How popular was the guzheng on the ancient Silk Road? Recently, in the "Silk Road Musical Instrument Exhibition" launched by the Xinjiang Museum, two guzhengs (replicas) located in the "C position" of the exhibition, and the guzheng musical image on the murals and reliefs on the exhibition board show the audience the spread and popularity of this ancient instrument on the ancient Silk Road.

These two replicas are restored to two guzheng cultural relics unearthed from the Zhagurenluk cemetery in Qiemo County. They are the earliest guzheng physical objects discovered in Xinjiang.

In 1996, three guzhengs were unearthed in the Zhaguenluk Cemetery in Qiemo County, two of which were 2,500 years ago and one was no later than the Western Han Dynasty. "The guzheng unearthed from the Zhaguruk cemetery is like a key, opening the door to study guzheng music. It provides physical information for the study of the history of music in the Western Regions, and at the same time fills a gap in the history of Chinese music development, which is of epoch-making significance." said Lu Lipeng, a research librarian at the Xinjiang Museum.

After that, archaeologists have successively excavated several guzhengs in the Jierzankal Cemetery in Tashkurgan Tajik Autonomous County, Yanghai Cemetery in Shanshan County, and Eskxiaernan Cemetery in Hami City. Up to now, the number of guzhengs found in Xinjiang has reached 24, becoming the area with a large number of guzhengs unearthed at home and abroad.

Researchers found that the guzheng was not transmitted in physical form during the process of spreading from west to east, but was made by local people who absorbed information from the west and made of local wood. "The localization of the guzheng in Xinjiang is a manifestation of the inclusiveness of Chinese culture and a true picture of mutual learning between civilizations." Lu Lipeng said.

Kumhou is one of the oldest plucking instruments in the world. Also known as Kan Hou and Kong Hou. In ancient times, guzheng was divided into three types: lying guzheng, vertical guzheng, and phoenix-headed guzheng. It was introduced from Central Asia through the Western Regions into the Central Plains, and was popular during the Han and Tang Dynasties. There are a large number of guzheng music images found in the murals of the cave along the Silk Road. In the Tang Dynasty, vertical qins spread rapidly in the Central Plains and spread far to the Korean Peninsula and Japan.

According to historical records, in the Han Dynasty, after the guzheng was introduced to the Central Plains, Emperor Wu of Han ordered the palace musicians to imitate and improve the guzheng style, and at the same time established Yuefu, and sent people to organize the music collected from the folk. Because of its clear tone and gentle aura, the guzheng is very popular in the palace and the folk. "The thirteen teachings Ru weave, the fourteen teachings can cut clothes, and the fifteen playing the guzheng." It can be seen from the famous Han Yuefu chapter "The Peacock Flying Southeast" that the guzheng was integrated into people's daily lives in the Han Dynasty.

In the Tang Dynasty, the development of the guzheng reached its peak and glory. "The Jiang E cries the bamboo and the girl is sad, and Li Ping plays the guzheng in China." The description of the Tang Dynasty poet Li He in "The Introduction to the Li Ping's guzheng" depicts the superb skills of the "musicist" Li Ping's guzheng and the wonderful sounds of the guzheng in life.

The guzheng was still popular in the palace during the Northern Song Dynasty. After the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, the guzheng was lost.

Since modern times, predecessors in the Chinese music and instrument circles have been developing imitation guzheng to find their musical memories. After several generations of unremitting efforts, in the 1980s, the modern guzheng stepped on the stage and regained its vitality.

In 2016, Qiemo County established the first guzheng public welfare teaching and teacher training base in Xinjiang, implemented the guzheng "seed teacher" and "guzheng doll" projects, and sponsored a group of primary and secondary school music teachers and students to learn guzheng playing. The sound of guzheng that has been sounded for thousands of years echoed again over the land of Qiemo County. The string sounds of different eras flowed out of the fingertips of the players, and are gradually converging into the endless cultural torrent of the Chinese nation.