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Erhu

The moon over the Second Spring, carried on one bow

Introduction

The two-string bowed fiddle descended from the xiqin, leading voice of the huqin family

The erhu is a two-string bowed fiddle whose bow runs between the strings, with a python-skin face on one end of its sound tube; it belongs to the huqin family. Its forerunner, the xiqin, is described in Chen Yang's Yueshu of the Northern Song, sounded with a bamboo strip drawn between its two strings; it later became the bowed huqin. In the 1920s and 1930s Liu Tianhua fixed its tuning at D and A and wrote solo pieces such as Song of Illness, Beautiful Evening and Marching Towards Brightness, making it a solo instrument, and Abing (Hua Yanjun)'s The Moon Reflected on the Second Spring became widely known after it was recorded in 1950. Erhu art was placed on the national intangible heritage list in 2021.

Representative works

  1. Soliloquy of a ConvalescentAn early erhu solo by Liu Tianhua, usually dated 1918 and originally titled Anshi.
  2. Birdsong in the Empty MountainsAn erhu solo Liu Tianhua began in 1918 and finalised for publication in 1928
  3. A Fine EveningImprovised by Liu Tianhua on lunar New Year's Eve 1928; first titled A Little Song for New Year's Eve
  4. The Moon Reflected on the Second SpringHua Yanjun's best-known erhu piece, which only received its title when it was recorded in 1950.
  5. Listening to the PinesAn erhu solo by Hua Yanjun, recorded in 1950 at the same session as Erquan yingyue.
  6. Towards BrightnessLiu Tianhua's 1931 erhu march, written to show that Chinese music was anything but listless.
  7. Horse RacingHuang Haihuai's 1959 erhu solo, in which the soloist plucks broken chords beneath the tune.
  8. Great Wall CapriccioLiu Wenjin's erhu concerto, completed in 1981 and premiered by Min Huifen at the 1982 Shanghai Spring festival.
  9. Autumn Moon over the Han PalaceA Chongming-school pipa classic that Liu Tianhua transcribed for erhu from a gaohu record in 1929.

Timeline

Northern Song to present
1100 · OriginChen Yang's Yueshu, compiled at the end of the Northern Song, describes and illustrates the xiqin as music of northern peoples, sounded with a bamboo strip between its two strings, an early clear record of the huqin fiddles.1927 · EvolutionLiu Tianhua founded the Society for the Improvement of Chinese Music in Beijing in 1927 and between 1918 and 1932 wrote ten erhu solos, among them Song of Illness, Beautiful Evening and Marching Towards Brightness, establishing the erhu as a solo instrument.1950 · EvolutionIn the summer of 1950 Yang Yinliu and Cao Anhe recorded Abing (Hua Yanjun) in Wuxi playing three erhu pieces, including The Moon Reflected on the Second Spring, and three pipa pieces.2021 · ImpactIn 2021 Erhu art (the Jiangnan Sun-family erhu art), nominated by Fengxian, Shanghai, entered the fifth national list (II-184).
  1. 1100OriginChen Yang's Yueshu, compiled at the end of the Northern Song, describes and illustrates the xiqin as music of northern peoples, sounded with a bamboo strip between its two strings, an early clear record of the huqin fiddles.
  2. 1927EvolutionLiu Tianhua founded the Society for the Improvement of Chinese Music in Beijing in 1927 and between 1918 and 1932 wrote ten erhu solos, among them Song of Illness, Beautiful Evening and Marching Towards Brightness, establishing the erhu as a solo instrument.
  3. 1950EvolutionIn the summer of 1950 Yang Yinliu and Cao Anhe recorded Abing (Hua Yanjun) in Wuxi playing three erhu pieces, including The Moon Reflected on the Second Spring, and three pipa pieces.
  4. 2021ImpactIn 2021 Erhu art (the Jiangnan Sun-family erhu art), nominated by Fengxian, Shanghai, entered the fifth national list (II-184).

Heritage Listings

  1. 2021National List of Representative Items of Intangible Cultural Heritage5th batch · II-184 Erhu art [Jiangnan Sun-family erhu art] · no. 1398 · nominated by Fengxian · Shanghai