Zheng first appeared in the Warring States Period, the shape of the 5-string system, to the Han Dynasty has become a popular folk and elegant musical instrument. Since the 50s of the 20th century, with the creation of a series of guzheng music, the traditional guzheng has been continuously reformed in shape, and has gradually developed into today's 21-string system. Mr. Xu Zhengao, known as the "father of the guzheng", entered the No. 1 Shanghai National Musical Instrument Factory in 1958 and successfully developed the 16/18/19 string guzheng. Subsequently, together with his master Miao Jinlin, he developed the S-shaped Yueshan 21-string Dunhuang zither to expand the range of the traditional guzheng and beautify the style of the zither, and the S21-163 (S-shaped Yueshan, 21-string, 163cm long) has also become the standard style of the national zither today.
In 1963, Mr. Xu Zhengao created several woodcut patterns of Dunhuang zither such as "Double Crane Chaoyang", and successively improved the strings and codes of Dunhuang zither, and began to use the assembly process for the production of Dunhuang zither, which greatly increased the output of the zither and became the leader of the development of the zither industry. The No. 1 Shanghai National Musical Instrument Factory, also famous in the Chinese national musical instrument industry for its production of Dunhuang Guzheng, is still the largest national musical instrument manufacturer in China with the strongest technology and comprehensive strength since its establishment.
The panel is one of the decisive factors in the timbre of a guzheng, because the sound needs to be transmitted through the vibration of the panel. The material of the guzheng panel is paulownia wood, because the density of paulownia is small, and the sound permeability is excellent, which is very in line with the sound requirements of the guzheng. The paulownia wood used in the panel is generally produced in the "hometown of paulownia" in Lankao, Henan, and the grade standard of the guzheng panel in the industry can be divided into popular panels, intermediate panels and advanced panels according to the texture, looseness and texture, and the timbre of different grades of panels will be different, and the applicable objects and prices are also different. In addition to the panel, the main materials of the guzheng are red sandalwood, nanmu, mahogany and other precious materials have little impact on the timbre, and only slightly improve the resonance, because of its appearance is more decorative and more collectible, the price will be higher.
The common manufacturing method of modern guzheng is to make a folded mask, that is, the paulownia wood panel is placed on a frame with an arc-shaped sound beam, and then pressurized, glued, and heated to form a curved guzheng panel. This method of production is characterized by uniform panel thickness and sensitive sound, and is suitable for large-scale processing due to the simplicity of the process and the saving of materials. As a representative of the folding zither, the quality and sound quality of Dunhuang Guzheng are very good. On the whole, the characteristics of Dunhuang Guzheng are crisp and bright, especially in the high-pitched and loud area, strong explosiveness, and strong ability to control fast-paced modern repertoire, so many Guzheng players often choose Dunhuang Guzheng when performing on stage. Compared with the excellent treble range, the low register of Dunhuang is slightly weak, and the bass is vigorous but not strong enough, so playing the traditional repertoire of slow rhythm with a long ancient rhyme is slightly weak, and the afterglow is not long enough. In addition, due to the general thinness of the Dunhuang guzheng panel, the string tension is slightly larger, and the overall playing feel is slightly harder.
The main series of Dunhuang include the 696 series of popular zheng, the 694 series of intermediate zheng, and the 695 and 698 series of advanced performance/collection zheng. The most popular in Dunhuang is the 694 series of intermediate playing zheng, of which "694DQ double crane Chaoyang" as a representative model of Dunhuang, and the classic model "694KK banana window night language" is often considered by Zheng friends to be a must-have two, supervised by Mr. Xu Zhengao, the timbre is crisp and bright, very suitable for professional performance, because of the different finishing processes, the price ranges from 3000 to 6000 yuan. Dunhuang 696 series is suitable for beginners to love the popularization of the zither, for beginners to play a little stronger, but for finger practice and playing feel to improve is very helpful, the price is around 3000 yuan.
Dunhuang's 695 and 698 series are high-level performance/collectible zheng, mainly aimed at people with good performance skills or high requirements for timbre, with a price of more than 10,000 yuan. The main material of the 695 series is Indonesian black sour branch wood, and the main material of the 698 series is broad-leaved yellow sandalwood, the wood surface is shiny, the grain is oblique or staggered, the structure is fine and uniform, the corrosion resistance is good, and the service life is longer. "695T innocent Yuan Yun" is embedded with peony patterns or calligraphy, simple and elegant. "698JM Flowers Like a Dream" is made of silver wire inlay latte art technology at the beginning and end, and the overall appearance is classical and atmospheric, and it has a high collection value.
Due to the popularity of Dunhuang Guzheng in the industry is very high, there are also some counterfeit Dunhuang brand Guzheng on the market, and the authentic Dunhuang brand Guzheng is produced by Shanghai National Musical Instrument Factory, and consumers should pay attention to distinguish when buying.
