What it means
چنگ (chang) is the Persian harp, a plucked string instrument with a long history in Iranian musical culture. Dehkhoda’s lexicon cites Ibn Khordadbeh’s statement that the chang was an Iranian invention, and traces evidence of the instrument back more than two thousand years. During the Sassanid period the chang was considered the most celebrated court instrument. Its use declined after the Islamic conquests, and by the modern era it had largely disappeared from living performance practice, surviving mainly in Persian poetry and miniature painting. A contemporary revival movement has worked to reconstruct and reintroduce it.
How to use it
- چنگ از قدیمیترین سازهای ایرانیه. (chang az ghadimi-tarin sâzhâ-ye irâniye.) “The chang is one of the oldest Iranian instruments.”
- نقاشیهای قدیمی ایران پر از چنگه. (naqqâshi-hâ-ye ghadimi-ye irân por az change.) “Old Iranian paintings are full of the chang.”
- صدای چنگ خیلی لطیفه. (sedâ-ye chang kheyli latife.) “The sound of the chang is very delicate.”
- حافظ از چنگ تو شعرش خیلی یاد میکنه. (hâfez az chang tu she’resh kheyli yâd mikone.) “Hafez mentions the chang often in his poetry.”
Cultural note
The chang appears prominently in Shahnameh, the Divan of Hafez, and in the famous Taq-e Bostan rock reliefs from the late Sassanid era, where female musicians are depicted playing it on a royal boat hunt. The instrument is closely linked to the legendary court musician Nakisa, who served Khosrow II. Modern luthiers and performers, particularly in Iran and among the diaspora, have worked since the 1990s to reconstruct the chang based on historical depictions and surviving descriptions.