The ruan (Chinese: 阮; pinyin: ruǎn) is a traditional Chinese plucked string instrument. It resembles a lute with a fretted neck, a round body, and four strings. The strings were once made of silk, but since the 1900s, they have been made of steel, with flat-wound strings used for the lower ones. The modern ruan has 24 frets, with 12 semitones on each string, increasing its range from the previous 13 frets. Frets are often made of ivory, but now they are usually made of metal attached to wood. Metal frets create a brighter sound compared to ivory frets. It is also called ruanqin, especially in Taiwan.

Sizes

The ruan comes in five different sizes:

• soprano: gaoyinruan (高音阮, meaning "high pitched ruan"; tuning: G3-D4-G4-D5)
• alto: xiaoruan (小阮, meaning "small ruan"; tuning: D3-A3-D4-A4)
• tenor: zhongruan (中阮, meaning "medium ruan"; tuning: G2-D3-G3-D4)
• bass: daruan (大阮, meaning "large ruan"; tuning: D2-A2-D3-A3)
• contrabass: diyinruan (低音阮, meaning "low pitched ruan"; tuning: G1-D2-G2-D3)

The ruan is now most commonly used in Chinese opera and the Chinese orchestra, where it belongs to the plucked string (弹拨乐 or chordophone) section.

Playing techniques and usage

The instrument can be played with a pick similar to a guitar pick (once made from animal horn, but now often made of plastic), or with two or five acrylic nails attached to the fingers using tape. Most ruan players use picks, but some schools teach the fingernail method, like the pipa. Pipa players who also play ruan often use their fingernails. Picks create a louder and clearer sound, while fingernails allow for music with multiple melodies. The instrument has a soft, mellow tone.

In Chinese orchestras, only the zhongruan and daruan are commonly used to play the middle and low-pitched parts of the plucked string section. Sometimes the gaoyinruan is used to replace the high-pitched liuqin.

Daruan soloists usually use the D-A-D-A tuning because it makes it easier to play simple chords. Some orchestral players use C-G-D-A tuning, which matches the cello's tuning. Using C-G-D-A helps the daruan match the cello's part in an orchestra.

A ruan ensemble (重奏) includes two or more members of the ruan family, such as xiaoruan, zhongruan, and daruan. The wide range of the ruan, its smooth sound, and the variety of high, medium, middle, low, and very low instruments make ruan ensembles effective for playing music with many different melodies.

History

The ruan may have a history of over 2,000 years. Its earliest form was the qin pipa (秦琵琶), which later evolved into the ruanxian (阮咸), named after the musician Ruan Xian. Over time, the name was shortened to "ruan" (阮). In ancient Chinese texts from the Han to the Tang dynasty, the word "pipa" was used as a general term for many plucked string instruments, including the ruan. This does not mean the same as the modern pipa, which refers only to the pear-shaped instrument. According to the Pipa Annals (琵琶赋) by Fu Xuan of the Western Jin dynasty, the pipa was created by combining elements from other Chinese string instruments, such as the zheng (筝), zhu (筑), and konghou (箜篌), which is a type of harp. However, some believe the ruan may have developed from an instrument called xiantao (弦鼗), made by workers on the Great Wall during the late Qin dynasty. This is why it was called the "Qin pipa."

During the Qin dynasty (221 BC–206 BC), the ruan’s early version, the Qin pipa, had a long, straight neck and a round sound box, unlike the pear-shaped pipa used in later dynasties. The name "pipa" comes from "tantiao" (彈挑), a technique for playing string instruments. "Pi" (琵) refers to the downward motion of plucking, while "pa" (琶) refers to the upward motion.

The name "ruan" was not used until the Tang dynasty (8th century). During the reign of Empress Wu Zetian (about 684–704 AD), a copper instrument resembling the Qin pipa was found in an ancient tomb in Sichuan. It had 13 frets and a round sound box. It was believed to be the instrument played by Ruan Xian, a famous musician from the Eastern Jin dynasty (3rd century). Ruan Xian was one of seven scholars who rejected the corrupt government and gathered in a bamboo grove in Shanyang (now in Henan province). They drank, wrote poetry, and played music together. This group became known as the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove (竹林七賢). Because Ruan Xian was known for playing this instrument, it was named "ruanxian" (阮咸) after him. Today, the name is shortened to "ruan."

During the Tang dynasty, a ruanxian was brought to Japan from China. It is still kept in the Shosoin collection at the Nara National Museum in Japan. The instrument was made of red sandalwood and decorated with mother-of-pearl inlay. This ancient ruanxian shows that the design of the modern ruan has changed little since the 8th century.

Today, the ruan is not as popular as the pipa, but it has given rise to smaller, more well-known instruments in recent centuries, such as the yueqin ("moon" lute, 月琴) and qinqin (Qin lute, 秦琴). The yueqin has a short neck and no sound holes, and is now used mainly in Beijing opera. The qinqin has a long neck and is used in Cantonese and Chaozhou musical ensembles.

The famous Tang poet Bai Juyi (白居易) once wrote a poem about the ruan, titled Having a Little Drink and Listening to the Ruanxian with the Deputy Minister of Linghu (和令狐仆射小饮听阮咸):

掩抑復淒清，非琴不是箏。
還彈樂府曲，別占阮家名。
古調何人識，初聞滿座驚。
落盤珠歷歷，搖佩玉琤琤。
似勸杯中物，如含林下情。
時移音律改，豈是昔時聲。

Translation:
Gloom and melancholy compounded with misery and desolation;
It is not a qin, nor is it a zheng.
It still plays yuefu songs,
And bears the name of the Ruan family.
Who today knows the ancient melodies?
Yet, upon first hearing, all in attendance are left in awe.
Pearls fall on a platter, one by one;
Shaken pendants of jade jangle.
As if to urge listeners to drain their winecups,
Or to harbor emotions like those felt beneath a grove.
As times change, so too does music;
Can this be the sound of former times?

Ruan and Pipa

A small pipa was discovered in paintings from tombs in Liaoning province, located in northeastern China. These tombs are dated to the late Eastern Han or Wei dynasty, around 220–265 AD. However, the pear-shaped pipa was not introduced to China from Dunhuang, now in northwestern China, until the Northern Wei dynasty (386–524 AD). This happened during the Silk Road trade between ancient China and western countries. Evidence of many pipas is found in the Dunhuang Caves paintings, which date to the 4th to 5th centuries.

During the Han dynasty (206 BC–220 AD), Lady Wang Zhaojun, known as one of the Four Beauties of ancient China, traveled west from China’s mainland to marry the Grand Khan of the Huns. This marriage aimed to keep peace between the two regions. She carried a pipa on her horse during the journey. Today, it is likely that her pipa was a ruan-type instrument with a round sound box, as the pear-shaped pipa did not arrive in China until after the Han dynasty, during the Northern Wei period. However, most portraits and plays show Lady Zhaojun’s pipa inaccurately, often depicting it with a pear-shaped sound box, like the modern pipa.

The frets on Chinese lutes are positioned high, so the fingers do not touch the instrument’s body. This is different from Western lutes. This design allows musicians greater control over the sound and pitch, but it makes playing chords more challenging.

Laruan(bowedruan)

In addition to the ruan instruments that are played by plucking the strings, there are also bowed string instruments called lāruǎn and dalaruan (which means "bowed ruan" and "large bowed ruan"). These instruments are designed to play low, deep sounds and are used instead of the gehu and diyingehu in large Chinese traditional orchestras. They have a similar range to the cello and double bass. Chinese orchestras that currently use the laruan and dalaruan include the China National Traditional Orchestra and the Central Broadcasting National Orchestra, which was once led by the late maestro Peng Xiuwen.

Repertoire

A well-known piece in the zhongruan music collection is the zhongruan concerto "Reminiscences of Yunnan" (云南回忆) by Liu Xing (刘星, born in China in 1962). This work is the first complete concerto written for the zhongruan and the Chinese orchestra. It helped prove that the zhongruan can perform solo with the Chinese orchestra.

Some works written for the ruan include:

• Red Fills the River – zhongruan concerto
• Love of the Han Pipa – zhongruan concerto
• Narration of Yuguan – ruan quartet
• Mountain Tune – zhongruan concerto
• Sound Poem Beyond The Great Wall – zhongruan concerto
• The Water Festival – ruan tecerto
• Water Lilies – zhongruan solo
• Night of the Torch Festival – zhongruan solo
• The Legend of Cuihuashan

Some works for the ruan by Lin Jiliang include:

• Stone Tune
• Flowers Open in Fenghuang (translated from MDBG.net)
• Red Fills the River
• Dong Song
• Grassland Reflections
• Song of the Herdsman
• Night Melody of Stone Forest

Some works for the ruan by Liu Xing include:

• Reminiscences of Yunnan – zhongruan concerto
• Second Zhongruan Concerto
• Mountain Song – zhongruan solo
• Moonlight – zhongruan solo
• Solitary Beauty – zhongruan solo
• Between Heaven and Earth – zhongruan solo
• No. 6 – Whimsical Thoughts – zhongruan duet
• No. 7 – Long Night, Many Dreams – zhongruan solo
• No. 11 – Distracted Heart – zhongruan solo
• Lingering and Forgetting – zhongruan solo
• Following the Heart – zhongruan solo
• Changing One’s Mind – zhongruan solo
• Looking Forward to the Future – zhongruan solo
• Doing Nothing – zhongruan solo
• Water Flows, Channel Forms – zhongruan solo
• Feeling Happy and Free – zhongruan solo

Some works for the ruan by Ning Yong include:

• Flying Dragons in Drum Beats – zhongruan solo (composed with Lin Jiliang)
• Camel Bells on the Silk Road – zhongruan / daruan solo
• Snow at Lan Guan – zhongruan solo
• Ancient Tune of Zhongnan – zhongruan / daruan solo
• Looking at Qinchuan – zhongruan solo

Notable players and composers

• Cui Jun Miao ( 崔军淼 )
• Ding Xiaoyan ( 丁晓燕 )
• Fei Jian Rong ( 费剑蓉 )
• Feng Mantian ( 冯满天 )
• Lin Jiliang ( 林吉良 )
• Liu Bo ( 刘波 )
• Liu Xing ( 刘星 )
• Miao Xiaoyun ( 苗晓芸 )
• Ning Yong ( 宁勇 )
• NiNi Music
• Ruan Shi Chun ( 阮仕春 )
• Shen Fei ( 沈非 )
• Su Handa ( 苏涵达 )
• Tan Su-Min, Clara ( 陈素敏 )
• Wang Zhong Bing ( 王仲丙 )
• Wei Wei ( 魏蔚 )
• Wei Yuru ( 魏育茹 )
• Wu Qiang ( 吴强 )
• Xu Yang ( 徐阳 )
• Zhang Rong Hui ( 张蓉晖 )