The Erhu player

Today, for the first time, I saw an Erhu player in the park.

Encountering musicians in a park are almost guaranteed, as many Chinese people use music as a method of relaxation and to socialise.

Here are a few links to my previous posts about the musicians I have encountered in the park:

• Tianjin Allegro
• Musicians in the park
• Musicians in the park - the loners

The Erhu is a traditional Chinese bowed musical instrument with only two strings. It dates back to the Tang Dynasty (618 to 907) and, based on its name ER (meaning two = two strings) and HU (meaning barbarians = the nomadic people of northeast of China) it is suggested that it originated in the northeast of China.

Some interesting facts that make an Erhu special:

• The bow is permanently between the two strings, so to play the one string you need to push on the bow while playing the other string you need to push in the bow.
• The small soundbox is covered with python skin on the playing end. When you buy an erhu you get the certificate with it that gives the detail of the python skin - it must be from a registered python farm and not from a wild python.
  • This also places restrictions on the import and export of erhus. A private person is only allowed to take a maximum of two erhus out of China and for commercial exporting a special permit is required.
  • In Hong Kong, one can nowadays buy an Eco-Erhu which uses a synthetic PET Polyester Membrane in the place of the Python skin.

I hope to see the Erhu player again in the park - it is such a special sound.

To listen to the typical sound of an Erhu, open this link.