Today, the categories of instruments are based on how they are played. The modern categories are plucked, bowed, wind and percussion. Plucked instruments are stringed instruments played with the finger similar to the guitar. Some examples are the liuqin , the pipa , the ruan , the sanxian, the yangqin , the yueqin and the zheng . Bowed instruments are stringed instruments that are played with a bow and are similar to the violin.
Some examples are the banhu , the erhu , the gaohu , the gehu and the zhonghu .
Wind instruments are blown into to create sound and can be compared to the flute. Some examples are the di , the sheng and the xiao . Percussion instruments make noise by contact and can be compared to the drums. Some examples are the bells, the cymbals, the gu , the luo , the muyu and the junlou . There are many different types of Chinese music.