Jadagan Explained

Jadagan
Background:	string
Classification:	String instruments Box zither
Developed:	Antiquity
Related:	Yatga Koto Guzheng Zither Se Gayageum Đàn tranh Kanun (instrument) Kanklės Jetigen Ajaeng Yazheng

The jadagan (Khakas: чадыған, chadyghan, Russian: чатхан, chatkhan, or Siberian harp) is a wooden board zither of the Khakas people in Siberia.

The jadagan usually has 6 or 7 strings stretched across movable bridges and tuned a fourth or fifth apart. The body is hollowed out from underneath like an upturned trough. It has a convex surface and an end bent towards the ground. The strings are plucked and the sound is very smooth. The length of the instrument is around 1.5m (04.9feet).^[1]

The instrument was considered to be sacrosanct and playing it was a rite bound to taboos. It was mainly used at court and in monasteries, since strings symbolised the twelve levels of the palace hierarchy.

In the West

Folklorist Nancy Thym-Hochrein has researched the instrument,^[2] and musician Raphael De Cock is a contemporary player.

Related instruments

• Yatga

Mongolia

• Koto

Japan

• Guzheng

China

• Zither
• Se

China

• Gayageum

Korea

• Đàn tranh

Vietnam

• Kanun (instrument)
• Kanklės

Lithuania

• Jetigen

Kazakhstan

• Ajaeng

Korea

• Yazheng

China

Notes and References

1. Web site: Traditional Instruments of the Khakas people - text in English . 2024-03-01 . www.face-music.ch.
2. Book: International Council for Traditional Music. Columbia University. Dept. of Music. Directory of traditional music. 22 April 2012. 1999. International Council for Traditional Music. 31.