Kong Audio SanXian The Bajo of the East

SanXian: The Bajo of the East

SanXian (literally means "3 strings") can be traced back to Qin dynasty, 3rd century B.C. It is mostly known to the West through its Japanese decedent, samisen. SanXian's sound character is a bit similar to Banjo. SanXian comes in a several sizes, the big SanXian can be a tough challenge for short musicians. Even though SanXian has always been a vital component in the Chinese music, in modern times people inclined to learn other instruments over it for various reasons. SanXian is still widely used in all kinds of folk musical acts and performances everywhere. Nowadays in the Shanghai area, a revived form of performance, PingTan (評彈), is usually performed as a duet of a PiPa and a SanXian. Appreciating this kind of local forms of musical performances characterizes that China is, once again, embracing her own historical music tradition. ChineeSanXian captures and recreates SanXian faithfully and is powered by the new Windows native QIN engine.

Ruan: the Moon Guitar

Ruan is a Chinese plucked instrument with a history of 2,000 years. It is believed that the Pipa in the ancient China was actually more like today's Ruan. In modern China, Ruan is widely used in all sorts of musical context as well as in dailyl rural activities.