The zheng, a generic term for a long plucked boxed zither, is one of the most popular instruments among learners of Chinese instruments. Not to be confused with the seven stringed guqin, the zheng isan ancient reformed instrument that has unrivalled popularity. 

The Han Dynasty historian, Si Maqian,writes in Shi Ji · Lie Zhuan that around 200 BC, the period before the Qin Dynasty, the zheng was already a popular instrument that was used as an accompaniment to vocal music.  In 1970, at an excavation of graves in the Jiangxi province dated to be as old 500 BC, two 13-stringed instruments similar to the zheng were found.  These instruments, if confirmed to be the first zhengs, would provide a whole new perspective on the zheng’s history.  It would prove that long before the pre-Qin Dynasty period, the zheng had already spread to The Southern States, and could have had a history of thousands of years.

Han Yingshao’s Feng Su Tong Yi written at the end of the Warring Period and Xu Shen’s Shuo Wen Jie Zi (Explanation of Terms) from the Eastern Han period record that the first zheng had five strings, had a zither-like body and was played by hand.  During the Qin and Han dynasties, the instrument developed into a 12-stringed one.  By the Tang and Song dynasties, the instrument had progressed to 13 strings.  By the Ming and Qin dynasties, the instrument possessed 14 to 16 strings. 

The zheng, although considered an ancient instrument, has also been subjected to revolution and change. The revolutionised zheng used the 16-stringed silk string zheng as a foundation and adopted the characteristic features of other zhengs, increasing the instrument’s string count to 17, later 19 and eventually 21, stabilising only in the 1970s with 21 strings.  The revolution widened the range of the instrument, increased the instrument’s volume, and created a hybrid of folk tonal colours.  The lower ranges of the zheng imitated the tonal colours of the silk-stringed zheng, while the higher ranges imitated the tonal colours of the steel-stringed zheng.  This form of zheng is popularly known as the guzheng.

Besides being used in Chinese orchestras or as an accompanying instrument, the guzheng has amassed for itself a huge repertoire of solo pieces, rivalling those of other traditional instruments.