THE TRADITIONAL CHINESE MUSICAL INSTRUMENT GUZHENG IN THE FOCUS OF SCIENTIFIC THOUGHT

Abstract

The article problematizes the issue of studying guzheng (zheng) – a traditional Chinese musical instrument that has more than two thousand years of history and does not lose its relevance in modern musical culture, both Chinese and Western. This testifies to the possibility of flexible adaptation of the guzheng sound to the new historical and socio-cultural context, and, accordingly, to its great semantic potential. The purpose of the article is the analysis of scientific sources dedicated to the multifaceted and multidirectional study of guzheng, as well as the systematization of existing scientific approaches to the study of this musical instrument. The novelty consists in the systematization of scientific views on the guzheng phenomenon, as well as in the introduction into the scientific circulation of Ukrainian musicology of those sources that were not previously in the focus of scientists. Analytical, system-typological, cultural, and historical research methods are used to achieve the goal. The conclusions state that today there are thorough scientific works dedicated to the study of guzheng (zheng) in various aspects. They examine the construction of the tool; the history of its origin; stages of its development in the cultural and historical context of different eras; artistic, aesthetic and technical features of performance on zhen; trends of modernization and professionalization, which were determined, among other things, by interaction with Western culture during the 20th century; the newest conditions of Zheng’s functioning, its potential opportunities in the new cultural and historical context. For the most part, the authors use the following research methods: organological, ethnomusicological, historical, cultural. In some works, philosophical and aesthetic positions are emphasized, which explain the culture of life in zheng, therefore, an artistic and aesthetic approach is applied. And the attempt to investigate the functioning of zheng in different geographical locations presupposes the use of a comparative approach.