. "The sanxian (Chinese: \u4E09\u5F26, literally \"three strings\") is a Chinese lute \u2014 a three-stringed fretless plucked musical instrument. It has a long fingerboard, and the body is traditionally made from snake skin stretched over a rounded rectangular resonator. It is made in several sizes for different purposes and in the late 20th century a four-stringed version was also developed."@en . .