Ruan (instrument)

A ruan as seen from the front

A ruan as seen from the front

The ruan (Template:Zh) is a traditional Chinese plucked string instrument. It is a lute with a fretted neck, a circular body, and four strings. Its four strings were formerly made of silk but since the 20th century they have been made of steel (flatwound for the lower strings). The modern Template:Tlit has 24 frets with 12 semitones on each string, which has greatly expanded its range from a previous 13 frets. The frets are commonly made of ivory or in recent times of metal mounted on wood. The metal frets produce a brighter tone as compared to the ivory frets. It is sometimes called Template:Tlit, particularly in Taiwan.

Sizes

File:Dalian Liaoning China Ruan-Player-in-Dalian-Labour-Park-01.jpg

A bass daruan () or contrabass diyinruan ()

File:Blind girl sing for a living in Jiufeng.jpg

Long-necked lute, which could possibly be a zhongruan (, lit. "medium ruan"), except it has only two courses of strings instead of four individual strings, and no large soundholes. Another possibility is a southern yueqin.

The ruan comes in a family of five sizes:

• soprano: Template:Tlit (, lit. "high pitched Template:Tlit"; tuning: G3-D4-G4-D5)
• alto: Template:Tlit (, lit. "small Template:Tlit"; tuning: D3-A3-D4-A4)
• tenor: Template:Tlit (, lit. "medium Template:Tlit"; tuning: G2-D3-G3-D4)
• bass: Template:Tlit (, lit. "large Template:Tlit"; tuning: D2-A2-D3-A3)
• contrabass: Template:Tlit (, lit. "low pitched Template:Tlit"; tuning: G1-D2-G2-D3)

The Template:Tlit is now most commonly used in Chinese opera and the Chinese orchestra, where it belongs to the plucked string ( or chordophone) section.

Playing techniques and usage

The instrument can be played using a plectrum similar to a guitar pick (formerly made of animal horn, but today often plastic), or using a set of two or five acrylic nails that are affixed to the fingers with adhesive tape. Mainstream Template:Tlit players use plectrums, though there are some schools which teach the fingernail technique, similar to that of the Template:Tlit. Template:Tlit players who play Template:Tlit as a second instrument also often use their fingernails. Plectrums produce a louder and more clear tone, while fingernails allow the performance of polyphonic solo music. The instrument produces a mellow tone.

In Chinese orchestras, only the Template:Tlit and Template:Tlit are commonly used, to fill in the tenor and bass section of the plucked string section. Occasionally the Template:Tlit is used to substitute the high-pitched Template:Tlit.

Template:Tlit soloists generally use the D-A-D-A tuning, as it allows for the easy performance of diatonic chords. Some orchestral players tune to C-G-D-A, which is exactly the same as cello tuning. The advantage of using C-G-D-A in orchestras is so that the daruan can easily double the cello part.

A Template:Tlit ensemble () consists of two or more members of the Template:Tlit family, for instance, an ensemble of the Template:Tlit, Template:Tlit and Template:Tlit. The wide range covered by the Template:Tlit, its easily blended tone quality, and the variety of soprano, alto, tenor, bass, and contrabass instruments all make Template:Tlit ensembles very effective in playing polyphonic music.

History

File:Rong Qiqi and Ruan Xian.JPG

Depiction of Ruan Xian playing a Ruan (figure on right) found in an Eastern Jin or Southern dynasties tomb near Nanjing, dated around 400 AD.

File:阮咸 明清楽 楽器 1894 GENKAN or RUANXIAN musical instrument used in MINSHINGAKU.jpg

An explanation from a Japanese book published in 1894

File:Performance of MINSHINGAKU or Ming and Qing Dynasty Music 02.jpg

Ruanxian () used in Japanese MINSHINGAKU or “Ming and Qing Music.” Held by the front-row center woman.

Template:Tlit may have a history of over 2,000 years, the earliest form may be the Template:Tlit (), which was then developed into Template:Tlit (named after Ruan Xian, ), shortened to Template:Zhp. In old Chinese texts from the Han to the Tang dynasty, the term Template:Tlit was used as a generic term for a number plucked chordophones, including Template:Tlit, therefore does not necessarily mean the same as the modern usage of Template:Tlit which refers only to the pear-shaped instrument. According to the Pipa Annals by Fu Xuan () of the Western Jin dynasty, the Template:Tlit was designed after revision of other Chinese plucked string instruments of the day such as the Chinese zither, Template:Zhp and Template:Zhp, or Template:Zhp, the Chinese harp. However, it is believed that Template:Tlit may have been descended from an instrument called Template:Tlit () which was constructed by labourers on the Great Wall of China during the late Qin dynasty (hence the name Template:Tlit) using strings stretched over a pellet drum.

The antecedent of Template:Tlit in the Qin dynasty (221 BC – 206 BC), i.e. the Template:Tlit, had a long, straight neck with a round sound box in contrast to the pear-shape of Template:Tlit of later dynasties. The name of "pipa" is associated with "tantiao" (), a right hand techniques of playing a plucked string instrument. "Pi" (), which means "tan" (), is the downward movement of plucking the string. "Pa" (), which means "tiao" (), is the upward movement of plucking the string.

The present name of the Template:Tlit, which is "Template:Tlit", was not given until the Tang dynasty (8th century). During the reign of Empress Wu Zetian () (about 684–704 AD), a copper instrument that looked like the Template:Tlit was discovered in an ancient tomb in Sichuan (). It had 13 frets and a round sound box. It was believed that it was the instrument which the Eastern Jin () musician Ruan Xian () loved to play. Ruan Xian was a scholar in the Three Kingdoms Eastern Jin () dynasty period (3rd century). He and six other scholars disliked the corrupt government, so they gathered in a bamboo grove in Shanyang (, now in Henan [] province). They drank, wrote poems, played music and enjoyed the simple life. The group was known as the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove (). Since Ruan Xian was an expert and famous in playing an instrument that looked like the Template:Tlit, the instrument was named after him as Template:Tlit () when the copper Template:Tlit was found in a tomb during the Tang dynasty. Today it is shortened to Template:Tlit ().

Also during the Tang dynasty, a Template:Tlit was brought to Japan from China. Now this Template:Tlit is still stored in Shosoin of the Nara National Museum in Japan. The Template:Tlit was made of red sandalwood and decorated with mother of pearl inlay. The ancient ruanxian shows that the look of today's Template:Tlit has not changed much since the 8th century.

Nowadays, although the Template:Tlit was never as popular as the Template:Tlit, the Template:Tlit has been divided into several smaller and better-known instruments within the recent few centuries, such as Template:Tlit ("moon" lute, ) and Template:Tlit (Qin [dynasty] lute, ) . The short-necked Template:Tlit, with no sound holes, is now used primarily in Beijing opera accompaniment. The long-necked Template:Tlit is a member of both Cantonese () and Chaozhou () ensembles.

The famed Tang poet Bai Juyi () once penned a poem about the Template:Tlit, entitled Template:Zhi Template:Verse translation

Ruan and Pipa

File:Dunhuang fresco.jpg

This is a part of the Dunhuang fresco. Two Template:Tlit players are shown at the left-hand corner.

A small Template:Tlit was found in murals of tombs in Liaoning () province in northeastern China. The date of these tombs is about late Eastern Han () or Wei () period (220–265 AD). However, the pear-shaped Template:Tlit was not brought to China from Dunhuang (, now in northwestern China) until the Northern Wei period (386–524 AD) when ancient China traded with the western countries through the Silk Road (). Evidence was shown on the Dunhuang Caves frescoes that the frescoes contain a large number of pipa, and they date to 4th to 5th century.

During the Han period (206 BC-220 AD), Lady Wang Zhaojun (, known as one of the Four Beauties [] in ancient China) departed mainland to the west and married the Grand Khan of the Huns. The marriage was meant to maintain peace between the two ancient countries. On her way to the west, she carried a Template:Tlit on the horse. Looking back today, her Template:Tlit must have been a ruan-type instrument with a round sound box, since the pear-shaped Template:Tlit was not brought to China until the Northern Wei dynasty after the Han dynasty. However, in almost all the portraits and dramas, Lady Zhaojun's Template:Tlit is displayed inaccurately. The Template:Tlit is usually shown with a pear-shaped sound box (as in today's Template:Tlit), rather than a round sound box.

Note that the frets on all Chinese lutes are high so that the fingers never touch the actual body—distinctively different from western fretted instruments. This allows for a greater control over timbre and intonation than their western counterparts, but makes chordal playing more difficult.

Laruan (bowed Template:Tlit)

File:La ruan.png

Bowed ruan

In addition to the plucked Template:Tlit instruments mentioned above, there also exist a family of bowed string instruments called Template:Tlit (literally "bowed Template:Tlit" and "large bowed Template:Tlit"). Both are bowed bass register instruments designed as alternatives to the Template:Tlit and Template:Tlit in large orchestras of Chinese traditional instruments. These instruments correspond to the cello and double bass in range. Chinese orchestras currently using the Template:Tlit and Template:Tlit include the China National Traditional Orchestra and Central Broadcasting National Orchestra, the latter formerly conducted by the late maestro Peng Xiuwen ().

Repertoire

File:Ruan Xian.png

An ancient Template:Tlit

A famous work in the zhongruan repertoire is the Template:Tlit concerto Template:Zhi by Liu Xing (, b. China, 1962), the first full-scale concerto for the Template:Tlit and the Chinese orchestra. This work finally established the Template:Tlit as an instrument capable of playing solo with the Chinese orchestra.

Some works for the Template:Tlit:

• Red Fills the River – Template:Tlit concerto
• Love of the Han Pipa – Template:Tlit concerto
• Narration of Yuguan – 'Template:Tlit quartet
• Mountain Tune – Template:Tlit concerto
• Sound Poem Beyond The Great Wall- Template:Tlit concerto
• The Water Festival- Template:Tlit Tecerto
• Water Lilies- Template:Tlit solo
• Night of the Torch Festival- Template:Tlit solo

Some of Lin Jiliang's compositions for the ruan:

• Flowers Open in Fenghuang Translation from MDBG.net

Some of Liu Xing's compositions for the ruan:

• Reminiscences of Yunnan, Template:Tlit concerto
• Second Zhongruan Concerto
• , Template:Tlit solo
• , Template:Tlit solo
• , Template:Tlit solo
• , Template:Tlit solo
• , Template:Tlit duet
• , Template:Tlit solo
• , Template:Tlit solo
• , Template:Tlit solo
• , Template:Tlit solo
• , Template:Tlit solo
• , Template:Tlit solo
• , Template:Tlit solo
• , Template:Tlit solo
• , Template:Tlit solo

Some of Ning Yong's compositions for the ruan:

• Flying Dragons in Drum Beats, Template:Tlit solo (composed with Lin Jiliang)
• Camel Bells on the Silk Road, Template:Tlit/ Template:Tlit solo
• Snow at Lan Guan, Template:Tlit solo
• Ancient Tune of Zhongnan, Template:Tlit/ Template:Tlit solo
• Template:Tlit solo

Notable players and composers

• Cui Jun Miao ()
• Ding Xiaoyan ()
• Fei Jian Rong()
• Feng Mantian ()
• Lin Jiliang ()
• Liu Bo ()
• Liu Xing ()
• Miao Xiaoyun ()
• Ning Yong ()
• NiNi Music
• Ruan Shi Chun ()
• Shen Fei ()
• Su Handa ()
• Tan Su-Min, Clara ()
• Wang Zhong Bing ()
• Wei Wei ()
• Wei Yuru ()
• Wu Qiang ()
• Xu Yang ()
• Zhang Rong Hui ()

Makers

Beijing

• Xinghai ()

Shanghai

• Dunhuang ()

Suzhou

• Huqiu ()

See also

• Zhongruan
• Đàn nguyệt

External links

More information

• Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove
• Template:Tlit at MelodyofChina.com
• An introduction to the Template:Tlit on the Chinese Culture Channel in traditional Chinese
• Ruan Yahoo Group
• Template:Tlit photographs (fifth, sixth, and seventh rows)

Listening

• Audio of Template:Tlit