China
Chinese

Wood, horsehair, metal stings, bone, reptile skin
Mid-Late 20th century
Length: 32 inches
Chordophones – Lutes

The erhu is a two-stringed spiked (fiddle) chordophone that belongs to the huqin family of bowed instruments from China.   The hexagonal sound box at the bottom of this erhu is covered with snake skin.  The two tuning pegs, one for each of the two strings, are attached horizontally through the holes drilled in the instrument’s neck and the hair of the bamboo bow, passes in between these two strings. The erhu is sometimes called a southern Chinese fiddle and is known in the Western world as the Chinese violin or Chinese two-stringed fiddle.  The erhu is played with the resonator held on the left thigh with the left hand fingers stopping the strings lightly, and the right hand bowing with inward pressure for the low string and outward pressure for the high string.

Bowed instruments first appeared in China around the 10th century, but instruments such as the erhu emerged slowly over the following centuries.  They first appeared in theatre orchestras and musical ensembles and became prevalent during the Qing dynasty (1644-1911).   This erhu comes from the mid 1950’s.

According to ‘Erhu’ – Wikipedia:  In 1988, China passed its Law on the Protection of Endangered Species after ratifying the UN Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), making it illegal to use and trade unlicensed pythons. From January 1, 2005, new regulations also require erhus to have a certificate from the State Forestry Administration, which certify that the erhu python skin is not made with wild pythons, but from farm-raised pythons. Individuals are allowed to take up to two erhus out of China when traveling; commercial buyers need additional export certificates.

The Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra then began their research for an alternative to python skin in 2005 and has since designed the Eco-Huqin series, which substitutes python skin with PET Polyester Membrane. For this innovation the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra received the Ministry of Culture Innovation Award.