Editing Guzheng (section)

==Origin==
{{stack|[[File:XieZiqiao guzheng.gif|thumb|alt=Animated chart of the development of the guzheng|The number of strings on the Guzheng has gradually increased over its 2,000 year history.]]}}
[[File:Mawangdui Figures of Musicians (10112575404).jpg|thumb|Ensemble of musician figurines, with three ''Zheng'' players; 2nd century BCE, from [[Mawangdui]] tomb]]
The guzheng has various accounts for its origin. An early guzheng-like instrument is said to have been invented by [[Meng Tian]],<ref name=sound>{{cite web|url=http://www.newzealandpostgraduate.com/inspiration/stories/the-sound-of-history/|title=The Sound of History|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121118041548/http://www.newzealandpostgraduate.com/inspiration/stories/the-sound-of-history|archive-date=2012-11-18}}</ref> a general of the Qin dynasty (221–206 BCE), largely influenced by the [[se (instrument)|se]].<ref name=Sharron>{{cite book|title=A Cultural History of the Chinese Language|author=Sharron Gu|publisher=[[McFarland & Company]]|year=2011|isbn=978-0-7864-6649-8|page=14}}</ref> The guzheng was originally developed as a bamboo-[[tube zither]] as recorded in the ''[[Shuowen Jiezi]]'', which was later replaced by larger curved wooden boards with movable bridges.<ref>{{cite book | last=Kaufmann | first=Walter | author-link=Walter Kaufmann (composer) | title=Musical References in the Chinese Classics. Detroit Monographs in Musicology. | publisher=Harmonie Park Press | date=1976 | page=101 | quote=According to the Shuo Wen the cheng was a bamboo-tube zither. […] The bamboo tube eventually was replaced by a larger curved wooden board and while in one or two zither types fixed or movable bridges were used, the noble ch'in remained an unfretted instrument. Despite the fact that the cheng is not mentioned in the Classics, it is mentioned here because of its old age. The movable bridges which allowed variable tunings linked the cheng securely with popular music. It still exists side by side with the distinguished ch'in and se. Since the fourth or third centuries B.C. there existed another form of the se, a zither with five (to thirteen) strings, called chu (M 1375). The instrument is not mentioned in the Classics.}}</ref> A third legend says the guzheng came about when two people fought over a 25-string se. They broke it in half, one person receiving a 12-string part and another the 13-string part.<ref name="vanGulik">{{cite journal |last1=van Gulik |first1=R.H. |title=Brief Note on the Cheng, the Chinese Small Cither |journal=Toyo Ongaku Kenkyu: The Journal of the Society for the Research of Asiatic Music |volume=1951 |date=1951 |issue=9 |pages=10–25|doi=10.11446/toyoongakukenkyu1936.1951.en10 }}</ref>

Strings were once made of [[silk]]. During the Qing dynasty (1644–1912) the strings transitioned to only wires such as brass.<ref name="vanGulik" /> Modern strings are almost always [[steel]] coated in nylon. First introduced in the 1970s, these multi-material strings increased the instrument's volume while maintaining an acceptable [[timbre]].{{citation needed|date=April 2022}}

The guzheng is often decorated. Artists create unique cultural and artistic content on the instrument. Decorations include carved art, carved [[lacquer]], straw, [[Nacre|mother-of-pearl]] inlays, [[painting]], [[poetry]], [[calligraphy]], [[Seashell|shell]] carving ([[jade]]), and [[cloisonné]].{{citation needed|date=April 2022}}

Guzheng music has similarity with folk songs, it is developed on the basis of people's life. Through the performance of performers, it reflects the production and life of people at that time.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Chen |first1=Shuling |last2=Zhong |first2=Yong |last3=Du |first3=Ruxu |date=2022-09-22 |title=Automatic composition of Guzheng (Chinese Zither) music using long short-term memory network (LSTM) and reinforcement learning (RL) |journal=Scientific Reports |language=en |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=15829 |doi=10.1038/s41598-022-19786-1 |issn=2045-2322 |pmc=9500105 |pmid=36138058}}</ref>