The Huqin is a kind of musical instrument. It originated from the northern ethnic minorities. In ancient times, the Han people called the northern ethnic minorities Huqin. The Qin passed from the north got its name. The Mongolian bow-stringed musical instrument was called Hur in ancient times. The Mongolian people commonly call it Xinagan Hur, which means spoon harp, or Xihu for short. Documents from the Yuan Dynasty call it Huqin, and the Chinese literal translation is Spoon-shaped Huqin, also known as Horsetail Huqin.
It has a long history, unique shape, soft and rich tone, and rich grassland flavor. Can be used solo, in ensemble or with accompaniment. It is popular throughout the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, especially in the Horqin and Zhaowuda League areas in the east.
During the Tang and Song dynasties, the Huqin was both a stringed instrument and a stringed instrument, with both playing methods being used. Ouyang Xiu, a scholar of the Northern Song Dynasty who was the same generation as Chen Yang, wrote in his poem "Hearing Hu Qin Compositions in the Examination Courtyard": "Hu Qin originally produced the music of the Hu people, and the Xi slaves shed tears when they played it."
The playing method is plucked, and there is no implication of rolling it with bamboo pieces. There is a rather detailed record in another poem: "Xi Ren immediately started to play the piano, and the strings were clear and strong with double cocoons." When the high hall hears the wind, snow and cold, the guests sit down and feel sad. Going deep into the cave to play the flute like a song, I doubt that this is the most popular one. It is a pity that the hands are so many and there is no interruption. Who can say that the sound of silk is not as good as that of bamboo. ?
What is obviously described here is the two-stringed plucked instrument Huqin. It can be seen that during the Tang and Song dynasties, the huqin was in the transition period from a stringed instrument to a stringed instrument.
The Huqin of the Song Dynasty is also called Jiqin. In the "Shi Jiyuan" compiled by Gao Cheng in the Song Dynasty in 1080 AD, there is: Du Zhi's preface to the poem says: The people in the late Qin Dynasty suffered from the battle of the Great Wall, so they played with strings and harps. , recorded as the beginning of Pipa. The press is as small as a drum, has a handle, and is more than a foot long. However, the strings are struck at the head of the drum and belong to the end of the handle, which is very different from the pipa, and its appearance is similar to that of a qin. It is clear that Kangqin is a stringed instrument. ?According to this description, during the Northern Song Dynasty, Jiqin still relied on plucked strings to produce sounds, rather than a stringed instrument that rolled the strings to produce sounds.
In "Shi Lin Guang Ji" (Volume 8) by Chen Yuanliang of the Song Dynasty, it is clearly recorded that Jiqin is a stringed instrument. The article says: Jiqin was originally made by Jikang, hence the name Jiqin. The second string is rolled with bamboo pieces, and its sound is clear and clear. Attributing Jiqin to Jikang in the 3rd century AD is obviously an attachment to the ancients. This may be due to the Chen family imitating Ruan Xian and creating Ruan.
Both are from the Song Dynasty, and they both record Jiqin, but they record two different playing methods. This fully shows that Jiqin in the Song Dynasty was still in the transition stage from a stringed instrument to a stringed instrument. In the late Song Dynasty, musical instruments with horsetails as bow hairs and stringed strings had begun to be used in the northern border areas of China. In the mural of Cave 10 of Yulin Grottoes in Shaanxi Province, there is a picture of Feitian using a horsetail bow to play the first volume, two strings, two strings, and a cylindrical musical instrument. The age of this cave is about the Xixia period (1038-1227 AD), which intersects with the Song Dynasty in the Central Plains.
On the sutra tower of Yanshan Temple in Fanzhi County, Shanxi Province (the tower specially given to Master Guangji), there is a line engraved with musical instrument graphics. A person is sitting cross-legged, holding a horsetail bow and playing. Relevant scholars believe that Fanzhi was under the jurisdiction of Mongolia before the Yuan Dynasty, and took the Yuan Dynasty as the reign name. This scripture building was built on October 10, the twenty-third year of the Yuan Dynasty, that is, 1236 AD, which was also the end of the Song Dynasty. .
This instrument, which uses horsetail bows instead of bamboo pieces to strike the strings, was created by ethnic minorities in northern China who have lived a nomadic life for a long time. It is a milestone in the development of stringed instruments. During the Southern Song Dynasty, stringed instruments like the huqin began to develop. China's large-scale production of silk strings for musical instruments also began when the Southern Song Dynasty moved its capital to Lin'an (now Hangzhou), so silk strings are called "Hangzhou strings".
It was also mentioned from time to time in the notes and novels of the literati at that time. In the story "Jin Yan met the spring girl on a spring outing" in "New Words on the Green Window", it was written: "Jin Yan and He Yu went out of the city." On a spring trip to the west, I saw a gorgeous courtyard, which was Wang Taiweizhuang. Sitting on the pavilion while drinking wine, Yan took the two strings to play with, and Yu took the flutes and pipes to play in an ensemble. ?
This "erxian" is a stringed instrument that is very similar in shape to the huqin. In the Ming Dynasty, stringed instruments like the huqin were improved and developed with the rise of drama and folk arts, and their performance forms were also diverse. From the scroll "Lintang Autumn Banquet" written by You Ziqiu in the first year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty (AD 1522), we can see an ensemble form composed of three instruments: Huqin, Xiaoguan and Clapper. The painting in the picture The Huqin has a dragon head, a rolled neck, two strings, a horsetail bow, and a thousand pounds to fix the length of the strings.
This is not found in the Huqin picture in Chen Yang's "Book of Music", but it also retains the shorter barrel, the direction of the axis and the method of tying the strings. It has made great progress compared with the Erxian in the Southern Song Dynasty's "Green Window News", and is closer to today's Korean Huqin and the Nanyin Erxian popular in Fujian, my country.
The ancient Korean book "Music Guidelines" (preface to 1494) compiled by Korean musician Seongjin contains: Huqin is made of sandalwood (scratched green skin), or black bamboo or sea bamboo bows and horse tail strings , roll it with rosin. Use your left hand to press and your right hand to roll, and only play local music. ?
It can be seen that Huqin was introduced to North Korea in the Ming Dynasty. In the Qing Dynasty, the Huqin was used in the court's Warka music and Qinglong music, and the former also required four pieces of Huqin to be played. According to folklore, the Huqin was introduced to the Jingbo Lake area of ??Mudanjiang and Dongjingcheng and other places through the hands of the Donghu people. Later it became a stringed instrument favored by the Korean people.
Huqin is a bowed stringed instrument that the Korean people like to use. It is said that it was created by the Xi tribe in the northeastern region of China during the Song Dynasty, hence its name.
Huqin can play a variety of music flexibly, with ups and downs of sound, continuous and free, and can vividly express various emotions such as joy, anger, sorrow, and joy. In particular, the portamento played by it is almost a reproduction of the tone of the language.
The workmanship of the Huqin is very particular. Gradually, sycamore wood was used instead of Catalpa wood as the vibrating panel. The two ends of the Huqin strings were fixed on the head and tail of the violin, and there was a saddle on the head of the instrument. The 13 strings are supported by yards, and the headstock can be moved left and right to adjust the scale. Gaqin is a folk instrument with great performance and good at expressing the gentle emotions of the nation.