Traditional music in China is played on solo instruments or in small ensembles of plucked and bowed stringed instruments, flutes, and various cymbals, gongs, and drums. The scale is pentatonic. Bamboo pipes and qin are among the oldest known musical instruments from China; instruments are traditionally divided into categories based on their material of composition: animal skins, gourd, bamboo, wood, silk, earth/clay, metal and stone. Chinese orchestras traditionally consist of bowed strings, woodwinds, plucked strings and percussion......

The Eight Sounds (八音)

The eight categories are: silk, bamboo, wood, stone, metal, clay, gourd and hide. There are other instruments which may not fit these classifications.

Silk (絲)

Silk instruments are mostly stringed instruments (including those that are plucked, bowed, and struck). Since ancient times the Chinese have used twisted silk for strings, though today metal or nylon are more frequently used. Instruments in the silk category include:

Plucked

Guqin (Chinese: 古琴; pinyin: gǔqín) - 7-stringed zither
Se (Chinese: 瑟; pinyin: sè) - 25-stringed zither with moveable bridges (ancient sources say 13, 25 or 50 strings)
Guzheng (古箏) - 16-26 stringed zither with movable bridges
Konghou (箜篌) - harp
Pipa (琵琶) - pear-shaped fretted lute with 4 or 5 strings
Sanxian (三弦) - plucked lute with body covered with snakeskin and long fretless neck
Ruan (Chinese: 阮; pinyin: ruǎn) - moon-shaped lute in five sizes: gaoyin-, xiao-, zhong-, da-, and diyin-; sometimes called ruanqin (阮琴)
Liuqin (柳琴) - small plucked, fretted lute with a pear-shaped body and four strings
Yueqin (月琴) - plucked lute with a wooden body, a short fretted neck, and four strings tuned in pairs
Qinqin (秦琴) - plucked lute with a wooden body and fretted neck; also called meihuaqin (梅花琴, literally "plum blossom instrument," on account of its flower-shaped body)
Duxianqin (simplified Chinese: 独弦琴; traditional Chinese: 獨弦琴) - plucked zither with only one string

Bowed

Huqin (胡琴) - family of vertical fiddles
Erhu (二胡) - two-stringed fiddle
Zhonghu (中胡) - two-stringed fiddle, lower pitch than erhu
Gaohu (高胡) - two-stringed fiddle, higher pitch than erhu; also called yuehu (粤胡)
Banhu (板胡) - two-stringed fiddle with a coconut resonator and wooden face, used primarily in northern China
Jinghu (京胡) - two-stringed fiddle, very high pitched, used mainly for Beijing opera
Jing erhu (京二胡) - erhu used in Beijing opera
Erxian (二弦) - two-stringed fiddle, used in Cantonese, Chaozhou, and nanguan music
Tiqin (提琴) - two-stringed fiddle, used in kunqu, Chaozhou, Cantonese, Fujian, and Taiwanese music
Yehu (椰胡) - two-stringed fiddle with coconut body, used primarily in Cantonese and Chaozhou music
Daguangxian (大广弦) - two-stringed fiddle used in Taiwan and Fujian, primarily by Min Nan and Hakka people; also called datongxian (大筒弦), guangxian (广弦), and daguanxian (大管弦)
Datong (大筒) - two-stringed fiddle used in the traditional music of Hunan
Kezaixian (壳仔弦) - two-stringed fiddle with coconut body, used in Taiwan opera
Liujiaoxian (六角弦) - two-stringed fiddle with hexagonal body, similar to the jing erhu; used primarily in Taiwan
Tiexianzai (鐵弦仔) - a two-stringed fiddle with metal amplifying horn at the end of its neck, used in Taiwan; also called guchuixian (鼓吹弦)
Hexian (和弦) - large fiddle used primarily among the Hakka of Taiwan
Huluqin (葫芦琴) - two-stringed fiddle with gourd body used by the Naxi of Yunnan
Huluhu (simplified Chinese: 葫芦胡; traditional Chinese: 葫盧胡) - two-stringed fiddle with gourd body used by the Zhuang of Guangxi
Maguhu (simplified Chinese: 马骨胡; traditional Chinese: 馬骨胡; pinyin: mǎgǔhú) - two-stringed fiddle with horse bone body used by the Zhuang and Buyei peoples of southern China
Tuhu (土胡) - two-stringed fiddle used by the Zhuang people of Guangxi
Jiaohu (角胡) - two-stringed fiddle used by the Gelao people of Guangxi, as well as the Miao and Dong
Sihu (四胡) - four-stringed fiddle with strings tuned in pairs
Sanhu (三胡) - 3-stringed erhu with an additional bass string; developed in the 1970s
Zhuihu (simplified Chinese: 坠胡; traditional Chinese: 墜胡) - two-stringed fiddle with fingerboard
Zhuiqin (traditional: 墜琴; simplified: 坠琴) - two-stringed fiddle with fingerboard
Leiqin (雷琴) - two-stringed fiddle with fingerboard
Dihu (低胡) - low pitched two-stringed fiddles in the erhu family, in three sizes:
Xiaodihu (小低胡) - small dihu, tuned one octave below the erhu
Zhongdihu (中低胡) - medium dihu, tuned one octave below the zhonghu
Dadihu (大低胡) - large dihu, tuned two octaves below the erhu
Dahu (大胡) - another name for the xiaodihu
Cizhonghu - another name for the xiaodihu
Gehu (革胡) - four-stringed bass instrument, tuned and played like cello
Diyingehu (低音革胡) - four stringed contrabass instrument, tuned and played like double bass
Laruan (拉阮) - four-stringed bowed instrument modeled on the cello
Paqin (琶琴) - modern bowed instrument
Dapaqin (大琶琴) - bass paqin
Dixianqin (低絃琴)
Niutuiqin or niubatui (牛腿琴 or 牛巴腿) - two-stringed fiddle used by the Dong people of Guizhou
Matouqin (馬頭琴) - (Mongolian: morin khuur) - Mongolian two-stringed "horsehead fiddle"
Xiqin (奚琴) - ancient prototype of huqin family of instruments
Yazheng (simplified: 轧筝; traditional: 軋箏) - bowed zither; also called yaqin (simplified: 轧琴; traditional: 軋琴)
Zhengni (筝尼) - bowed zither; used by the Zhuang people of Guangxi
Aijieke (艾捷克) - four-stringed bowed instrument used in Xinjiang; similar to kamancheh
Sataer (萨它尔) - long-necked bowed lute used in Xinjiang

Bamboo (竹)

Bamboo mainly refers to woodwind instruments, which includes;

Flutes

Dizi (笛子) - transverse bamboo flute with buzzing membrane
Bangdi (梆笛)
Xiao (simplified Chinese: 箫; traditional Chinese: 簫; pinyin: xiāo) - end-blown flute; also called dongxiao (simplified Chinese: 洞箫; traditional Chinese: 洞簫)
Paixiao (simplified Chinese: 排箫; traditional Chinese: 排簫; pinyin: páixiāo) - pan pipes
Chi (篪; pinyin: chí) - ancient transverse bamboo flute
Yue (籥; pinyin: yuè) - ancient notched vertical bamboo flute with three finger holes; used in Confucian ritual music and dance
Xindi (新笛) - modern transverse flute with as many as 21 holes
Dongdi (侗笛) - wind instrument of the Dong people of southern China
Koudi (口笛; pinyin: kǒudí) - very small transverse bamboo flute

Oboes

Guan (Chinese: 管; pinyin: guǎn) - cylindrical double reed wind instrument made of either hardwood (Northern China) or bamboo (Cantonese); the northern version is also called guanzi (管子) or bili (traditional: 篳篥; simplified: 筚篥), the Cantonese version is also called houguan (喉管), and the Taiwanese version is called 鸭母哒仔, 鴨母笛, or Taiwan guan (台湾管)
Suona (simplified Chinese: 唢呐; traditional Chinese: 嗩吶) - double-reed wind instrument with a flaring metal bell; also called haidi (海笛)

Free reed pipes

Bawu (simplified Chinese: 巴乌; traditional Chinese: 巴烏; pinyin: bāwū) - side-blown free reed pipe with finger holes
Mangtong (芒筒; pinyin: mángtǒng) - end-blown free reed pipe producing a single pitch

Single reed pipes

Mabu (马布) - single-reed bamboo pipe played by the Yi people