out (although it has been revived by some South Korean musicians in the early 21st century). There were three subtypes according to shape: • Sogonghu (hangul: 소공후; hanja: 小; literally "small harp") photo The sogonhu was a vertical angular harp, one small enough to be carried in the musicians hands while playing. • Sugonghu (hangul: 수공후; hanja: 豎; literally "vertical harp") photo This is the same harp as the shu konghou and looks like vertical harps from ancient Assyria. • Wagonghu (hangul: 와공후; hanja: 臥; literally "lying down harp") The wagonhu today is designated for arched harps that have the appearance of the arched harp from Myanmar, the saung.

• Illustration — Japanese kugo, angular harp. 19th century drawing. In Japan, the wo-konghou (fretted zither) was called kudaragoto (百済琴 / くだらごと), and the shu-konghou (angular harp) was called kugo (箜篌 / くご). These instruments were in use in some Togaku (Tang music) performances during the Nara period, but seem to have died out by the 10th century. The kugo (angular harp) has been revived in Japan since the late 20th century, and the Japanese composer Mamoru Fujieda has composed for it. Tomoko Sugawara commissioned a playable kugo harp from builder Bill Campbell and earned an Independent Music Awards nomination for her 2010 album, Along the Silk Road, playing traditional and newly written works for the instrument.

• Illustration — alt=stone tablet depicting two figures playing instruments Konghou (left) and guqin, Tang dynasty (618–907), unearthed in Jiuquan. Museum of Gansu Province. • Illustration — alt=sitting Asian woman in fine dress plays Konghou from silk painting by Qiu Ying (1494–1552), "Spring Morning in the Han Palace" • Illustration — alt=instrument on display Vertical konghou • Illustration — alt=drawing depicting band of ten playing traditional instruments Ancient Chinese instrumentalists • Illustration — alt=Base is an egg-shaped-prism soundbox, neck arches over it and then recurves, the end carved in a bird head. Painted all over with a pattern of brown-edged pale green feathers between squares outlined in yellow rubification-like dots; the diagonal axis of the squares parallel to the edges of the structural members, to give a diamond patter. Strung with red, green, and white strings in varying shades. In a museum case. Phoenix-headed konghou (a type of harp), Tang dynasty (618–907). Presumably a reconstruction. • Illustration — Woman playing konghou, details of a painting by Qiu Ying, Ming dynasty • Illustration — Konghou in women's sketching in the Ming dynasty • Illustration — konghou in color-painted Relief Scene of Musicians Playing (Five Dynasties, China)