箜篌，是一种拨弦乐器。汉武帝令乐人侯调始造空侯。《风俗通》、《通典》则说是侯调所作。因为制器的人姓侯，而其声坎坎，所以叫坎侯。

分卧式和竖式两种。卧箜篌平放横弹似瑟，又称箜篌瑟，是公元前111年产生于汉代的乐器。

竖头箜篌，又名胡箜篌，约在汉灵帝时由西域传入。箜篌高三尺许．形如半边木梳，弦数因乐器大小而不同，最少的5根弦，最多的25根弦，竖头箜篌经过隋唐至明时期数代的的发展和改进，配合本土的音乐文化习惯，创造出了唐箜篌，明箜篌等新式箜篌。在龟兹石窟的壁画中，曲项琵琶与竖箜篌常配组出现在佛说法图、涅般图、因缘故事和伎乐天人的供养图中。

The konghou (Chinese:箜篌; pinyin:kōnghóu) is an ancient Chinese harp. The konghou, also known as kanhou, became extinct sometime in the Ming Dynasty. It has been revived in the 20th century as a double bridge harp; the modern version of the instrument does not resemble the ancient one, but its shape is similar to Western concert harps.