Silk () instruments are mostly
stringed instruments (including those that are plucked, bowed, and struck). Since ancient times, the Chinese have used twisted silk for strings, though today metal or nylon are more frequently used. Instruments in the silk category include:
Plucked • () – 7-stringed zithers • () – 25-stringed zither with movable bridges (ancient sources say 14, 25 or 50 strings) • () – 16–26 stringed zither with movable bridges • () – harp • () – four-stringed lute with gourd body used by the
Naxi people of
Yunnan • () - pear-shaped lute slightly smaller than the , with 2 strings and body covered with snakeskin; it was used during the
Tang dynasty but is no longer used • () – pear-shaped fretted lute with 4 or 5 strings • () – small plucked, fretted lute with a pear-shaped body and four and five strings • () – moon-shaped lute in five sizes: , , , , and ; sometimes called () • () – plucked lute with a wooden body, a short fretted neck, and four strings tuned in pairs • () – plucked lute with a wooden body and fretted neck; also called (, literally "plum blossom instrument", from its flower-shaped body) • () – plucked lute with body covered with snakeskin and long fretless neck; the ancestor of the Japanese • () – the instrument of the Jing people (Vietnamese people in China), a plucked, monochord zither with only one string, tuned to C3. • () – a plucked long-necked lute of Turkic origin • () – a fretted plucked long-necked lute with five strings in three courses, used in
Uyghur traditional music of
Xinjiang • () – a fretted plucked long-necked lute with two strings, used in Uyghur traditional music of Xinjiang • ( or ) – a fretless plucked long-necked lute used in Uyghur traditional music of Xinjiang • () - a 3 strings plucked lute of
Zhuang people in
Guangxi. • () - a four strings plucked lute of
Lisu people • (: shaped like a dragon boat. Its shape is very similar to
Myanmar's . Another variation of the held in the form of a harp with four strings was found in a painting of Feitian in
Mogao caves,
Dunhuang province. • (): A pear-shaped with five strings similar to
ukulele Bowed ,
Shanxi province, dated 571 AD during the
Northern Qi dynasty, showing male court musicians playing stringed instruments, either the or , and a woman playing a (harp) • () – family of vertical fiddles • () – two-stringed fiddle • () – two-stringed fiddle, lower pitch than an • () – two-stringed fiddle, higher pitch than an ; also called () • () – two-stringed fiddle with a coconut resonator and wooden face, used primarily in northern China • () – two-stringed fiddle (piccolo ), very high pitched, used mainly for Beijing opera • () – used in Beijing opera • () – two-stringed fiddle, used in Cantonese, Chaozhou, and nanguan music • () – two-stringed fiddle, used in , Chaozhou, Cantonese, Fujian, and Taiwanese music • () – two-stringed fiddle with coconut body, used primarily in Cantonese and Chaozhou music • () – two-stringed fiddle used in Taiwan and Fujian, primarily by Min Nan and Hakka people; also called (), (), and () • () – two-stringed fiddle used in the traditional music of Hunan • () – two-stringed fiddle with coconut body, used in
Taiwan opera • () – two-stringed fiddle with hexagonal body, similar to the ; used primarily in Taiwan • () – a two-stringed fiddle with metal amplifying horn at the end of its neck, used in Taiwan; also called () • () – large fiddle used primarily among the Hakka of Taiwan • () – two-stringed fiddle with gourd body used by the Zhuang of Guangxi • () – two-stringed fiddle with horse bone body used by the Zhuang and Buyei peoples of southern China • () – two-stringed fiddle used by the Zhuang people of Guangxi • () – two-stringed fiddle used by the
Gelao people of Guangxi, as well as the Miao and Dong • () - six-stringed fiddle of Mongolian people in
Inner Mongolia • () – four-stringed fiddle with strings tuned in pairs • () – 3-stringed with an additional bass string; developed in the 1970s • () – two-stringed fiddle with fingerboard • () – two-stringed fiddle with fingerboard • () – two-stringed fiddle with fingerboard • () – low pitched two-stringed fiddles in the family, in three sizes: • () – small , tuned one octave below the • () – medium , tuned one octave below the • () – large , tuned two octaves below the • () – another name for the • – another name for the • – four-stringed bass instrument, tuned and played like cello • () – four-stringed contrabass instrument, tuned and played like double bass • () – four-stringed bowed instrument modeled on the cello • () – bowed pear-shaped lute • () – bass • or ( or ) – two-stringed fiddle used by the Dong people of Guizhou • () – (
Mongolian: ) – Mongolian two-stringed "horsehead fiddle" • () – ancient prototype of family of instruments • () - electric • () – bowed zither; also called () • () – a zither with 9 strings bowed • () – bowed zither; used by the
Zhuang people of
Guangxi • () – four-stringed bowed instrument used in Uyghur traditional music of Xinjiang; similar to • ( or ) – long-necked bowed lute with 13 strings used in Uyghur traditional music of Xinjiang. 1 playing string and 12 sympathetic strings. • () – a four-stringed bowed instrument used in Uyghur traditional music of Xinjiang.
Struck • () – hammered dulcimer • () – a zither similar to a , played with a bamboo mallet • () – a zither used to accompany traditional narrative singing in
Wenzhou,
Zhejiang province. Similar to a but played with a bamboo mallet.
Combined • () – a combination of the , , and with 50 or more steel strings. ==Bamboo==