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PitchRegisterErhuGaohuBanhuJinghu

This instrument has an unusual origin: it was not made for a person, a tune or a place — it was made for the gap in an ensemble.

"Around 1949, some Chinese ensembles, to strengthen the expressive power of the middle register, created the zhonghu on the basis of the erhu." ⭐ And its assignment was given in a very Chinese phrase: "the zhonghu connects the high and low registers and fills out the ensemble — a link between top and bottom," "making up the space between high and low."

⭐⭐ Rule 52: an instrument born to fill a gap — the middle was filled, the bass still is not.

In the same gap-filling project, the middle succeeded and the bass still borrows from abroad. This page puts the two side by side.

Born for the gap

⭐ Three points:

1. Its job is in its name: zhonghu = "alto erhu" — not the name of an instrument but the name of a part. 2. "Linking top and bottom" is not a metaphor — it is the work description: "in the ensemble the zhonghu mainly supports, adjusting colour and reinforcing volume," "making up the space between high and low." It is rarely the lead, but without it the middle sounds hollow. 3. The bass comparison: since the 1950s players tried the dahu, dihu, gehu, laruan and more — the sources conclude plainly: "because these reforms still have deficiencies, most orchestras use the Western cello and double bass." Same project: one slot filled, another still borrowed.

Its spec sheet is short: bigger, longer, lower

Who made it: more than one person, more than one decade

⭐ The sources give three accounts — and their coexistence is itself an observation:

⭐⭐ When an ensemble lacks a register, more than one person, in more than one place, builds the same thing at once. The gaohu was "two people meeting" (Lü Wencheng and Situ Mengyan); the zhonghu is "several people each building it" — and only one road survived (the *gonghu* did not). In instrument history, most things are the ones that did not survive.

It admits it is not nimble

⭐ A rare piece of honesty from the sources:

"It remains an instrument of comparatively low agility, best at expansive, singing melodies, sustained chord tones and simple figuration, and less suited to fast bravura passagework."

— not a slight but a job description:

• its ensemble work is sustained notes, backing, filling the gap — none of which needs speed;
• and the "expansive" it excels at is exactly what a middle register does best.
• ⭐ Hence its signature pieces: the solo *On the Grassland* (Liu Mingyuan, 1956) and the concerto *Su Wu* — one expansive, one weathered: both slow and large subjects.

⚠️ Also a real note: "most conservatories do not offer a zhonghu major, and solo repertoire is limited" — its post is in the orchestra, not on the recital stage. (Compare its cousin the jing erhu: made "to blend the jinghu's timbre in the Peking-opera band," "bigger than a jinghu, smaller than an erhu," and likewise "rarely used for solos" — born to patch a colour, also never the lead.)

Range

中胡属拉弦弦鸣乐器（弓擦 · 两弦）。定弦比二胡低四或五度，常定 g · d¹ 或 a · e¹，也有定弦低八度的；音域两个八度以上。本图按常见定弦 g–d¹ 取 G3–D5 示意，常用音区约 G3—G5。记谱即实音。

Common misconceptions

• "The zhonghu is just an erhu." ⚠️ The build and technique are the same ("all erhu techniques suit the zhonghu"), but every dimension is one size up: box 15 cm long, 10.5 cm across, neck 86 cm, thicker strings, and a fourth or fifth lower.
• "An accompanist, therefore unimportant." ⚠️ It *is* the middle part: it "connects the high and low registers" and is "indispensable" to the orchestra.
• "It can play anything." ⚠️ The sources say plainly it is "of comparatively low agility" and "less suited to fast bravura" — its strength is the expansive, not the quick.
• "There is a matching Chinese bass." ⚠️ Many were tried (dahu, dihu, gehu, laruan…) but "they still have deficiencies" — most orchestras still use the Western cello and double bass.
• "It is ancient." ⚠️ It is a 20th-century product (accounts dated to the 1920s / 1930s / 1950s, all noted), built to fill out an ensemble's middle register.

Timbre, and how to hear it

Three cues:

1. Hear the width. "Full and round" — a step below the erhu, a step closer than the cello: it is the air in the middle. 2. Hear the sustained notes. The sources name "chord tones held long" — in an ensemble it is the hand that holds the harmony down. 3. Hear the expanse. A subject like *On the Grassland* suits it perfectly — slow, wide, unhurried.

The family

Next

The bowed section continues downward — to look at the instrument the Chinese actually built for that position this page calls "still not filled":

Gehu. :::

Sources

• ⭐⭐ 为"加强中音部"而生（本页核心）：「解放前后，我国一些民族乐队为加强中音部表现力而在二胡基础上创制了中胡」；「中胡作为民族乐队中广泛使用的乐器，用于合奏 · 伴奏和独奏。其音色丰满 · 宽厚，在民族乐队中是重要的中音乐器，常担负中音声部的演奏」；⭐「中胡起到连接高音与低音声部 · 使乐队声音丰满的承上启下作用」；「以弥补高低音之间的空隙，使整个乐队声音丰满」；「在乐队中，中胡主要起衬托作用，以调整音色和加强音量」依百科与高校资料
• ⭐⭐ 创制年份（多说并列）：「20 世纪 20 年代初在二胡的基础上创制而成」；「约于 1950 年代在二胡基础上改革制成，结构与二胡相同」；⭐ 另有具体人物说：「早在 20 世纪 30 年代……中国著名民族乐器制作师周荣庭（1907—1975）……为加强中音部音乐的表现力，他在二胡的基础上研制而成中音拉弦乐器——今日的中胡」；另有「中胡亦于 20 世纪 30 年代由京胡改良发展而来……在戏曲伴奏中逐渐成为与京胡 · 二胡并列的重要弦乐器」；同期「上海大同乐会创制了一种中音拉弦乐器——弓胡（仿古代乐器『提琴』的形制 · 悬弦拉奏），未能流传下来」依百科资料
• ⭐⭐ 结构（与二胡同构 · 各部件更大）：「结构与二胡相同，形制稍大。琴杆长 86 厘米，琴头多雕龙头或呈弯月形。琴筒较大，多为圆形，长 15 · 前口外径 10.5 厘米，蒙蟒皮，后口置音窗，也有前八方后圆筒或扩音筒中胡」；「琴弦比二胡弦粗，音色浑厚」；「20 世纪 70 年代改革制成扁圆形 · 扁八方形琴筒中胡」；⭐⭐ 「以前的中胡仅适于合奏 · 伴奏，（改革）制成的扩音筒中胡（放长琴筒，后口制成喇叭形）才使中胡成为一件能够独奏的乐器」依百科与高校资料
• ⭐⭐ 定弦与音域：「定弦比二胡低四或五度，常定 g · d¹ 或 a · e¹，也有定弦低八度的。音域两个八度以上」；「张钢丝弦，琴弓长 75 厘米」；「音域约有两个八度，音色变化与二胡基本相同」依高校与洪啸资料
• ⭐⭐ 它的性格（来源的诚实描述）：「它仍属于灵敏性较弱的乐器，最善于演奏一些抒展 · 辽阔的歌唱性旋律，和声长音与不很复杂的音型，较少演奏快速的华彩性旋律」；「所有二胡上的演奏技巧都适宜中胡演奏」依百科资料
• ⭐ 用途与作品：「用于江南丝竹 · 广东音乐等器乐和乐队合奏或越剧伴奏，也用于独奏」；「较著名的中胡独奏曲有《草原上》（由刘明源作曲于 1956 年）·《苏武》等」；「中胡协奏曲则有《苏武》（刘洙曲）」；「自 20 世纪 30 年代，中胡在戏曲伴奏中逐渐发展成为重要弦乐器」；⚠️「专业院校普遍未设立中胡专业，中胡独奏作品数量有限」依百科与高校资料
• ⭐⭐ 低音部至今没补上（对照）：「20 世纪 50 年代以来，研制改革出的低音拉弦乐器有：大胡 · 低胡系列；革胡 · 低音革胡系列；大马头琴 · 低音马头琴系列；拉阮 · 低音拉阮系列等等。由于改革出的民族低音拉弦乐器在性能上还存在一定的缺陷，所以，现今绝大多数民族管弦乐队采用西洋大提琴 · 低音提琴作为低音拉弦乐器」依高校资料
• ⭐ 近亲对照（京二胡）：「京二胡是为了在融合京胡在京剧乐队中的音色而制成的一种比京胡大，比二胡小的拉弦乐器。音色也介于京胡和二胡之间，木制，蒙蛇皮。一般也用于京剧伴奏，很少独奏」依高校资料
• 「中胡属于八音中的丝」依通行资料

Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.