The GuZheng is an Asian box zither, specifically a Chinese zither, sometimes referred to as just Zheng. In Chinese Mandarin, 古(Gu) 箏(Zheng) represents a specific musical instrument, where the first character, Gu, means old and ancient, and the second one, Zheng, is the name of a string instrument. The structure of GuZheng is shown below[^1] .

I’m not majoring in music, but I have been learning to play the GuZheng for decades. If you notice anything strange, please let me know — I’m more than happy to learn : )

In the updated version, the instrument features 21 strings, each with a movable bridge. Additionally, it has a head that can be opened to tune the strings. For more details, please refer to this website[^1].

In this comparison, I will discuss the differences between the guitar and the GuZheng. Unlike the guitar, which has fixed bridges and 6 strings, the GuZheng has movable bridges and less flexibility when playing musical notes on a single string. For example, on a guitar, different notes can be produced by pressing the string at different frets (equal to change the length of string), but on a GuZheng, fewer than 4 notes can be played on a single string. Similar to a violin, the player needs to have a good ear to determine if the note is in the correct pitch.

The GuZheng uses a pentatonic scale, typically in D major (D, E, F#, A, B). If a different music scale is desired, the movable strings need to be adjusted. This makes it challenging to transition between multiple scales within one song or piece during a performance. Normally, players can adjust two or three scales while playing, requiring high stability in their left hand to move the bridges while their right hand continues to play. Moreover, these bridges need to be selected.

GuZheng, a traditional Chinese musical instrument, is designed to express the cultural heritage of China and is deeply rooted in Chinese musicology[^2]. Its history dates back to 221 BC, and it is widely popular in East Asia, like Japan, Vietnam, South Korea and Mongolia. Although these string instruments look similar, the way to play and the musical theory behind them are different. For example, I played the Koto when I went travelling in Japan before, unlike GuZheng where the players can tune the strings by themselves, Koto needs specialists to do it. The way of playing is also different. Here I list how one plays these instruments and how the instrument looks in the following table.

Country/ Culture	Name	How to play	Instrument
China	GuZheng/ Zheng
Japan	Koto
Vietnam	Dan tranh
South Korea	Gayageum
Mongolia	Yatuoge

From a Western music perspective, GuZheng belongs to the box zither family[^3], which falls under the category of string instruments. Similar instruments can also be found in other regions, such as the zither family in Western music.

Country/ Culture	Name	How to play	Instrument
Arbic	Kanoun
Greece	Zither

[^1]: GUZHENG PARTS AND TERMINOLOGY
[^2]: Chinese musicology is the academic study of traditional Chinese music, wiki
[^3]: wiki