Erhu

The erhu (二胡, Pinyin èrhú), commonly known in the West as the 'Chinese violin', is a two-stringed bowed instrument, capable of producing sad, mysterious, joyful or voice-like melodies. It belongs to the huqin family of Chinese instruments, together with the zhonghu, gaohu, banhu, and sihu. The erhu dates back to the 13th century. It is believed to evolve from the xiqin(奚琴), which was described as a foreign, two-stringed lute in an encyclopedic work on music by music theorist Chen Yang called Yue Shu, written during the Northern Song Dynasty. The xiqin is believed to originate from Central Asia, and have come to China in the 10th century.

Related Topics:
Pinyin - Bowed - Instrument - Huqin - Chinese instruments - Zhonghu - Gaohu - Sihu - 13th century - Xiqin - Music theorist - Chen Yang - Song Dynasty - Central Asia - China - 10th century

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The first character of the name of the instrument (二) is derived from the fact that it has two strings. The second character (胡) indicates that it is part of the huqin family. The name of the huqin family, in turn, indicates "barbarian" origins, showing that the instrument may have been based on Mongolian bowed instruments.

Related Topics:
Barbarian - Mongolian

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The erhu is unique in that sound is produced through the vibration of the python skin stretched over the qin tong (sound box) of the instrument (which in Southern China is hexagonal, while it is pentagonal in Northern China). The bow hair is never separated from the strings (which were formerly of twisted silk but are today usually made of metal); it passes between them as opposed to over them, as with western bowed stringed instruments.

Related Topics:
Python - Qin tong - Sound box - Stringed instruments

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The tip of the hardwood neck is sometimes elaborately carved into shapes such as a bat or dragon's head.

Related Topics:
Hardwood - Carved - Bat - Dragon

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A notable composer for the erhu was Liu Tianhua, a Chinese musician who studied Western music as well. Many of his works for the instrument from the 1920s are still played frequently.

Related Topics:
Composer - Liu Tianhua - Music - 1920s

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