Bamboo pipes[?] and
qin are among the oldest known
musical instruments from
China; instruments are traditionally divided into categories based on their material of composition: skin, gourd, bamboo, wood, silk, earth/clay, metal and stone. Chinese
orchestras traditionally consist of
bowed strings[?],
woodwinds,
plucked strings[?] and
percussion. The oldest written music is
Orchid in Seclusion[?], attributed to
Confucius. The first major well-documented flowering of Chinese music was for the qin during the
Tang Dynasty, though the qin is known to have been played since before the
Han Dynasty.
Traditional orchestral instruments:
Woodwind and percussion
bowed strings
plucked strings