箜篌

In the Records of the Grand Historian 《史記·封禪書》, a fretted zither plucked with a slender stick was attested as the form 空侯 (OC *kʰoːŋ ɡoː) during the reign of the Emperor Wu of Han [111 BCE]. It is uncertain whether the name of the later instruments (angular harp and arched harp) bearing the (orthographically normalised) name 箜篌 (kōnghóu) had inherited from the Han-era one. The name might have originated as transcription of a foreign term from the west.

Compare Sogdian [script needed] (cngryʾ /čangaryā/), [script needed] (cyngryʾ /čingaryā/), both names of this instrument in the Sogdian language, as well as Persian چنگ‎ (čang) and the Turkic harp of çeng. (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)

箜篌

1. (music, chiefly historical) a term used to refer to one of a number of different plucked string instruments (mostly harps) used in the music of ancient China

• This instrument has been revived in modernized form in the 20th century.

• 空侯

• 坎侯

From Old Japanese. First attested in a text from 780.[1]

Also found with the lengthened reading kūgo. This appears to be less commonly used.[1][2][3]

Standard:

• (Tokyo) く​ご [kúꜜgò] (Atamadaka – [1])[3]
• IPA^(key): [kɯ̟ᵝɡo̞]

Lenthened:

• (Tokyo) く​うご [kúꜜùgò] (Atamadaka – [1])[3]
• IPA^(key): [kɯ̟ᵝːɡo̞]

箜(く)篌(ご) or 箜篌(くうご) • (kugo or kūgo) 

1. a konghou, a kind of ancient Chinese harp

• 百済(くだら)琴(ごと) (kudaragoto)

箜篌 • (gonghu) (hangeul 공후)

1. Hanja form^? of 공후 (“any of a number of harps used in ancient East Asia”).