Zhuihu
An instrument born twice — first it escaped the sanxian, then it moved into the opera house
Related
The instruments on the previous pages were mostly born to fill a gap in an ensemble: the zhonghu to fill the middle, the gehu to supply the bass. This one is different. The zhuihu was not born for an orchestra — it was born for a stage, and it was born twice.
The first birth was an escape. It used to be a sanxian (a three-string, fretless, plucked lute):
「在为说唱 · 戏曲伴奏时，艺人感到弹拨乐器的效果难以与唱腔妥帖配合，遂仿效胡琴，改用马尾弓拉奏，并将琴鼓改为胡琴的琴筒，形成坠胡。」
The second birth was an arrival. In the 1920s, folk musicians of the Henan quju (曲剧) applied the same trick once more and made the zhuihu the quju's lead instrument.
⭐⭐ Main line 54: an instrument born twice — first it escaped one instrument, then it moved into one opera genre.
First, a correction about the name
The name is easy to get wrong. The better-attested story is:
- the zhuihu became the lead instrument of the Henan quju from the 1920s, and accompanies the Shandong qinshu and the Lüju;
- it also accompanies narrative genres such as the Henan zhuizi / Zezhou zhuizi;
- but the genre is not named after the instrument — a genre that already existed cannot be explained by a later instrument.
| Class | Assignment |
|---|---|
| HS class | Chordophone · bowed (friction with a bow) · with definite pitch |
| Sub-type | mid-register bowed (short wide body: octagonal or round · hardwood / redwood / yellow tong / copper plate · python or snake skin over the front opening · openwork rear rim · two strings · fretless neck doubling as the fingerboard · horsehair bow) · tuned a–d¹ · about two and a half octaves |
| Family | China · bowed strings (lead / accompanying instrument of opera and narrative genres; traditionally three kinds: 曲胡 · 坠琴 · 坠子) |
| Bayin | silk |
Born twice
The zhuihu has two birthdays, and they are of different kinds.
- First birth — an escape. A sanxian (plucked, drum-bodied) could not follow a sung line closely enough; a bow was added and the drum became a sound box.
- Second birth — an arrival. In the 1920s the Henan quju (曲剧) adopted it and gave it a post: lead instrument of its own opera.
⭐⭐ The first birth was a change of mechanism; the second was a change of job.
Three moves, all of them replacements
| Move | From | To | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | plucked strings | a horsehair bow between the strings | plucked → bowed |
| 2nd | the drum body | a huqin-style sound box | a drum → a resonator |
| 3rd | accompaniment | lead | following the voice → leading it |
The second move is the telling one. The sanxian's body is a small drum (an oval frame with skin on both faces); turning it into a sound box did not change its job at all — it was still the resonator, only the shape changed from flat to tubular. (See the sanxian page: "the drum shape is not a design, it is a birthmark" — the zhuihu borrows that birthmark back.)
The neck is also fretless and doubles as the fingerboard, exactly like the sanxian: the whole line (zhuihu → sanxian → stringed rattle drum) inherits one smooth, fretless rod, so pitch has to be found by ear, not by frets.
Three kinds, and the only difference is the body
Traditionally it comes in曲胡 · 坠琴 · 坠子:
「这三种乐器的琴头 · 琴杆 · 指板 · 弓子等，都还照样保留着小三弦的形制， 区别就在琴筒。」
A useful taxonomy lesson: classification follows the part that differs, not the part that looks the same. All three share one skeleton, so the fork happens in a single component — which is exactly why local names are built around the body.
What it is really for: sounding like a voice
「其独特之处在于仿声功能，能惟妙惟肖地模仿人声 · 笑声 · 鸟兽鸣叫 及部分打击乐声音。」
And it also knows how to step aside:
「还可采用双弦演奏手法，实现一根弦伴奏 · 一根弦奏旋律。」
⭐⭐ One string accompanies, one string sings the melody — only an accompaniment instrument can do that. The erhu, zhonghu and gehu are each one voice in an ensemble; the zhuihu's job is to sit under a human voice, so it can spend its most distinctive gift on imitating one.
Tone: pure, soft, full-bodied, strongly penetrating, close to the human voice. Range: about two and a half octaves (a–d³), tuned a–d¹ (a fourth apart).
坠胡属拉弦弦鸣乐器（弓擦 · 两弦 · 无品）。一般定弦为 a · d¹（纯四度关系），音域约两个半八度 a～d³。本图按此定弦取 A2–D3 示意，接近人声的常用音区在低八度 A2 附近。记谱即实音。
From backing to the front
「在演奏艺术上，坠胡逐渐从伴奏乐器发展为重要的独奏乐器。著名演奏家如马光陆 创作了《新春乐》等独奏曲目……马光陆的坠胡独奏曾在1955 年第五届世界青年联欢节 上比赛获奖。」
An instrument built to follow a voice eventually stepped into the spotlight. Makers keep refining the same goal — 「改变琴筒材质（如前板后皮）和加长琴杆」 to improve the tone and widen the range.
Recap in one table
| Q | A |
|---|---|
| Origin | the sanxian (plucked, drum-bodied) |
| What changed | a horsehair bow added; the drum became a sound box |
| Whose lead instrument | the Henan quju (from the 1920s) |
| Most distinctive trait | ⭐⭐ imitating the voice — speech, laughter, birdsong |
| The two strings | ⭐⭐ one accompanies, one sings |
| Traditional types | three (曲胡 · 坠琴 · 坠子), differing only in the body |
| Tuning · range | a–d¹ · about two and a half octaves |
| Bayin | silk |
The gehu page showed a bass gambit played for an ensemble; this page shows an instrument that, in order to stay close to one person's voice, turned itself from plucked to bowed and from a drum into a tube — two entirely different kinds of "born for something": one for the orchestra, one for the singing voice.
Listen in the library
All tracks from midicn-lib — inline badge is the license tier (C1 commercial / C2 non-commercial / C3 study only).
Sources
- ⭐⭐ 出身（本批第 54 条主线：两次出生）：其前身是小三弦。清末河南 · 山东一带说唱 / 戏曲伴奏用小三弦，「艺人感到弹拨乐器的效果难以与唱腔妥帖配合，遂仿效胡琴 · 改用马尾弓拉奏，并将琴鼓改为胡琴的琴筒，形成坠胡」依百科资料
- ⭐⭐ 「三次转化」的可复原过程：① 在小三弦的一二弦之间加一根马尾弓 → 弹拨乐器变成拉弦乐器；② 琴鼓改成琴筒（仍用薄桐木板蒙面时是应急替代）→ 鼓腔变成共鸣腔；③ 20 世纪 20 年代河南曲剧民间艺人仿此经验再改进，「并定为曲剧的主奏乐器」依百科资料
- ⭐⭐ 三种形制与「区别就在琴筒」：坠胡传统分曲胡 · 坠琴 · 坠子三类，「这三种乐器的琴头 · 琴杆 · 指板 · 弓子等，都还照样保留着小三弦的形制，区别就在琴筒」；尺寸示例：曲胡琴筒直径约 8 厘米 · 长约 14 厘米，坠胡琴筒直径约 11 厘米 · 长约 6.8 厘米（筒短而粗）依百科资料
- ⭐⭐ 形制（各部件来源不同）：琴杆用红木或花梨木 · 全长约 90 厘米，「与三弦琴杆相似但较短，兼做指板」（无品）· 琴头似三弦 · 琴筒多为八方形或圆形，用硬木 · 红木 · 黄桐木或铜板制作，前口蒙蟒皮或蛇皮，后口有镂空边框· 两轸张两弦，马尾竹弓拉奏依百科资料
- ⭐⭐ 定弦 · 音域 · 音色：「一般定弦为 a · d¹（四度关系），音域约两个半八度（a～d³）」；「音色纯净 · 柔美 · 浑厚，声音穿透力强，接近人声」依百科资料
- ⭐⭐ 仿声功能（本页最该记住的一条）：「其独特之处在于仿声功能，能惟妙惟肖地模仿人声 · 笑声 · 鸟兽鸣叫及部分打击乐声音」；擅长揉音 · 打音 · 滑音 · 倚音；「还可采用双弦演奏手法，实现一根弦伴奏 · 一根弦奏旋律」依百科资料
- ⭐⭐ 它是为哪出戏生的：主要流传于河南 · 山东一带，「是河南曲剧 · 山东琴书 · 吕剧的主要伴奏乐器」；20 世纪 20 年代起定为河南曲剧的主奏乐器；亦用于河南坠子 · 泽州坠子等说唱 / 戏曲伴奏依百科资料
- ⭐ 从伴奏走向独奏（马光陆）：演奏家马光陆创作《新春乐》等坠胡独奏曲目，拓展了坠胡的表演艺术空间；「马光陆的坠胡独奏曾在1955 年第五届世界青年联欢节上比赛获奖」依百科资料
- ⭐ 传承人的改良：制作技艺上「有制作者通过改变琴筒材质（如前板后皮）和加长琴杆等方式，以改善音色 · 扩展音域」依百科资料
- ⚠️ 一个被传得很广、但要存疑的来历：相传清代康熙年间宫廷戏班被撤、艺人流落民间，「一天，一位艺人的小三弦被老鼠咬坏了蒙皮，情急之下用桐木板代替蒙皮，并将胡琴的弓子夹在两根弦中间拉奏，由此诞生了最早的坠胡」——本页按「清末 · 小三弦改弓改筒」的可考证说法记述，老鼠咬皮的故事只作为传说标出（依百科资料原文另标一说的情形）
- ⚠️ 涉外与属地按来源原样：河南 · 山东 · 泽州（今山西晋城一带）等地为来源原文写法依百科资料
- 「坠胡属八音中的丝」依通行资料
Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.