Zheng (Mountain Torrent)

This instrument is generally made of paulownia wood, has an oblong sound box with a curved top and strings with individual frets which can be moved right and left to modulate the notes. The zheng has a five-note scale, with its musical range reaching four octaves. The zheng has appeared in many forms throughout its history, but the type of zheng usually played nowadays has 21 strings, although other schools of the instrument use 18 or 24 strings. The tone color is mellow and clear, and the notes tend to linger, making the zheng a good instrument for describing floating clouds or flowing water, or subtle and understated moods. Representative schools of the zheng are the Henan and Shandong schools in the northern region, (Fig. 2-18) and the Zhejiang, Chaozhou (Guangdong) and Hakka schools in the southern region. The most important playing techniques are (using the right hand) support, hook, pick, stroke, poke, pluck, strike, fancy, scoop, roll and shake, and (using the left hand) sound, tremble, rub, press, push, glide, dot and float. Representative works are The Fishermen Sing in the Evening, Mountain Torrent, The Han Palace in the Autumn Moonlight, Cold Ducks Paddling in the Water, Raindrops at Night on the Plantain Outside the Window and Scented Breeze.

The Fishermen Sing in the Evening became widely popular and influential as a zheng solo piece in the 20th century. The title is taken from a poem, Preface to the Teng Wang Pavilion, by the Tang dynasty poet Wang Bo. The rolling sound which is characteristic of the zheng is particularly suited to express the background setting of a shimmering lake and mountains gleaming in the setting sun. This piece is noted for the way it blends technique, poetry, vividness and musical sound in the course of the rise and fall of the melody. The depiction of the fishermen's happiness and the scene of the fishing boats wending their way homeward reaches a high level of artistry.

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