Kouxian is also called Kouxian Qin, Xiangzi, Chuizi and Qizi. With a long history and various shapes, it is very popular in most parts of China. It can be solo, ensemble, ensemble or accompanied by song and dance, which plays an important role in people's production, labor and daily life.
In the ancient literature of China, the oral string was also called the harmonica. In Nanzhao unofficial history in the Ming Dynasty, there are records that men play lusheng and women play harmonica. Yu Yu of southern Yunnan in Qing Dynasty recorded the formation and production of harmonica in detail. In the Tang and Song Dynasties, plucked instruments such as iron leaf springs were the predecessors of oral strings.
Development history
In the matriarchal clan period of our primitive society, there was a string. It was called "spring" at that time. In ancient times, spring was compared with other musical instruments, such as jade, sheng and pool, which shows its importance. According to the literature records since the Han and Wei Dynasties, the spring is a bamboo or iron musical instrument, which is played horizontally in the mouth and belongs to the same category as the oral string.
Even then, there were leaf springs like today's leaf strings. According to the ancient books from pre-Qin to Jin, the spring is an elegant instrument used by nobles, especially by literati. According to the Book of Han Palace Que, there was also a "Drum Spring Palace" in the palace of Han Dynasty, which shows that the ruling class and upper class were quite popular with springs at that time.
As early as the Jin Dynasty, Ge Hong, a famous Taoist, wrote a story about playing five strings: once, Wang Yao climbed a hill with his disciples and entered a stone house in the mountain. There are two people in the stone room.
So Wang Yao asked his disciples to take out three "bamboo reeds with five tongues" from the boxes they brought, and gave them to two people in the stone house. They took one for themselves, and the three of them sat side by side and played the strings. The story has a mysterious Taoist color, revealing the message that playing the five-tongued bamboo flute was a secret skill that few people knew at that time.
This musical instrument has been popular since ancient times in the minority areas of China. According to historical records, at least at the end of the fourth century, spring was very popular in minority areas such as Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou. There are bamboo springs and popular iron leaf springs in Chen Yi's Le Shu in the Northern Song Dynasty, which are the earliest images seen in the current literature.
After the Yuan Dynasty, the Central Plains gradually lost its spring. The name of this spring is gradually forgotten by people. Since the Ming Dynasty, oral strings have appeared in history books in the name of harmonica. When talking about "harmonica", Qing Ganlong wrote "The General Code of Qing Dynasty", saying: "Take iron as it, one handle has two strands, with a spring in the middle, and the last one comes out. Put it horizontally in your mouth, turn your tongue with the drum spring and hiss. " The Canon Map of Qing Dynasty is also described in detail and contains its drawings.
The ethnic minorities in China have their own names for Xianzi, such as Honghong or Nongguo for Yi people, Margo for Yi people, Bixie for Bai people, Bai for Dai people, Zhang * * * for Jingpo people and He Lang for Wa people.
The above contents refer to Baidu Encyclopedia-Kouxian.