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Why were stringed instruments placed in the silk category of the eight sounds system?
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Chinese music
Twelve pitches of Chinese music as produced by overblowing the lü, bamboo tuning pipes (starting for ease of comparison from Western C).
In the ancient Chinese system of classification known as the eight sounds (ba yin), instruments were categorized based on the primary material used in their construction.1
Stringed instruments were placed in the "silk" category because, historically, their strings were crafted from twisted silk rather than materials like animal gut or metal. This classification system, which dates back to the Xi (Western) Zhou dynasty, also included categories for stone, earth, bamboo, metal, skin, wood, and gourd. The term sizhu, which refers to traditional Chinese chamber music ensembles, literally translates to "silk and bamboo," reflecting the prominence of these stringed and wind instruments in Chinese musical tradition.12