Fangxiang
Drawing of Chinese fangxiang | |
| Metal | |
|---|---|
| Classification | metallophone |
| Hornbostel–Sachs classification | 111.222 (Percussion) |
| Developed | 502—557 (Liang dynasty) |
| Related instruments | |
| banghyang, hōkyō (kanji: 方響). | |
The fangxiang (also fang xiang, fang hsiang; simplified Chinese: 方响; traditional Chinese: 方響; pinyin: fāngxiǎng; also known in the West as the Chinese chang) is an organized-suspended (bianxuan) Chinese metallophone that has been used for over 1,000 years. It was first used in the Liang dynasty (502—557 CE), and then standardized in the Sui and Tang dynasties mostly for court music.