The ''zhuihu'' ( 坠胡,

pinyin Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally writte ...

: zhùihú; also called ''zhuiqin'' or ''zhuizixian'') is a two-stringed bowed string instrument from China. In construction, it resembles the ''

sanxian The (, literally "three strings") is a three-stringed traditional Chinese lute. It has a long fretless fingerboard, and the body is traditionally made from snake skin stretched over a rounded rectangular resonator. It is made in several siz ...

'', and likely evolved as a bowed version of that musical instrument. Unlike bowed string instruments in the

huqin ''Huqin'' () is a family of bowed string instruments, more specifically, a spike fiddle popularly used in Chinese music. The instruments consist of a round, hexagonal, or octagonal sound box at the bottom with a neck attached that protrudes u ...

family (such as the ''

erhu The ''erhu'' (; ) is a Chinese two-stringed bowed musical instrument, more specifically a spike fiddle, which may also be called a ''Southern Fiddle'', and is sometimes known in the Western world as the ''Chinese violin'' or a ''Chinese two- ...

''), the ''zhuihu'' has a fretless fingerboard against which the strings are pressed while playing. The ''zhuihu'' is used to accompany a form of traditional narrative singing referred to as ''zhuizi'', which originated in the

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

province of China. A more modern version of the ''zhuihu'' called the '' leiqin'' was developed in China in the 20th century. Another related instrument is the Japanese ''

kokyū The is a traditional Japanese string instrument, the only one played with a bow. A variant of the instrument also exists in Okinawa, called in Okinawan. The , like the , has its origins in Okinawa. Although it is similar to Chinese , it a ...

''.

References

External links

''Zhuihu'' page
from Paul and Bernice Noll site

from Paul and Bernice Noll site
Zhuihu photo

Video

''Zhuihu'' video
Chinese musical instruments Bowed string instruments {{huqin-stub