Zhongruan

Overview

The zhongruan is the alto-range member of the Chinese ruan family — a flat-backed, fretted, plucked lute with a fully circular body, four strings and modern fittings. It sits between the smaller xiaoruan and the larger daruan in size and pitch, and serves in the modern Chinese orchestra as the equivalent of the viola in the Western string section: a middle voice that fills out the harmonic texture between the higher pipa and the lower daruan.

Wikidata describes the zhongruan as a “Chinese plucked string instrument” and classes it as a ruan within the chordophone family. Its design is distinguished from the pipa by the round body, the flat back, the longer neck and the bridge sitting on top of the soundboard rather than tied to the strings.

Origin & History

The ruan family takes its name from Ruan Xian, one of the legendary Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove in third-century China, who was particularly associated with a circular-bodied lute then called qinpipa or Han pipa — the same name later transferred to the imported pear-shaped pipa from Central Asia. Tang dynasty sources from the 7th to 9th centuries already use the name ruan for the round-bodied form, and from then onward the two instruments — ruan with circular body, pipa with pear-shaped body — were treated as related but distinct.

The ruan persisted in Chinese folk and theatre music through the late imperial period but was largely a folk instrument by the late Qing. Its modern form is essentially a 20th-century reconstruction. In the 1950s, as part of the broader project to build a Chinese national orchestra modelled on the Western symphony, instrument-makers and conservatory faculty in Shanghai and Beijing standardised the ruan into a four-instrument family — gaoruan, xiaoruan, zhongruan and daruan — covering soprano, alto, tenor and bass ranges. The zhongruan became the central middle-register instrument of this section.

Standard tuning of the modern zhongruan is in fifths and fourths (G2-D3-G3-D4 or, for some players, A2-D3-A3-D4), with frets typically following the equal-tempered chromatic scale to allow play in any key — another modern reform that broke from the traditional pentatonic-fret arrangement.

Construction & Materials

The zhongruan body is a fully circular wooden box around 35 centimetres in diameter, with a flat soundboard of paulownia (wu-tong) and a flat back of harder wood. The neck is around 70 centimetres long, slim, and carries 24 chromatic frets — a number that allows two and a half chromatic octaves on each string. The total length of the instrument is just over a metre.

Strings on the modern instrument are steel or nylon-wound steel, replacing the silk strings used historically. Tuning machines have replaced friction pegs on most modern instruments. The bridge sits unattached on the soundboard, secured only by the downward pressure of the strings, which means the player can adjust intonation by moving the bridge.

The MET does not currently hold a documented zhongruan in its Musical Instruments department; the instrument is documented here primarily through Wikipedia, DBpedia and the Wikimedia Commons photograph and audio recording.

How It’s Played

The player sits or stands with the instrument held diagonally across the body, with the round body resting on the right thigh. The right hand plucks the strings with a small plectrum (now usually plastic, formerly tortoiseshell), and the left hand stops the strings against the chromatic frets. The technique is closer to that of the mandolin or the lute than to the pipa: long single-line melodies, chord strums, tremolo on the upper strings, and pizzicato-like figures with the right thumb.

In modern Chinese orchestra writing the zhongruan typically plays inner-voice harmony, sustained chordal accompaniment, or short melodic lines that punctuate the principal voices in the wind and high-string sections. Solo concerto repertoire for the instrument has grown substantially from the 1990s onward.

Cultural Significance

The zhongruan represents one of the most successful examples of the mid-20th-century Chinese instrument-reform project. The wider goal of that project — to build a Chinese orchestra capable of performing both traditional and Western-influenced repertoire — required instruments that could play chromatically, sit in tune with each other, and cover the four standard SATB ranges. The ruan family, fully standardised in this period, met all four requirements.

Outside the orchestra, the zhongruan also features in regional Chinese music, in Cantonese silk-and-bamboo ensembles, in modern crossover and film music, and increasingly in independent solo work. The pop-culture exposure of the ruan has grown markedly through online recordings and through video-game soundtracks.

Notable Examples & Recordings

For listening:

• Liu Bo, The Sound of Ruan — leading contemporary zhongruan and daruan player at the Central Conservatory of Music.
• Wei Yuru, The Art of Ruan — survey recording of the modern ruan family.
• Feng Mantian, ruan recital recordings — leading post-revival player who has carried the ruan into international concert tours.
• Twelve Girls Band — popular crossover ensemble in which the zhongruan is featured alongside the pipa, erhu and dizi.

Related Instruments

• Pipa – the pear-shaped Chinese lute that historically shared the name pipa with the round-bodied ancestor of the ruan.
• Yueqin – the Chinese moon lute, closely related but smaller and with a shorter neck.
• Sanxian – the long-necked Chinese three-string lute.
• Daruan – the larger bass member of the ruan family.
• Liuqin – the soprano member of the modern Chinese plucked-lute section.

Where to Hear It

The China National Traditional Orchestra in Beijing, the Shanghai Chinese Orchestra, the Singapore Chinese Orchestra, the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra and the Taipei Chinese Orchestra all maintain full ruan sections in which the zhongruan is the central voice. Concert tours by these orchestras regularly bring the zhongruan to international audiences. Conservatory recitals at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing and the Shanghai Conservatory feature the instrument throughout the year.

• Wikipedia: Zhongruan
• Wikimedia Commons: Zhongruan image
• Wikimedia Commons: Zhongruan audio

Learning Resources

Conservatory-level study on the zhongruan is centred at the major Chinese conservatories in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and Wuhan, and is increasingly available at conservatories in Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Standard tutors include the Zhongruan Jiaocheng by Liu Bo and the central conservatory’s graded examination materials. The instrument is also taught at the conservatories of the major mainland Chinese music universities and is included in the Chinese Music Examinations Board syllabus. New concert-grade instruments by Beijing and Shanghai makers run from approximately 500 to 3,000 USD; student instruments are widely available from around 200 USD.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between a zhongruan and a pipa?
The zhongruan has a fully circular flat-backed body, a longer neck, four strings tuned in fifths and fourths, and is played with a flat plectrum. The pipa has a pear-shaped body with a curved back, a shorter neck, four strings tuned to A-D-E-A, and is played with the fingertips wearing finger picks.

How many strings does the zhongruan have?
The modern instrument has four strings. Older Chinese ruans documented in historical sources had two, three or four strings depending on the period.

Where was the zhongruan invented?
The ruan family is one of the oldest documented Chinese plucked-lute lineages, with roots in the Han dynasty (3rd century BCE-3rd century CE). The modern four-instrument zhongruan family — soprano, alto, tenor and bass — was standardised in the 1950s as part of the Chinese-orchestra reforms.

Is the zhongruan used in modern Chinese orchestras?
Yes. It is the central middle-register voice of the modern Chinese orchestra, comparable to the viola in the Western symphony orchestra. All major Chinese orchestras maintain a full zhongruan section.

Can the zhongruan play in any key?
Yes. The modern instrument has 24 chromatic frets allowing fully equal-tempered playing in any key — a deliberate design feature of the 1950s reform.

What is the playing technique of the zhongruan?
The right hand plucks with a flat plectrum; the left hand stops the strings against the frets. The technique is closer to the mandolin or the lute than to the pipa, with single-line melodies, tremolo and chord strums all routinely used.