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The se () is an ancient Chinese plucked zither (string instrument). It is probably the ancestor of many Asian zithers, including the Chinese guzheng and the Japanese koto. It has 25 strings with moveable bridges and has a range of up to five octaves.
History
The history of the se extends back to early Chinese history. It is one of the most important stringed instruments to be created in China, other than guqin and guzheng. Surviving specimens have been excavated from places such as the Hubei and Hunan provinces, and the Jiangnan region of China. Other places include Jiangsu, Anhui, Shandong, and Liaoning.
According to legend, Fuxi created the se. It is also believed that by the Xia dynasty the se already came into being. It is said that the word for music, yue, is composed of the characters si for silk and mu for wood, and that it is a representation of the instrument.
There are also many mentions in Chinese literature, such as Shijing and Lunyu. The se could have been used to entertain guests, as well as for ritual performance and hunting rituals.
A similar instrument called seul, derived from the se, is still used in the Confucian ritual music of South Korea, which is performed each year at the Munmyo Shrine in Seoul.
Construction
The se's strings were made of twisted silk, in varying thicknesses. According to Lüshi Chunqiu on the number of strings that the se has: "A five stringed se, then became a fifteen stringed se. When Shun came to power, he added eight strings, so it became twenty-three." Another view suggests that the se started out with 50 strings. The Shiban later changes it to 25. "A big se has 50 strings, a middle se has 25." It also says that Fuxi created the 50 stringed se, called Sha whilst the Yellow Emperor reduced it to 25. There also is a "small se" that has half of the strings, 13 strings (like the Japanese koto). But archeological evidence has also unearthed se with 25, 24, 23, or 19 strings. The string number differs from place to place. The length is also different.
Unearthed se have similar construction, namely a flat long sound-board made of wood. The surface board of the se is slightly curved, and has three end bridges and one bridge at the head, plus four wooden posts for the strings to wrap around (some have two or three only). The posts also have patternation or decoration. The tail-end of the instrument has a long " 冂 " shaped opening for the strings to pass through. To string the instrument, one needs to tie a butterfly knot at the head of the string, strung through a bamboo rod, over the bridge at the head and over the main body of the instrument and over into the tail-end bridge into the instrument, out of the sound hole at the bottom of the instrument, over the tail-end and wrapped around the posts in four or three groups.
Although both are ancient zithers, one should note that the guqin and the se are different instruments in their own right.
Playing context
There are very few players of the se, which is considered an extinct instrument. The only notable se player in the 20th century was Wu Jinglüe, who was primarily a qin player. There are also very little musical tablature, a majority existing in qinpu (tablature for the guqin) in which the se was used to provide accompaniment for the qin.
Recently, there has been a revived interest in the se, with some musicians studying it. There are also a few factories that make a modern se using metal-nylon strings, though the instrument needs to be properly researched using modern mediums for it to be fully acceptable as a playable instrument for general musical purposes.
External links
- Chime: Se Chinese site with pictures of se (and qins)
- A modern se Unstrung with bridges
- Photo of se
- Image of a Korean seul
See also
"Se (instrument)"