Erhu in Lu Xun Park

The sweet sound of this ancient instrument is able to wander along the wind for miles, attracting every type of ear, animal and human both, like a siren slowly but strongly forcing the mortal beings to succumb to its power. You sit close by, watching as a crowd begins to gather, and soon time slips away and your eyes close, guided into a dream by this ancient and joyful little player. The erhu is a two-stringed bowed musical instrument, more specifically a spike fiddle, which may also be called a "southern fiddle", and sometimes known in the Western world as the "Chinese violin" or a "Chinese two-stringed fiddle". It is used as a solo instrument as well as in small ensembles and large orchestras. It is the most popular of the huqin family of traditional bowed string instruments used by various ethnic groups of China. The erhu can be traced back to instruments introduced into China more than a thousand years ago. The first Chinese character of the name of the instrument (二, èr, two) is believed to come from the fact that it has two strings. An alternate explanation states that it comes from the fact that it is the second highest huqin in pitch to the gaohu in the modern Chinese orchestra. The second character (胡, hú) indicates that it is a member of the huqin family. The name huqin literally means "barbarian instrument," showing that the instrument likely originated from regions to the north or west of China inhabited by non-Han peoples.