xiqin
Illustration — Painting of a Xiqin or Erhu from Yulin cave 10, Western Xia, (1036-1227 C.E.) The xiqin was a bowed 2-string string musical instrument. The instrument was called xiqin in China, referencing the Xi (the creators, a Mongol tribe) and qin (Chinese for stringed instrument). It is perhaps the original member of the huqin family of Mongolian and Chinese bowed string instruments; thus, the morin khuur and erhu and all similar fiddle instruments may be said to be derived from the xiqin.
xiqin
unknown artist from Western Xia, (1036-1227 C.E.) · Yulin Caves, Cave 10 https: k.sina.com.cn/article_2848989162_a9d01fea00100uz3u.html?from=cul#/ · Public domain
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Illustration — Painting of a Xiqin or Erhu from Yulin cave 10, Western Xia, (1036-1227 C.E.) The xiqin was a bowed 2-string string musical instrument. The instrument was called xiqin in China, referencing the Xi (the creators, a Mongol tribe) and qin (Chinese for stringed instrument). It is perhaps the original member of the huqin family of Mongolian and Chinese bowed string instruments; thus, the morin khuur and erhu and all similar fiddle instruments may be said to be derived from the xiqin.
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Origin and development
Origin and development
The xiqin had two silk strings and was held vertically.
The xiqin is believed to have been developed by the Kumo Xi, a Mongol- or Khitan-related ethnic group living in the Xar Moron River valley in northeast China. The xiqin first appeared in China during the Tang dynasty (618–907 CE), during which time it was used in the palace orchestra and bowed with a bamboo stick. It was further developed in the Song dynasty (960–1279), when it began to be bowed with a horsehair bow. In 1105, during the Northern Song dynasty, the instrument was described as a foreign, two-stringed fiddle in an encyclopedic work on music called (樂書; literally "book of music") by the music theorist Chen Yang (陳暘).
Similar instruments
Similar instruments
The erxian used in nanguan music and the kyl kiak used in music of Kyrgyzstan is similar in construction to the xiqin. The Korean haegeum is also very similar in shape to the xiqin from which it is derived; in fact, its name is simply the Korean pronunciation of the same Chinese characters. The Chinese characters in Cantonese would be which shows that the name in Middle Chinese would probably sounds more like Cantonese or Korean rather than the current Mandarin transliteration; however, the Mongolian khuuchir or khoochur is seen as directly related to the etymology of Old Chinese, which is retained in the modern Mandarin example of huqin or huchin, which is the general description of all spike-fiddles which originated with the ancient nomadic Hu-people, including the xiqin.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Sadie Stanley. The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. MacMillan Press. 3. 868. 1984.
- 2.Sadie Stanley. The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. MacMillan Press. 1. 717. 1984.
- 3.Introduction of Traditional Chinese Bowed String Instrument - Erhu, Gaohu, Zhonghu, Banhu, Chinese Violin, Chinese Fiddle.
- 4.Talk about Horse-head Fiddle of the Mongolians_Learn Chinese Hujiang.
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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