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Original section: Konghou

History
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.

Modern
The modern appeared in the 20th century and is different from the ancient. 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 is usually referred to as  in order to differentiate it from the modern.

After Editing:

History[edit]
'''Konghou had the same origin as the harp. Harp appeared in the Ancient Persia over three thousand years ago. This ancient instrument later spread to Europe, America, and Asia. The harp was known in ancient Egypt as the Beni lyre, in ancient Greece and in Rome as the lira. When the harp was introduced to China through the Silk Road, it became Konghou. The ancient Chinese traditional stringed instrument, Konghou, had three main types: the Wo Konghou, the Shu Konghou, and the phoenix-head Konghou.'''

'''Konghou reached its peak period of development during the Tang Dynasties. The emperor of the Tang Dynasty loved the instrument and wasn't willing to share the sound, the instrument itself and the production of Konghou with the civilians. Thus, Konghou was restrained in the court and soon with the continuous change of dynasties and frequent wars, Tang Dynasty declined. Since Konghou was excluded from the civilians and as the emperor was taken power, Konghou was also gradually lost by the end of the Tang Dynasty.'''

'''Konghou was not reproduced until the 1980s in Shenyang, the Hongyun Factory. The new model of Konghou has a similar look with the Western Concert Harp. Nowadays, It can be used in a wide variety of ways, including solo performance, orchestra performance, as well as in ensembles, accompaniments, and concertos. Nowadays, we still can see it in Chinese traditional orchestras.'''

Modern [edit]
Design:

The modern appeared in the 20th century and is different from the ancient. Its shape is similar to Western concert harps. '''Concert Modern Konghou normally has 39 strings. The model that showed in the picture is a Phoenix head Konghou that was made in Shenyang, the Hongyun Factory. The design of Modern concert Konghou borrowed ideas from the Western concert grand harp, but the structure still has couple differences. Western concert pedal harp only has one single row of strings, whereas Modern concert Konghou has double side of strings that are spaced apart and parallel to each other. Instead of placing the resonance box at the end of the strings, Modern concert Konghou placed the resonance box in between the paralleled strings. The Modern concert Konghou also borrowed ideas from another traditional Chinese Instrument Guzheng. On both sides of the resonance box, there are movable bridges (like Guzheng) and can be used for the same techniques thats are used in Guzheng.'''

Techniques:

'''Movable bridges allow 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.