Chinese musical instruments are traditionally grouped into eight categories known as bā yīn (八音).^[1] The eight categories are silk, bamboo, wood, stone, metal, clay, gourd and skin; other instruments considered traditional exist that may not fit these groups. The grouping of instruments in material categories in China is one of the first musical groupings ever devised.

Silk (絲) 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

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Name	Image
Se (Chinese: 瑟; pinyin: sè) – 25-stringed zither with movable bridges (ancient sources say 14, 25 or 50 strings)[citation needed]
Guzheng (古箏) – 16–26 stringed zither with movable bridges
Konghou (箜篌) – angular harp
Phoenix-headed konghou (鳳首箜篌 Konghou fengshou) – Arched harp. 10th century A.D., Bezeklik Caves, cave 48.[2]
Huluqin (葫芦琴) – four-stringed lute with gourd-shape body used by the Naxi people of Yunnan. With frets like pipa, the structure of the huluqin is the same as that of the pipa and can be played with the pipa technique.
Huleiqin (忽雷琴) – pear-shaped lute slightly smaller than the pipa, with 2 strings and body covered with snakeskin; it was used during the Tang dynasty but is no longer used
Pipa (琵琶) – pear-shaped fretted lute with 4 or 5 strings
Liuqin (柳琴) – small plucked, fretted lute with a pear-shaped body and four and five strings
Ruan (Chinese: 阮; pinyin: ruǎn) – moon-shaped lute in five sizes: gaoyin-, xiao-, zhong-, da-, and diyin-; sometimes called ruanqin (阮琴)
Yueqin (月琴) – plucked lute with a wooden body, a short fretted neck, and four strings tuned in pairs
Qinqin (秦琴) – plucked lute with a wooden body and fretted neck; also called meihuaqin (梅花琴, literally "plum blossom instrument", from its flower-shaped body)
Sanxian (三弦) – plucked lute with body covered with snakeskin and long fretless neck; the ancestor of the Japanese shamisen
Duxianqin (simplified Chinese: 独弦琴; traditional Chinese: 獨弦琴) – the instrument of the Jing people (Vietnamese people in China), a plucked, monochord zither with only one string, tuned to C3.
Huobosi (火不思) – a plucked long-necked lute of Turkic origin
Tembor (弹拨尔) – a fretted plucked long-necked lute with five strings in three courses, used in Uyghur traditional music of Xinjiang
Dutar (都塔尔) – a fretted plucked long-necked lute with two strings, used in Uyghur traditional music of Xinjiang
Rawap (热瓦普 or 热瓦甫) – a fretless plucked long-necked lute used in Uyghur traditional music of Xinjiang
Tianqin (天琴) – a 3 strings plucked lute of Zhuang people in Guangxi.
Qiben (起奔) – a four strings plucked lute of Lisu people
Wanqin (弯琴) – shaped like a dragon boat. Its shape is very similar to Myanmar's saung-gauk. Another variation of the wanqin held in the form of a harp with four strings was found in a painting of Feitian in Mogao caves, Dunhuang province.
Kongqin (孔琴) – A pear-shaped ruan with five strings similar to ukulele
Dombra (冬不拉) – a long-necked Kazakh, Uzbek and Bashkir lute and a musical string instrument
Qibue (其布厄) – The 4 strings Lisu people lute
Saiding (赛玎) – The lute of Bulang people
Dingbengba (玎崩巴) – a 4 strings lute of Dai people
Palaung dingqin (德昂族丁琴) – a 4 strings lute of Palaung people
Sugudu (苏古笃) – a 4 trings Naxi people's lute with fretless fingerboard, and the body is traditionally made from snake skin.
Kaomuzi (考姆兹) – a long-necked Dongxiangs lute with fretless fingerboard.

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Bowed

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Instrument	Image
Huqin (胡琴) – family of vertical fiddles
Erhu (二胡) – two-stringed fiddle
Zhonghu (中胡) – two-stringed fiddle, lower pitch than an erhu
Gaohu (高胡) – two-stringed fiddle, higher pitch than an erhu; also called yuehu (粤胡)
Banhu (板胡) – two-stringed fiddle with a coconut resonator and wooden face, used primarily in northern China
Jinghu (京胡) – two-stringed fiddle (piccolo erhu), very high pitched, used mainly for Beijing opera
Jing erhu (京二胡) – erhu used in Beijing opera
Erxian (二弦) – a Chinese bowed string instrument in the huqin family of instruments. It has two strings and is used primarily in Cantonese music, most often in "hard string" chamber ensembles.
Zhutiqin (竹提琴) – a huqin (胡琴, vertical fiddle) with cylindrical bamboo resonator and paulownia soundboard used in old-style Cantonese opera, both staged (Chinese: gu qiang Yueju, 古腔粤剧) and non-staged (Chinese: gu qiang Yue qu, 古腔粤曲).
Yehu (椰胡) – two-stringed fiddle with coconut body, used primarily in Cantonese and Chaozhou music
Daguangxian (大广弦) – two-stringed fiddle used in Taiwan and Fujian, primarily by Min Nan and Hakka people; also called datongxian (大筒弦), guangxian (广弦), and daguanxian (大管弦)
Datong (大筒) – two-stringed fiddle used in the traditional music of Hunan
Kezaixian (壳仔弦) – two-stringed fiddle with coconut body, used in Taiwan opera
Liujiaoxian (六角弦) – two-stringed fiddle with hexagonal body, similar to the jing erhu; used primarily in Taiwan
Tiexianzai (鐵弦仔) – a two-stringed fiddle with metal amplifying horn at the end of its neck, used in Taiwan; also called guchuixian (鼓吹弦)
Niujiaohu (牛角胡) – a yak's horn fiddle used primarily among the Tibetan people
Huluhu (simplified Chinese: 葫芦胡; traditional Chinese: 葫盧胡) – two-stringed fiddle with gourd body used by the Zhuang of Guangxi
Maguhu (simplified Chinese: 马骨胡; traditional Chinese: 馬骨胡; pinyin: mǎgǔhú) – two-stringed fiddle with horse bone body used by the Zhuang and Buyei peoples of southern China
Tuhu (土胡) – two-stringed fiddle used by the Zhuang people of Guangxi
Jiaohu (角胡) – two-stringed fiddle used by the Gelao people of Guangxi, as well as the Miao and Dong
Liuhu (六胡) – six-stringed fiddle of Mongolian people in Inner Mongolia
Sihu (四胡) – four-stringed fiddle with strings tuned in pairs
Sanhu (三胡) – 3-stringed erhu with an additional bass string; developed in the 1970s
Zhuihu (simplified Chinese: 坠胡; traditional Chinese: 墜胡) – two-stringed fiddle with fingerboard
Zhuiqin (simplified Chinese: 坠琴; traditional Chinese: 墜琴) – two-stringed fiddle with fingerboard
Leiqin (雷琴) – two-stringed fiddle with fingerboard
Dihu (低胡) – low pitched two-stringed fiddles in the erhu family, in three sizes:
Xiaodihu (小低胡) – small dihu, tuned one octave below the erhu
Zhongdihu (中低胡) – medium dihu, tuned one octave below the zhonghu
Dadihu (大低胡) – large dihu, tuned two octaves below the erhu
Dahu (大胡) – another name for the xiaodihu
Cizhonghu – another name for the xiaodihu
Gehu (革胡) – four-stringed bass instrument, tuned and played like cello
Diyingehu (低音革胡) – four-stringed contrabass instrument, tuned and played like double bass
Laruan (拉阮) – four-stringed bowed instrument modeled on the cello
Paqin (琶琴) – bowed pear-shaped lute
Dapaqin (大琶琴) – bass paqin
Niutuiqin or niubatui (牛腿琴 or 牛巴腿) – two-stringed fiddle used by the Dong people of Guizhou
Matouqin (馬頭琴) – (Mongolian: morin khuur) – Mongolian two-stringed "horsehead fiddle"
Xiqin (奚琴) – ancient prototype of huqin family of instruments
Shaoqin (韶琴) – electric huqin
Yazheng (simplified Chinese: 轧筝; traditional Chinese: 軋箏) – bowed zither; also called yaqin (simplified Chinese: 轧琴; traditional Chinese: 軋琴)
Wenzhenqin (文枕琴) – a zither with 9 strings bowed
Zhengni (琤尼) – bowed zither; used by the Zhuang people of Guangxi
Ghaychak (艾捷克) – four-stringed bowed instrument used in Uyghur traditional music of Xinjiang; similar to kamancheh[3]
Sataer (萨塔尔 or 萨它尔) – long-necked bowed lute with 13 strings used in Uyghur traditional music of Xinjiang. 1 playing string and 12 sympathetic strings.
Khushtar (胡西它尔) – a four-stringed bowed instrument used in Uyghur traditional music of Xinjiang.
Qiaoqin (桥琴) – cello-like instrument with snakeskin resonator) from Shenyang
Shenhu (桥琴) – a huqin (2-stringed vertical fiddle with snakeskin-covered resonator) with a distinctive broad, nasal timbre that is used as the primary accompanying huqin (zhu hu, 主胡) in Huju (沪剧), a genre of local Chinese opera (difang xiqu, 地方戏曲) from Shanghai.

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Bamboo (竹) mainly refers to woodwind instruments, which includes;

Double reed pipes

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Instrument	Image
Guan (Chinese: 管; pinyin: guǎn) – cylindrical double reed wind instrument made of either hardwood (Northern China) or bamboo (Cantonese); the northern version is also called guanzi (管子) or bili (simplified Chinese: 筚篥; traditional Chinese: 篳篥), the Cantonese version is also called houguan (喉管), and the Taiwanese version is called 鴨母笛, or Taiwan guan (台湾管)
Shuangguan (雙管) – literally "double guan," an instrument consisting of two guanzi (cylindrical double reed pipes) of equal length, joined together along their length
Suona (simplified Chinese: 唢呐; traditional Chinese: 嗩吶) – double-reed wind instrument with a flaring metal bell; also called haidi (海笛)

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Most wood (木) instruments are percussion instruments of the ancient variety:

The stone (石) category comprises various forms of stone chimes.

Chinese instruments are either played solo, collectively in large orchestras (as in the former imperial court) or in smaller ensembles (in teahouses or public gatherings). Normally, there is no conductor in traditional Chinese music, nor any use of musical scores or tablature in performance. Music was generally learned aurally and memorized by the musician(s) beforehand, then played without aid. As of the 20th century, musical scores have become more common, as has the use of conductors in larger orchestral-type ensembles.

These watercolour illustrations, made in China in the 1800s, show several types of musical instruments being played:

• Woman playing a dizi.
• Woman playing a jinghu.
• Woman playing a luo.
• Woman playing a pipa.
• Woman playing a sanxian.
• Woman playing a yunluo.
• Woman playing a xiaoluo.
• Woman playing a haotou.
• Woman playing a xiao.
• Woman playing what looks like a yangqin or some sort of psaltery-like instrument.

• Music of China
• Chinese culture
• Chinese art
• Chinese instrument classification
• List of ensemble formations in traditional Chinese music
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