The ''zhuihu'' ( 坠胡,

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' ...

: zhùihú; also called ''zhuiqin'' or ''zhuizixian'') is a two-stringed

bowed Bowed string instruments are a subcategory of string instruments that are played by a bow rubbing the strings. The bow rubbing the string causes vibration which the instrument emits as sound. Despite the numerous specialist studies devoted to t ...

string 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 some ...

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 ...

. In construction, it resembles the ''

sanxian The (, literally "three strings") is a three-stringed List of traditional Chinese musical instruments, traditional Chinese lute. It has a long fretless fingerboard, and the body is traditionally made from snake skin stretched over a rounded rec ...

'', and likely evolved as a bowed version of that

musical instrument A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make Music, musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person ...

. 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 ...

family (such as the ''

erhu The (; ) is a Chinese two-stringed bowed musical instrument, more specifically a spike fiddle, that is sometimes known in the Western world as the ''Chinese violin'' or a ''Chinese two-stringed fiddle''. It is used as a solo instrument as ...

''), 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; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu ...

province of China. A more modern version of the ''zhuihu'' called the ''

leiqin The ''leiqin'' ( 雷琴 or 擂琴, literally "thunderous instrument"; also called ''leihu'') is a Chinese bowed string musical instrument. Construction It has a metal soundbox covered with snakeskin and a long fretless fingerboard. The two str ...

'' was developed in China in the 20th century. Another related instrument is the

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese ''

kokyū The is the only traditional Japanese string instrument played with a bow (music), bow. A variant of the instrument also exists in Okinawa Prefecture, Okinawa, called () in Okinawan language, Okinawan. The , like the , has its origins in Oki ...

''.

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