When the past strikes a chord

Liang Pu was just another inquisitive teenager when she first heard about the konghou, an ancient multi-stringed, plucked instrument of the harp family. She was reading Kongque Dongnanfei (The Peacock Flies Southeast)-a long poem narrating the tragic tale of a young married couple-when a particular line about a girl's incredible talent caught Liang's attention.

"At 13, she started to weave. At 14, she knew how to tailor. At 15, she learned to play the konghou," the poem read.

Liang was not a stranger to musical instruments. She had been learning to play keyboard devices, such as the piano and the accordion, since she was a child. However, she had never heard of the konghou before. She rushed to the library to find out more, and even asked her music teachers, but the answers barely satisfied her curiosity.

The konghou is believed to have been first introduced in China through the Silk Road, a network of Eurasian trade routes, during the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220).

The instrument had three main types-the vertical konghou, the horizontal one and the phoenix-headed one. The sound box resembles that of a pipa (yet another traditional Chinese instrument). On each side of the sound box is a row of bridges over which some 36 to 44 strings are stretched.