Among so many ancient musical instruments in China, Guzheng is very famous one which is a Chinese zither with 21 or 25 strings. The history of Chinese Guzheng can dates back to the Spring and Autumn Period, or even much earlier. According to the record of the book Wei Lve, the scholars at that time loved playing music with Chinese Guzheng when they travel in the beautiful attractions of Chu State. Since the ancient people could play Guzheng when traveling Chu States, it indicates Guzheng has appeared in the Spring and Autumn period at least. We can even say it might appear much earlier.
About the origin of Chinese Guzheng, there are different kinds of explanations in the records of the history books. But there are mainly three different ideas as follows. Some of the students who study in Mandarin learning courses might be told one of the origins is from the story of dividing the 50-stringed plucked instrument into Guzheng. In Qin state, the king ordered the musicians to play music. But the music made the king angry and then the instrument was broken into two pieces, forming the musical instruments with 25 strings.
Another historical record about the origin of Chinese Guzheng is that the origin of Guzheng is the same as that of Zhu, which was a kind of ancient hammered string instrument. It has the same appearance with Guzheng and makes sound by hitting the string with bamboo piece. If the former origin is just a legend, this explanation seems convincing and reasonable. From the viewpoint of the development history of Chinese music instruments, the plucked musical instruments appeared after the hammered string instruments. When playing the Zhu, people used the bamboo pieces to make sound but play the Guzheng with fingers. In addition, they have the same appearance, making it is possible that they have the same origin.
The last but not least origin about Chinese Guzheng that the foreign students who study in intensive Mandarin course in China should know is that the Guzheng was made by Meng Tian. According to the record of the history book, Guzheng was very popular in Qin state when Meng Tian was more than twenty years old. Some people said Meng Tian might have the ability of making Guzheng but had no the condition of time. It seemed not convincing that Menh Tian made Guzheng but it was possible that he made some improvement on the Chinese Guzheng.