9. Erhu

The erhu is a two-stringed bowed musical instrument, and sometimes known in the Western world as the "Chinese violin" or a "Chinese two-stringed fiddle.” It is the most popular from the huqin family of traditional bowed string instruments used by various ethnic groups of China. The erhu can be traced back to instruments first introduced in China more than a thousand years ago. It is believed to have evolved from the xiqin. The xiqin is believed to have originated from the Xi people of Central Asia, and have come to China in the 10th century.

The first Chinese character of the name of the instrument (二, two) is believed to come from the fact that it has two strings. The second character (胡) indicates that it is a member of the huqin family. The name huqin literally means "instrument of the Hu people,” showing that the instrument may have originated from regions to the north or west of China generally inhabited by nomadic people on the extremities of past Chinese kingdoms.

Hua Yanjun (A Bing) (1893–1950) was a blind street musician. Shortly before his death in 1950, two Chinese musicologists recorded him playing a few erhu and pipa solo pieces, the best-known being Erquan Yingyue.

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