Collaborative Practice of Konghou and Guzheng in Poland: A Performer’s Perspective on the Overseas Communication of Traditional Chinese Music

Abstract

Based on the long-term collaborative practice between a konghou performer and a guzheng performer in Poland from 2021 to 2024, this paper explores the overseas communication paths of traditional Chinese plucked instruments. Focusing on the instrumental combination of konghou and guzheng, the study analyzes how these two instruments, with profound historical origins but different professional development paths, work synergistically in international performances, teaching, and cultural communication. The guzheng represents a mature and uninterrupted Chinese music discipline system, while the konghou—highly related to the Western harp in instrument structure—has experienced a developmental trajectory of historical interruption, modern revival, and reconstruction in the contemporary context. Drawing on cases such as the Warsaw International Intercultural Art Festival, workshops held at music colleges in Kraków and Katowice, and a bilingual online seminar, this paper discusses how performer collaboration, institutional participation, and audience interaction promote the formation of a common musical language and the construction of a sustainable cross-cultural communication model.