Guqin

The seven-stringed zither without bridges is one of the oldest classical Chinese instruments with 3,000 years of history. It is literally called qin yet commonly known as guqin (gu stands for "ancient"). Confucius (around 600 BC) was a master of this instrument.

Proficiency in the qin used to be regarded as an essential skill for scholar or society figures in Imperial China. Such people were also expected to master the three arts of qi (chess), shu (calligraphy) and hua (painting).

There are nine schools of guqin in China: Guangling, Yushan, Fanchuan, Jiuyi, Xinzhe, Zhucheng, Mei'an, Huaiyang, Lingnan.
Konghou

One of the most ancient Chinese music instruments to appear in written texts of the Spring and Autumn period (around 600 BC), the konghou resembles a harp.

Again, much detailed information about this ancient instrument has been lost. The reproduction of the konghou started in the mid 1950s. The tone quality is mellow and graceful and has a distinct Chinese flavour.

Yueh chin (yueqin)

A plucked string instrument, the yueh chin is a moon-shaped lute with four strings.

The instrument is also sometimes called Moon lute, Chinese lute or Moon violin in English.

The instrument is always used for accompanying local operas.

Suona

The suona is an ancient wind instrument, like an oboe, which is also sometimes called the la ba or da ban di.

The body is made of wood with a metal bell at one end and a straw double-reed at the other.

The suona is used in orchestral ensembles as well as for solos.It has a big bright, full sound.

Xun

This ancient Chinese vessel flute looks like a small earthenware vase.

It is blown rather like a bottle or panpipe, and plays similarly to an ocarina.

The xun dates from around 2000 BC and was first made of bone, later clay. It was often used in Confucian ritual music.

Hu Lu Si

This instrument has a melody pipe which uses the ba-hu principle of a tube with fingerholes coupled to a free reed, producing a tone that is somewhere between harmonica and flute.

This pipe is mounted in a gourd chamber along with a drone pipe. The drone can be plugged up and disabled. When sounding, it plays the second degree of the scale of the melody pipe, which has a one octave range.

Ssan hsien (sanxian)

A long-necked lute with three strings and without frets. In Chinese, san and xian stands for "three" and "strings" respectively.

The sound-body is a round wooden box covered with snake skin, just like the erhu. A plectrum is used to play the instrument which is most popular in the north.

Owing to its distinctive acoustic properties - rich, full tonal quality, great volume and a wide range - the sanxian is widely used for accompaniment, orchestral and solo performance.