The Huobosi (simplified: 火不思;

pinyin Hanyu Pinyin, or simply pinyin, officially the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, is the most common romanization system for Standard Chinese. ''Hanyu'' () literally means 'Han Chinese, Han language'—that is, the Chinese language—while ''pinyin' ...

: Huǒbùsī; ) is a

stringed musical instrument In musical instrument classification, string instruments, or chordophones, are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer strums, plucks, strikes or sounds the strings in varying manners. Musicians play so ...

from

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. The name is a transliteration into Chinese of a medieval Turkic name for the instrument. It has four strings in four courses and is tuned E, A, D, G. Three of the strings are made of silk and the highest is steel. It was developed through a rationalization of an earlier Turkic instrument (the

kopuz The komuz or qomuz ( , , ) is an ancient fretless string instrument used in Central Asian music, related to certain other Turkic string instruments, the Mongolian tovshuur, and the lute. The instrument can be found in Turkic ethnic groups, f ...

), and used the Chinese name for that instrument. The models were developed, soprano alto and tenor.

History

The Huobosi is played by the

Naxi people The Nakhi, Nashi, or Naxi (; Naxi language, Naxi: ) are a people inhabiting the Hengduan Mountains abutting the Eastern Himalayas in the northwestern part of Yunnan Provinces of China, Province, as well as the southwestern part of Sichuan Prov ...

in China, and was historically a carved lute with a shape similar to the

draynen The ''dramyin'' or ''dranyen'' (; ; ) is a traditional Himalayas, Himalayan folk music lute with six strings, used primarily as an accompaniment to singing in the Drukpa Lineage, Drukpa Buddhist culture and society in Bhutan, as well as in Tibet, ...

. In modern times, the huobosi is built with a flat back and bent sides (ribs) in a similar shape, but with a generally shorter neck than the historical version.

References

The Stringed Instrument Database

External links

* ttp://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMjI4NTU2OTA0.html A video of a duet between a tenor and soprano huobusi
A video of a huobusi recital with introduction

String instruments Chinese musical instruments {{lute-stub