Ruanxian

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“In the Han Dynasty (206 B.C. - 25 A.D.), the ruan was called the hanpipa 漢琵琶, which was an indigenous Chinese instrument. It belonged to the type of zhixiang pipa 直項琵琶, or straight-neck pipa. Since the Jin Dynasty (晉代 265-420), this instrument has been called ruanxian 阮咸to commemorate Ruan Xian 阮咸, who was, among other things, also famous for his playing of the hanpipa. The ruan was exported to Japan together with other instruments, including the pipa 琵琶, during the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Nowadays, the ruan, an abbreviation of ruanxian, becomes an instrument family which consists of members of different sizes: xiaoruan 小阮or the small ruan, zhongruan 中阮, or the medium ruan, and daruan 大阮 or the large ruan. The following shows a zhongruan, which has four metal strings and 24 frets (arranged in chromatically).

The ruan neither has a prominent role in the traditional genres, as mentioned before, nor a “solo tradition”. Solo pieces for ruan are mostly adaptations of traditional instrumental or vocal genres.” (So Hon To)

 

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