The piece of musical technology that I have chosen is the Guzheng, which is a traditional Chinese zither that is said to originate in the Qin Dynasty. A zither is a type of musical instrument that falls under the string family and is comprised of a flat wooden sound box with multiple strings placed horizontally. To play this instrument you would use one or both hands to pluck at the right and left portion of the strings. The left portion of the strings can produce pitch ornamentation and vibrato (History of Guzheng). The Guzheng was mainly played in Chinese folk music, where originally the instrument had twelve strings. But, with modernization in technology the modern Guzheng now has 21 to 25 strings as well as tuning devices and pedals (World Instrument Gallery). With the addition of more strings and other pieces to the Guzheng it gave the instrument more variety to play different chords, pitches, and harmonies. I do not have any experience with this instrument; however, I have heard it being played in the background music in Chinese movies.  

The piece of music that I had chosen is called “Spring River in the Flower Moon Night” or in mandarin “春江花月夜 (chun jiang hua yue ye). The creator of this piece was Zhang Ruoxe, who was a Chinese poet in the early Tang Dynasty. Originally the piece “Spring River in the Flower Moon Night” was a poem that translated into a folk song using the Guzheng. The Guzheng helped showcase the deep emotions and meaning that came from the poem. Folk music is a type of story that has meaning, the Guzheng was used to tell these folk stories in a musical way.