Southern Coastal China and Taiwan
Chinese and Taiwanese people

Wood, coconut shell, cloth, horse hair, silk strings
Mid 20th century
Length: 30.5 in, Width 5.5 in, Depth: 4.25 in
Chordophones – Lutes

The yehu is a bowed spiked lute in the huqin family of Chinese string instruments. Ye means coconut and hu is short for huqin. It is used particularly in the southern coastal provinces of China and in Taiwan. The sound board that covers the cut coconut shell resonator soundbox is made of wood, rather than the usual snake skin used in huqin instruments such as the erhu or gaohu.  This yehu has silk strings, a qianjin (loop of string which acts as a nut), and is played with the bow horse hairs passing in between the two strings.  In Chaozhou music (where it is called pahi) it is a leading instrument of the Chaozhous and Hakka peoples and is tuned quite high. In Cantonese music it can be quite large as the yehu is made in various sizes, and is often tuned to a relatively low pitch.  The yehu is also used as an accompaniment instrument in the local community music and operas of various areas, including Guangdong, Fujian, and Taiwan, where it is called kezaixian.