Huqin, also known as Xianghu, Ji (Tongxi) Qin. It has a long history and a simple shape. The pronunciation is soft and the timbre is beautiful. It can be used for solo, ensemble or to accompany singing and dancing. It is prevalent in Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang and other provinces, especially in Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in Jilin Province. It is endemic in Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture of Jilin Province. During the Tang and Song dynasties, the huqin was introduced to Korea. Joseon Chengling's compilation of "Music and Learning Track" (with a preface in 1494) contains: "...... Take the sandalwood (scrape the green bark) or the black bamboo sea bamboo bow horsetail string, and roll it with pine resin. Press with your left hand, roll with your right hand, and only play country music".

Modern huqin, 60 cm in length. The barrel is made of wood or bamboo, and there are two types: semi-round spherical and long-barreled. The front mouth is covered with paulownia wood sheets. The stem is wooden, the headstock is meniscus and undecorated, the two shafts are placed on the right side of the upper part of the stem, parallel to the barrel, and the top of the shaft is rotated into a gourd shape. Stretch two wire strings or steel wire strings. Fifths A, e, range A—a1. In ancient times, the Han people of the Central Plains collectively referred to the ethnic minorities living in the north and northwest as Hu, and the musical instruments, music and costumes they used were also named Hu. In "The Book of the Later Han Dynasty: Five Elements Chronicles": "Emperor Ling is good at Hu Fu、...... Hu Konghou, Hu Di, Hu Wu ,......". Han Liuxi's "Interpretation of Names" contains: "The criticism is from Huzhong", and the pipa is named Huqin after coming out of Huzhong. At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, Chen Ziang, a great poet of Sichuan Shooting Hong, once bought a huqin with a thousand gold, that is, the pipa, until the Tang and Song dynasties, played stringed instruments such as pipa and thunder, and called it huqin. Huqin is a general term for the musical instruments used by ethnic minorities in the north and northwest of ancient China, and it is only in modern times that it is used as a special name for stringed instruments such as huqin. Huqin began in the Tang Dynasty. In the Song Dynasty music theorist Chen Yang's Book of Music (Vol. 128) written in 1099 AD, it is written: "Huqin Benhu Music is also similar to the shape of the strings, and the music of the Xi Department is also like." Cover its system, between the two strings with bamboo pieces to roll it, so far the folk use. According to the book, the direction of the two-pin shaft is the opposite of today's erhu, without the need for a thousand catties. Xi nationality in the Northern and Southern Dynasties called Kumo Xi, living in the northeast of our country in the Xilamulun River Basin, at the end of the Tang Dynasty, a part of the Xi people migrated west to Yanzhou (now Huailai County, Hebei Province), also known as Xixi, five dynasties and ten kingdoms, the east and west Xi gradually merged with the Khitan people. According to Chen Yang's research, the huqin was a musical instrument used in Xixi in northern China at the end of the Tang Dynasty. It is derived and developed on the basis of the ancient stringed instrument string mole, and its performance method is similar to that of the zither, which is completely caused by the influence of the Han Zheng in the early Tang Dynasty, the difference is that the huqin has only two strings, and the bamboo piece is not on the upper (outside) side of the string when rolling, but between the two strings.

2 HistoryEdit

In the Tang and Song dynasties, the huqin was both a string and a stringed instrument, and both performance methods were used. Ouyang Xiu, a literati of the Northern Song Dynasty who was the same era as Chen Yang, wrote in his poem "Listening to the Huqin in the Trial Courtyard": "The Huqin is originally out of Hu Ren's music, and Xi Nu plays the double tears." The method of playing is plucked, and there is no meaning of "rolling it with bamboo chips". In another poem, there is a rather detailed record: "Xi people make the piano immediately, and the strings are absolutely clear and strong with double cocoons." When Gao Tang heard the wind and snow and cold, the guests were sad and sad. Go deep into the cave and resist like a song, the sound of the crowd is suspected to be the most, but the poor and complicated hands are not interrupted, who is not as good as bamboo. "This is clearly a description of the huqin, a two-stringed plucked instrument. It can be seen that in the Tang and Song dynasties, the huqin was in a period of transition from playing stringed instruments to pulling stringed instruments.

The Huqin of the Song Dynasty is also known as the Jiqin. In the Song Dynasty Gao Cheng's "The Origin of Things" compiled in 1080 AD, there is: "Du Zhifu preface: The people of the late Qin Dynasty suffered the battle of the Great Wall, and the strings and drums were remembered, which was remembered as the beginning of the pipa. It is small like a drum, has a handle, and is more than a long ruler. However, the strings are struck at the head of the drum and belong to the end of the handle, which is very different from the pipa, and its shape is also the qin. It is Ji Kangqin for the strings of the mole relics of the elephant. According to this account, in the Northern Song Dynasty, the Jiqin still relied on plucking the strings to pronounce the sound, rather than a stringed instrument with a stringed sound. In the Song Dynasty Chen Yuanliang's "Shilin Guangji" (Volume 8), it is clearly recorded that the jiqin is a stringed instrument. The text said: "Jiqin is made by Jikang, so it is called Jiqin." The second string, rolled with bamboo pieces, its sound is clear. Attributing the Jiqin to the 3rd century A.D. Ji Kang is obviously a kind of adjunct to the pseudo-Tuo people, which may be Chen's imitation of his "Ruan Xian made Ruan". The same Song people, and the same record of Jiqin, but there are two different ways of playing. This fully shows that the Song Dynasty Jiqin is still in the transition stage from playing stringed instruments to pulling stringed instruments. By the end of the Song Dynasty, the northern frontier regions of China had begun to use horsetails as a musical instrument for the chord of the bow. In the murals of the tenth cave of Yulin Grottoes in Shaanxi, there is a musical instrument that plays the frontispiece, two strings, two strings, and a cylindrical barrel with a horsetail bow. The cave was dated to the Western Xia (1038-1227 AD) period, which intersected with the Song Dynasty in the Central Plains. On the scripture building of Yanshan Temple in Fanzhi County, Shanxi Province (for the "Tower of the Master of Guangji"), there is a line of engraved musical instrument graphics, and a person is sitting cross-legged, holding a horsetail bow and playing. Relevant scholars believe that Fanzhi was under the jurisdiction of Mongolia before the Yuan Dynasty, and took the Great Yuan as the year name, and this sutra building was built on October 10, the 23rd year of the Great Yuan Dynasty, that is, in 1236 AD, which was also the end of the Song Dynasty. The images of musical instruments in the above two places are similar to those of today's erhu. This instrument, which uses a horsetail bow instead of a bamboo piece to rub the strings, is a creation of ethnic minorities in northern China who have long lived a nomadic life, and it is a milestone in the development of stringed instruments. During the Southern Song Dynasty, the huqin began to develop stringed instruments. A large number of silk strings used in the manufacture of musical instruments in China also began when the Southern Song Dynasty moved the capital to Lin'an (now Hangzhou), so the silk strings are known as "Hangzhou strings". It is also mentioned from time to time in the notes of the literati at that time, in the story of "Jin Yan Travels to Spring and Meets Chunniang" in "Green Window New Language", it is written: "Jin Yan and He Yu went out of the city to travel to the west in spring, and saw a gorgeous courtyard, which was Wang Taiweizhuang." Guan Jiu sat on the pavilion, Yan took the two strings and rolled it, and Yu took the flute and pipe ensemble. This "second string" is a stringed instrument that is very similar to the shape of the huqin. In the Ming Dynasty, stringed instruments such as huqin were improved and developed with the rise of drama and quyi, and the performance forms were also diverse. From the first year of Jiajing of the Ming Dynasty (1522 AD) You Ziqiu's "Lintang Autumn Banquet Picture" picture scroll, you can see a kind of ensemble form composed of three musical instruments: huqin, pipes and clappers. This is not found in the diagram of the huqin in Chen Yang's "Book of Music", but it also retains the shorter barrel of the huqin, the direction of the axis, and the method of tying the strings. It has made great progress compared with the second string in the Southern Song Dynasty's "Green Window New Language", and is closer to today's Korean Huqin and the Nanyin second string popular in Fujian, China. The Korean musician Cheng Ling, compiled the ancient Korean book "Music Learning Track" (1494 preface), which contains: "Huqin, with sandalwood (scraping green skin), or black bamboo, sea bamboo bow horsetail string, rolled with pine resin. Press with the left hand, roll with the right hand, and only play country music. It can be seen that the huqin has been introduced to Korea in the Ming Dynasty. In the Qing Dynasty, the huqin was used in the Varkhabu music and Qinglong music of the court, and the former was played with four pieces of huqin. According to folklore, the Huqin was introduced to the area of Jingpo Lake on the Mudanjiang River and Dongjingcheng through the hands of the Donghu people. Later, it became a stringed instrument loved by the Korean people.

3 Production process editing

The craftsmanship of the huqin is very particular, the craftsmen of the past dynasties have used the wood and wood grain in the Changbai Mountain area are particularly good thorn catalpa wood to make the vibrating panel, with the inner diameter of 10 cm bamboo to make the barrel, with silk to make the strings, with horsetail and thin bamboo pole to make the bow. Later, after generations of practice and innovation, the sycamore wood was gradually used instead of the catalpa wood to make the vibrating panel, and the steel wire was used instead of the silk to make the strings, and the playing method was also improved, from the "grasping string method" to the "finger string pressing method", and at the same time, the violin playing technique was absorbed, so that its performance effect was better. Huqin has a long history, and when Japanese militarism invaded China, the national cultural heritage was trampled on, and the art of huqin was also interrupted. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the art of producing and performing the huqin of the Korean nationality in Yanbian gradually resumed and developed, and the solo performances of the huqin performed by many Korean artists on the art stage at home and abroad were warmly welcomed by people at home and abroad. Strings, the two ends of the strings are fixed to the headstock and tail, and there are string pillows on the headstock. The 13 strings are strutted with yards, and the headstock can be moved left and right to adjust the scale. Gayageum is a performative folk instrument that is good at expressing the soft emotions of the people. Therefore, playing and singing the Gayageum is a form of performance that people of all ethnic groups like to see. The shape of the traditional huqin is similar to that of the Han alto banhu, but the barrel does not use coconut shells. It is composed of a barrel, a stem, a pin, a jack, a horse, a string and a bow, with a total length of 80 cm ~ 84 cm. The barrel is made of bamboo or wood, mostly made of bamboo or rosewood, colored wood, there are two kinds of long barrel and hemispherical shape, the upper and lower have square holes inserted into the stem, the front mouth of the barrel is covered with paulownia wood thin plate as the surface, and the rear mouth of the barrel is placed with a sound window or open. The piano rod is also known as the standing bamboo, which is originally made of black spotted bamboo with a long growth period and more bamboo joints, and uses the thicker bamboo root as the headstock, and the upper end of the piano rod is naturally bent backward with the bamboo joint, and is inserted into the barrel in a conical inverted direction. The pins, also known as the Zhoudou, are wooden cones, with two pins inserted into the upper end of the stem in a horizontal figure-eight shape, and the top of the thicker shaft is used for tensioning the strings. Originally, there was no jack, only the piano horse was placed in the middle of the barrel panel, and two thicker silk strings were opened. The bow is made of wooden bow rods, and the two ends are tied with a horsetail as the bow hair, and are sandwiched between the two strings to play; the current huqin, the barrel is mostly long barrel-shaped, still made of bamboo tubes, the stem is changed to be made of rosewood or colored wood, the upper end of the rod is bent forward or backward in a meniscus shape, the two strings are inserted into the upper end of the stem in parallel from the front, and the top of the shaft is rotated into a gourd shape, and some strings are inserted into the stem in parallel from behind.

In the Chinese Musical Instrument Museum at the Music Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Arts in Beijing, a huqin from Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in Jilin Province is on display. The total length of the body is 63 cm, the barrel is slightly elliptical and long, made of a bamboo tube with a bamboo joint, the barrel is 12.4 cm long, the longitudinal diameter of the front mouth of the barrel is 8.8 cm, the horizontal diameter is 9.5 cm, covered with a paulownia wood panel, the rear end of the barrel is open, the barrel is open up and down with a square hole inserted into the stem, the bamboo section on the barrel is in the middle of the stem and the paulownia wood panel, and there is a large oval ventilation hole in the center of the bamboo joint, so that the air circulation at both ends of the barrel is beneficial to resonance. The stem is made of colored wood, the length is the same as the full length of the body, it is a circular columnar, the middle section is thicker, the two ends are slightly thinner, the headstock is crescent-shaped and curved towards the front mouth of the barrel, the top is unadorned, the upper part of the stem is parallel to the gourd-shaped string shaft made of colored wood, the shaft is 12 cm long, the shaft head part passes through the stem, and the top of the shaft is gourd-shaped, with a diameter of 3.6 cm. The middle of the stem is placed with a jack tied with wire strings, and the lower end of the stem is loaded into the square hole of the barrel. In the center of the barrel panel is a wooden bridge-shaped piano horse, with two silk strings. The bow is made of a wooden bow with a black horsetail tied at both ends, and the bow is 59 cm long, with a wide handle in the hand. The body is painted in dark brown throughout, with only the top and bow shaft coated with clear varnish, while the original color of the wood is still maintained, and the wood grain is clearly visible. This piano is a product of the 50s, the selection of materials is exquisite, the craftsmanship is meticulous, and the timbre is beautiful, which is worthy of being a fine huqin. It has been included in the large album of "Illustrated Chinese Musical Instruments". The museum also houses a North Korean-made huqin. The total length of the body is 73 cm, the barrel is made of knotted bamboo, the barrel is 13 cm long, the front mouth of the barrel is covered with a paulownia wood panel, the face diameter is 10 cm, the back of the barrel is open, the bamboo is between the panel and the stem, and there is a round hole in the center as an air outlet. The stem is wooden, cylindrical in shape, and the headstock is meniscus and curved backwards. Zhang two thick silk strings, the horsetail bow is 69 cm long. This huqin was a precious gift given to the Chinese people by the music delegation of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea during its visit to China in 1963.

4 Posture editing

When playing, the piano is seated, the barrel is placed on the left leg, the left hand holds the piano, the first joint of the index finger, middle finger, ring finger and little finger is pressed at the bend, and the right hand holds the bow with five fingers or the thumb, index finger and middle finger to hold the bow, and plays between the two strings. Huqin generally adopts the fifth interval relationship to set the strings, the constant strings are A, e or c, g, the range A-a1 or c-c2, two octaves. The pronunciation is soft and beautiful, and the timbre is bright and beautiful, close to the alto banhu of the Han people. The left hand presses the strings to hold the strings with all hands, commonly known as hooking or grasping the strings, and rarely changes the position, and there are performance skills such as vibrato, beating, and portamento. When folk musicians play, they are accustomed not to use a thousand catties, but to use hooks and grasp strings to transpose. It can be used for solo, ensemble or accompaniment, and is the main stringed instrument in Korean ethnic bands. He specializes in playing classical music with a melodious melody or folk music with a melodic tune. Some of the more famous solo pieces include: "Textile Ballad", "Huqin Sanqu", "Fisherman's Song" and "Farmer's Music".

Reform Huqin and Four-stringed Huqin: Korean Bow and String Musical Instrument. In the 60s of the 20th century, the Korean huqin player Li Yinan and others successfully produced and reformed the huqin and the four-stringed huqin, which has three kinds of treble, alto and bass, which has been used in the professional music and art groups of Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in Jilin Province, and is the main stringed instrument of the Korean national band.

Reform Huqin: total length 65 cm. The barrel is made of bamboo, the barrel is 13 cm long, the front mouth of the barrel is covered with a paulownia wood panel, and the face diameter is 9.5 cm. The stem is made of ebony, rosewood or mahogany, it is a circular column, the headstock is meniscus and curved forward, the upper part of the stem is transversely placed with two hardwood pins, the top of the shaft is gourd-shaped or conical, the shaft is 11 cm long, and the shaft head is equipped with a metal spiral (also known as a straight copper shaft) to fine-tune the pitch. There is a waist horse string under the pin, and a wooden bottom bracket is added under the barrel to make the body stable during playing. Stretch two steel wire strings. The bow is made of straight rods and thin bamboo, tied with a horsetail, and the bow is 80 centimeters long. This reform of the huqin, the pronunciation is bright and mellow, the timbre is melodious and pleasant, the volume is also larger than that of the traditional huqin, and the vocal range has increased to three octaves. It can be used for solo, ensemble or accompaniment, especially for solo performances.

Four-stringed huqin: It is a new series of musical instruments of the huqin, which includes three kinds of treble, alto and bass huqin. The barrel and stem are made of colored wood, and an ebony fingerboard is added. The treble four-string huqin is set according to the relationship of fifths: g, d1, a1, e2, and the range g-c4; the fixed strings of the alto four-stringed huqin are five degrees lower than that of the treble huqin, and the fixed strings are: c, g, d1, a1, and the range c-a3; the fixed strings of the bass four-stringed huqin are eight octaves lower than that of the alto huqin, and the fixed strings are: c, g, d, a, and the range C-c2. The total range of this four-stringed huqin is C-c4, up to five octaves. It is most suitable for ensemble or accompaniment use, and has been used in Korean ethnic bands.

In addition to the Korean folk circulation, Xi Hu is also spread among the Mongolian folk in the eastern part of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Liaoning, Heilongjiang and other provinces. Its structure and playing method are similar to those of the Korean huqin, but the shape is smaller. The stem is made of colored wood or hardwood, and is 50 cm long. The barrel is made of wood or metal, the barrel is 10 cm long, and the front mouth is covered with paulownia wood sheets, with a diameter of 7 cm. The pins are wooden, conical. Stretch two silk strings or casing strings. The bow is curved with bamboo pieces and tied with a horsetail at both ends, and the bow is 40 cm long. The fifths are set to g, d1, and the range is g-g1, with only one octave. The pronunciation is soft and the timbre is rich. However, it is not widely circulated, and now only a few old folk artists still use it. [1]

5 Historical significanceEdit

The huqin is a bowed string instrument that the Korean people like to use, and it is said that it was created by the Xi tribe in the northeast of the Song Dynasty in China, so it is named. The huqin can play all kinds of music flexibly, the sound is subdued and abrupt, continuous and free, and can vividly express various emotions such as joy, anger and sorrow, especially the glissanda played by it, which is almost the reproduction of the language cavity. The craftsmen of the past dynasties have used the wood and wood grain in the Changbai Mountain area to make the vibrating panel, the inner diameter of 10 cm bamboo to make the barrel, the silk to make the strings, and the horsetail and thin bamboo poles to make the bow. Later, after generations of practice and innovation, the sycamore wood was gradually used instead of the catalpa wood to make the vibrating panel, and the steel wire was used instead of the silk to make the strings, and the playing method was also improved, from the "grasping string method" to the "finger string pressing method", and at the same time, the violin playing technique was absorbed, so that its performance effect was better. Huqin has a long history, and when Japanese militarism invaded China, the national cultural heritage was trampled on, and the art of huqin was also interrupted. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the art of producing and performing the huqin of the Korean nationality in Yanbian gradually resumed and developed, and the solo performances of the huqin performed by many Korean artists on the art stage at home and abroad were warmly welcomed by people at home and abroad. The two ends of the huqin strings are fixed to the headstock and tail, and there are string pillows on the headstock. The 13 strings are strutted with yards, and the headstock can be moved left and right to adjust the scale. Ga?? The qin is full of performance and is a folk instrument that is good at expressing the soft emotions of the nation.

6 Huqin Art Festival Editor

From Xuzhou to Vienna

Speaking of the Xuzhou Huqin Art Festival, it has already become a cultural business card of Xuzhou. It was founded in October 2004 with the original intention of promoting the traditional Chinese folk music culture, promoting the innovative development of huqin art, enriching the cultural connotation of Xuzhou, enhancing the cultural taste of the city, and serving the harmonious development of the local economy and society.

I didn't expect the first session to make a big move. At 8:00 a.m. on October 17, 2004 at the launching ceremony of the "Leshen Travel" large-scale float parade held in Xuzhou Stadium, 1,490 people stood and played "Bright Walk", "Erquan Reflecting the Moon", "Little Flower Drum", "Horse Racing" and other erhu famous songs, which lasted 8 minutes 53 seconds 96, creating the Guinness World Record for the largest live performance of erhu, and the Guinness World Records certificate was issued by the Guinness World Headquarters in the United Kingdom on the 19th; After that, nearly 100 huqin artists, including Min Huifen, Jiang Xunfeng, Liu Wenjin, Zhang Rui, Zhang Shao, Zhou Yaokun, Liu Changfu, Xu Jiaode, Song Fei, Jiang Kemei, Yu Hongmei, Ma Xianghua, Zhu Changyao, Deng Jiandong, Qi Baoligao, Huang Anyuan, etc., dressed up in 12 floats and 15 performance teams composed of 1,490 people, continued to parade and perform on the scenic Yunlong Lake and the ten-mile long street in the city. The second Xuzhou International Huqin Art Festival was held in October 2006, highlighting the theme of innovation and development on the basis of the combination of mass and expert. This year, after this large-scale national music and cultural activity with the theme of huqin art has had a wide impact at home and abroad, this year's Huqin Art Festival focuses on highlighting the "internationality", with four "Oriental String Soul" concerts as a clue, out of Xuzhou, into Beijing, into the Austrian Golden Hall, to show the charm of the Chinese nation's huqin art. Xuzhou has a strong humanistic atmosphere, with eight national intangible heritages such as Bangzi Opera, Liuqin Opera and Qinshu. Today, the city is in a historical period of accelerated development. According to the latest ranking of the 2007/2008 Global City Competitiveness Report, Xuzhou ranks 325th among the world's 500 most important cities. Xuzhou, Beijing, Vienna. China Xuzhou International Huqin Art Festival has received the warm support and warm welcome of many artists and the masses of the people along the way, and this time it will become another grand event in the history of the development of Chinese Huqin art. [2]