Yangqin

Common card · No. 391738

The yangqin (simplified Chinese: 扬琴; traditional Chinese: 揚琴; pinyin: yángqín; Jyutping: joeng4 kam4) is a trapezoidal Chinese hammered dulcimer, likely derived from the Iranian santur or the European dulcimer. It used to be written with the characters 洋琴 (lit. 'foreign zither'), but the first character was changed in the early 20th century to 揚 (also pronounced yáng), meaning "acclaimed". It is also spelled yang ch'in. Hammered dulcimers of various types are now very popular not only in China, but also Eastern Europe, the Middle East, India, Iran and Pakistan. These instruments are also sometimes known by the names "santoor" and "cimbalom" and also had an influence on the Khim (ขิม), a Thai classical instrument. The yangqin was traditionally fitted with bronze strings, which gave the instrument a soft timbre. This form of instrument is still occasionally heard today in the hudie qin (蝴蝶琴; 'butterfly zither') played in the traditional silk and bamboo genre from the Shanghai region known...

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