The erhu: the two-stringed Chinese fiddle
History and secrets of the erhu, the Chinese two-stringed fiddle: origins of the huqin, python-skin sound box, voice-like timbre and Abing's masterpiece.
La rédaction Kotoba
Studio éditorial
A long note rises, quivering, almost human: you would think you were hearing a voice that weeps, slides and sighs. Yet on the musician's lap there is only a slender wooden neck, two strings and a small round box. The bow goes back and forth, caught between the strings, giving birth to a melody of heartbreaking melancholy. This instrument able to imitate song and tears is the erhu.
The is a Chinese two-stringed bowed fiddle, one of the best-loved instruments in China. With no fingerboard or neck pressed against a nut, gifted with a timbre strikingly close to the voice, it holds a singular place in Chinese music — from opera to the concert hall. To understand it is to listen to another way of making strings sing.
From the steppe fiddle to a Chinese instrument#
The erhu belongs to the great family of , the bowed fiddles of China. The name itself betrays its origin: hu (胡) referred to the peoples "of the North," the nomads of Central Asia, and qin (琴) to a stringed instrument. Introduced to China more than a thousand years ago, under the Tang and Song dynasties, these fiddles from the steppes were gradually adopted and transformed into properly Chinese instruments.
Over the centuries, the huqin family diversified into a host of instruments — gaohu, zhonghu, banhu, jinghu — distinguished by their size and register. The erhu, a fiddle of middle register, established itself as the most widespread and versatile of all, to the point of becoming the very symbol of the Chinese bowed string.
The erhu rests on no fingerboard: the note hangs only on the accuracy of the hand, suspended in the void.
Anatomy of a singular instrument#
The erhu consists of a long vertical neck set into a small sound box (qiantong), often hexagonal, whose front face is stretched with a thin python skin. It is this membrane that gives the instrument its nasal, singing timbre. Two strings, once of silk, today of metal, run from the top of the neck down to the box.
The most disconcerting feature lies in the bow: its hairs pass between the two strings, so that it cannot be detached from them. The musician plays seated, the instrument resting on the thigh, and presses the strings with the fingertips without pressing them against a neck — hence a total freedom in the glissandos and vibratos, those inflections that bring the erhu so close to the human voice.
The name 二胡 (erhu) breaks down simply: er (二) means "two" — for the two strings — and hu (胡) refers to the huqin, the fiddles of "barbarian" Northern origin. Literally "the two-[stringed] huqin," the name places the instrument both within its family and in its distant nomadic origin.
A voice for opera and the concert hall#
For centuries, the erhu was above all an accompanying instrument, present in Chinese opera ensembles and folk music, where its voice supported the singers. Its ability to imitate vocal inflection made it the ideal partner for song, able to wed every nuance of a melody.
In the early twentieth century, the musician and reformer Liu Tianhua raised the erhu to the rank of a full solo instrument, composing for it and codifying its teaching in the conservatories. The erhu then entered the concert halls, playing virtuoso works and even Western transcriptions, without losing any of its soul.
Read alsoThe guzheng: the thousand-year Chinese zitherThe erhu makes two bowed strings sing; the guzheng, for its part, sets twenty-one plucked strings vibrating. To discover the other great stringed instrument of China, explore the history of the guzheng zither.
No piece embodies the spirit of the erhu better than , composed by the blind musician Abing. Melancholy and moving, it has become the emblematic piece of the instrument. To listen to it is to grasp the whole art of the erhu — and to learn Chinese is to be able to read the title of this work, understand what it tells, and hear, behind two strings, an entire civilisation.
FAQ#
What is the erhu? The erhu (二胡) is a Chinese fiddle with two strings bowed with a bow. With no fingerboard and a sound box stretched with python skin, it produces a singing sound very close to the human voice and is among the most popular instruments in China.
Why does the erhu sound like a human voice? Because it is played without a fingerboard: the musician presses the strings with the fingertips in the void, which allows very expressive glissandos and vibratos. The skin-stretched box adds a nasal, singing timbre close to vocal inflection.
What is the difference between the erhu and the violin? The violin has four strings, a fingerboard and is played under the chin with a free bow. The erhu has two strings, no fingerboard, is played seated on the thigh, and its bow is wedged between the two strings. Their timbres and techniques are very different.
What is the most famous erhu piece? Erquan Yingyue (二泉映月), composed by the blind musician Abing, is the emblematic work of the erhu. Melancholy and expressive, it is played around the world and on its own symbolises the soul of the instrument.
Photo credits: the images used in this article come from Pexels and Unsplash and are royalty-free.
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