A preliminary study on the method of identifying Zheng by bridges

Abstract

Zheng is a Chinese traditional plucked instrument with a history of over 2,500 years, and it is regarded as one of the most important instruments in Chinese traditional music. The early “Zheng” obtained from archaeological excavations is generally assessed via the exclusion method. If the shape of an unearthed “wooden instrument” is not Zhu, Qin, nor Se, then it is certainly a Zheng. However, this method does not emphasize the characteristics of Zheng, which has certain limitations. Based on the study on the difference between Zheng and other plucked instruments, this article suggests that regularly arranged bridges are the most significant difference between Zheng and other instruments with similar shapes. Hence, the presence of regular bridge indentations on the wood panel should be the basis for identification. Accordingly, portable microscopes, three-dimensional laser scanners, and other equipment were employed to investigate modern Zheng samples. Via the analyses of the bridge arrangement, indentation depth, and other aspects, a set of methods that can be adopted to identify the plucked instrument was preliminarily established.