The history of flutes During the Yellow Emperor period, about 4,000 years ago, a large number of bamboos grew in the Yellow River Basin, and bamboo was chosen as the material to make flutes. "Historical Records" records: "The Yellow Emperor sent Ling Lun to cut bamboo in Kunming. "Bamboo is a great progress in flute making. Bamboo vibrates better than bone and the sound is crisper. Bamboo is easy to process." During the Qin and Han Dynasties, there were already seven-hole bamboo flutes, and two-headed flutes were invented. Cai Yong, Xun Xu, and Emperor Wu of Liang all made twelve-rhythm flutes, that is, one flute and one tune. The flute was called "篴" in ancient times. In the Han Dynasty, Xu Shen's "Shuowen Jiezi" recorded: "Flute, seven holes, bamboo bamboo raft". In 1978, two bamboo rafts were unearthed from the tomb of Zeng Houyi in Suixian County, Hubei Province, and two bamboo flutes were unearthed from the No. 3 Han Tomb in Mawangdui, Changsha, Hunan Province. The unearthed bamboo rafts are similar to the Chinese bamboo rafts recorded in ancient books, except that they are slightly longer. Except for the entrance and exit, the other shapes are exactly the same. The unearthed flute is the same as the record, and the bamboo tube in the tomb has the word "chi" written on it. It is obviously an ancient bamboo flute. The ancient "chi" and flute are very similar. There have always been people who played the flute and flute. Although they are said to be the same instrument, they are actually different. It can be seen from the unearthed chimes and flutes: Chi, with 6 holes, closed mouth, can play five tones plus one inflection, and the whole body is painted (xiū); flute, with 7 holes, open, can play seven tones plus two inflections, not Paint. During the Warring States Period, the chi was one of the main melodic instruments played during sacrifices to gods or banquets. The flute was also very popular. Song Yu, a student of Qu Yuan, also wrote about the flute in the south at that time, which was very similar to today's flute. Before the Han Dynasty, the flute mostly referred to the vertical flute. Since the Qin and Han Dynasties, the flute has become the same name for the vertical flute and the horizontal flute, and has continued for a long time. During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Zhang Qian introduced Hengdi to the Western Regions, also known as "Hengchui". It occupies a very important position in the drum music of the Han Dynasty. The two bamboo flutes unearthed from Han Tomb No. 3 in Mawangdui, Changsha, Hunan, are both horizontally blown flute instruments. During the Northern Dynasties, flutes were not only extremely common, but also developed, with great changes in shape, length, and thickness. In the Northern Zhou Dynasty and Sui Dynasty, it began to have the name "Hengdi". In the late Sui Dynasty, ten-hole flutes appeared that could play the chromatic scale. Since the Tang Dynasty, there have been distinctions between large horizontal flutes and small horizontal flutes. At the same time, the flute played vertically is called Xiao, and the flute played horizontally is called flute. Lu Cai of the Tang Dynasty made the "shakuhachi", played it vertically, and introduced it to Japan; in the Shoso-in of the ancient capital Nara, there are four horizontal flutes made during the prosperous Tang Dynasty in my country. Among them are one ivory and carved stone transverse flute, and two bamboo flutes. They are different in length, but they all have seven oval sound holes. Liu Xi made the seven-star pipe flute with a membrane to aid the sound. He was the first person to add a membrane to the flute. In the Jin Dynasty, there was a recorder. A piece of wood was added to the blowing head to allow the air to pass through the gap and shoot to the two whistle holes and the edge of the tomb to produce sound. There are various flute systems in the Song Dynasty, including the cross-hand flute, the dragon-neck flute, the small horizontal flute with eleven holes, the large horizontal flute with nine holes, the jade flute with seven holes, etc. After the Yuan Dynasty, the flute was similar to today's. Due to the vigorous development of opera, the flute became an accompaniment instrument for many types of operas, and was divided into two categories according to the type of accompaniment: bangdi and qudi. In the 1960s, Zhao Songting invented the pan flute, which tied two to four flutes of different tunes together. The sound range could be expanded by more than three octaves. The music was rich in variety and easy to play. The flute is a popular wind instrument in China. Because it is made of natural bamboo, it is also called the "bamboo flute". The flute is made of a bamboo tube with knots removed from the inside. There is a blow hole, a membrane hole and six sound holes on the tube body. The blow hole is the first hole in the flute, through which airflow blows, causing the air in the tube to vibrate and produce sound. The membrane hole is the second hole of the flute, which is specially used to attach the membrane. The membrane is mostly made of reed membrane or bamboo membrane. When the membrane vibrates by the air flow, it emits a crisp and mellow sound. Although the flute is short and simple, it has a history of seven thousand years. About 4,500 years ago, the flute was changed from bone to bamboo. During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty at the end of the 1st century BC, the flute was called "Hengchui", and it occupied a very important position in the drum music at that time. Since the 7th century, the flute has been improved, with membrane holes added, which has greatly improved its expressive power and its playing technology has also developed to a very high level. By the 10th century, with the rise of Song lyrics and Yuan music, the flute became the main instrument used to accompany chants and songs. It was also an indispensable instrument in folk operas and bands of ethnic minority operas. The expressive power of the flute is very rich. It can not only play long and high-pitched melodies, but also express vast and broad moods. It can also play cheerful and gorgeous dance music and graceful minor tunes. However, the expressive power of the flute lies not only in beautiful melodies, but also in expressing various sounds of nature. For example, imitate various bird calls, etc. Not only are the flutes rich in playing skills, but they also come in various varieties, including bent flutes, bang flutes, fixed-tone flutes, keyed flutes, jade-screen flutes, seven-hole flutes, eleven-hole flutes, etc., forming the northern and southern styles with very different styles. Two factions.
No one knows exactly who invented the first flute. This instrument is played by almost every nation in the world, whether it is played horizontally or vertically. China's ancient Jiahu flute dates back 8,000 years and is the earliest flute-like instrument discovered so far.
Erhu, also known as Nanhu, is a stringed instrument with a long history, widespread popularity and representativeness among Chinese national musical instruments. As early as the Tang Dynasty, its predecessor used bamboo pieces as bows and was called Ji Qin. There is a record that "the bamboo leads the Ji Qin people, and the flowers invite people to drink." The "Book of Music" of the Song Dynasty called it Xi Qin, and there is a record: "Xi Qin is the origin of Hu music". And we can see from the scrolls painted in the Tang Dynasty that the structure of the Xiqin at that time is basically the same as that of the Erhu today.
Shen Kuo said in "Mengxi Bi Tan" that "the horse-tailed huqin follows the Han chariot, and the song still blames the Shan Yu", which means that the huqin uses the horsetail as a bow. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, with the development of folk music and local operas, Huqin gradually formed stringed instruments such as Erhu, Banhu, Jinghu, Zhuihu, and Yuehu in various musical styles. Mr. Liu Tianhua, an outstanding composer, performer and innovator during the "May 4th" period, designed new specifications of the erhu, fixed the tuning rules, and created twelve erhu solos and 47 etudes for the first time. Erhu, which is in a folk state, tends to be standardized and entered into the classrooms of higher education institutions, creating a new stage in the development of the art of erhu performance.
The sound of the erhu has a strong national flavor. When it is sad, it is like a cuckoo crying for blood, and when it is fierce, it is like thousands of horses galloping. Its expressive power of sadness, perseverance and omnipotence is loved by many people. It is the stringed instrument closest to the human voice and the most expressive in our country.
There is no exact inventor of Erhu, and there is no record of it. You can read the information yourself
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