SanXian (literally means "3 strings") can be traced back to Qin dynasty, 3rd century B.C. It is mostly known to the West through its Japanese decedent, samisen. SanXian's sound character is a bit similar to Banjo.
SanXian comes in a several sizes, the big SanXian can be a tough challenge for short musicians. Even though SanXian has always been a vital component in the Chinese music, in modern times people inclined to learn other instruments over it for various reasons.
SanXian is still widely used in all kinds of folk musical acts and performances everywhere. Nowadays in the Shanghai area, a revived form of performance, PingTan (評彈), is usually performed as a duet of a PiPa and a SanXian. Appreciating this kind of local forms of musical performances characterizes that China is, once again, embracing her own historical music tradition.
ChineeSanXian captures and recreates SanXian faithfully and is powered by the new Windows native QIN engine.
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