中文课 Blog Post #2

1。她想买一件中好的旗袍。

2。她见好在一件旗袍。

3。你见了她在一件吗？

4。是。她很漂亮。现在她得买一双鞋。

5。她应该买红一双。

For this post I did some research on the erhu (二胡), which is a two-stringed fiddle and undoubtedly one of the most popular and widely recognized Chinese instruments. It belongs to the "huqin" family, or the bowed string family. It's origins date back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907) when it was called the "xiqin" that was played by the Xi Mongolian tribe. During the Song dynasty (960-1279), it was introduced to China as the "Ji Qin." Over the coming generations, it underwent a great amount of development as it was played for opera. Hua Yanjun (1893-1950) and Liu Tianhua (1895-1932) made significant contributions to the improvement of the erhu. Tianhua was responsible for it becoming a solo instrument rather than being played mainly as an accompaniment.

The sound body resembles a drum-case that is usually made of ebony, sandalwood, and snake skins. The front opening is usually covered with python skin while the back is left open for the circulation of sound and amplification of string resonance. The strings (which are made of silk or nylon) are most commonly tuned to D and A. The artist changes the pitch by touching the strings at different areas along the long wooden neck. The bow is 76 cm long and is made of reed which is curved during cooking. The bow's strings are arched the same way as the strings of a violin.

Interestingly, it emits a sound similar to a human voice. It can also be made to imitate birds or horses. It can play either sad or happy tunes.

The first of these links is an informational page with yourube videos at the bottom. I've also supplied another video in which an erhu is played in accompaniment with a yangqin.

http://www.philmultic.com/home/instruments/erhu.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LPIxPA6-O8&feature=related