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Rong-Sen Dong, a Taiwanese composer, has a significant contribution to the development of Traditional Chinese Music in Taiwan with abundant and diverse compositions during his lifetime. Dong has composed eight zheng works through his whole life, which are Six-sectioned Exercises, Music of Peace, Warm Spring Water, the Shiny Green Valley, the Gurgling Water, Playing the play, the Maple Love, Rosy Clouds of the Dong Shan River. The study aims to probe into all of Rong-sen Dong’s zheng works, being chaptered according to the form and content of works, and respectively discusses pieces from the aspects of the composing year, composing background and composing methods. Dong’ s solo Zheng works were mainly composed during the 60s and 80s, belonging to the early zheng compositions of Taiwan Zheng music. The common trait of these works was the high emphasis on applications of the basic performing techniques of zheng music. The ensemble and concerto forms were mainly presented in the 90s of frequent cultural exchange. The former mainly dealt with the Mother Nature and scenery through the sweet and lively melodic lines. Otherwise, the later took good advantages of the abundant timbre and skills of zheng to present the elegance and subtlety of its tonal qualities, and also the diversity of zheng’s performing skills and timbre. The research result revealed that composing skills of Dong show conscientious focus on the basic playing techniques in the early period, then the plucking by right hand with the pressing for changing pitches by the left hand, to finally melody-playing by the both hands. The structure also presented a developing trace from early small pieces like etudes, gradually to solo pieces, ensemble works, and then concerto works. In the aspect of timber, acoustic effects and orchestration, Dong was good at changing the timbre by different performing methods, presenting rich acoustic layers through the alternative arrangement among different parts of distinct registers and the responses of musical phrases. Moreover, concerning the composing materials, Dong’s range was extensive, and he turned materials whether from local zheng music or from folk operas into his composing vocabulary. While reviewing Rong-Sen Dong’s artistic life, it is obvious that Dong dedicates his life to the education, composition and promotion of Chinese music in Taiwan, and has huge contributions to the cultivation and development of zheng music in Taiwan. With his great creativity, Dong wrote many chapters for zheng through his music, and left a good reputation.
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