A Preliminary Probe Into The Origin And Development Of China's "Ancient" Zheng

This paper lays the foundation for the research on the origin and development of the “ancient” Zheng by studying the unearthed objects,musical instrument forms and social functions of ancient Zheng in different historical periods.In order to fully master whether the unearthed objects,historical records and image murals can be mutually verified,and strive to restore the true appearance of Zheng in different historical periods,and then make a more scientific interpretation and thinking about the origin of Zheng,the author uses the method of "dual argumentation" to compare the number of strings,performance methods and the Zheng band combination forms which is closely related to historical cultural changes of Zheng in the specific historical period at that time with the unearthed objects one by one.In this paper,the evolution of Zheng and related unearthed objects are divided into three periods for analysis.The first period is the pre-Qin period.The Zheng is a ship-like form with a slightly rising tail.This paper defines this period as the embryonic period.With the continuous change and development of the form of Zheng,the second period is from Han Dynasty to Sui and Tang Dynasty,which is defined as the development period of Zheng in this paper.The author further discusses the changes of Zheng from the Han Dynasty to the Sui and Tang Dynasties through the mutual verification of unearthed Zheng,documents and images,and the description of the Zheng band combination.The third period is the Song,Yuan,Ming and Qing Dynasties,which is dominated by the inherited Zheng.Because the form and performance effect of the Zheng have reached a higher level,this paper defines it as the mature period of the Zheng.The author tries to research the unearthed Zheng in the perspective of reverse investigation to make paper more persuasive.