The thesis “A History of Non-Western Bowed Instruments A look into the Eastern History of the Modern-Day Violin” by Sarah A. Bogen discusses the history, construction, and playing techniques of various bowed instruments from Asia. In Chapter 1, Bogen explains the origins of the erhu, a traditional Chinese instrument I have been learning for my project. The instrument has a deep history in China and appears in various spaces as it is played by both amateurs, street beggars, and even conservatory-trained musicians. The erhu is a part of the Huquin family, a family of instruments that describes a spiked fiddle. The spiked fiddle in indigenous to many cultures such as Japan and Turkey and is thought to have arrived to China as it was imported by islamic traders from the east. The author highlights how there is an ongoing debate on whether the erhu was invented or assimilated into the culture: “There are two schools of thought: that the spike fiddle was imported to China as a distinct apparatus and 2) it was assembled in the country from pre-existing discrete materials.” (Bogen, 2019, 8). Chinese etymology suggests that erhu was introduced by the “Hu” Barbarians of the North and West. The name erhu was derived from the earlier term huqin which translates to barbarian (hu) stringed instrument (qin). Er translates to two which describes the number of strings on the instrument. Based on this, the erhu describes a two-stringed instrument adopted from barbarians. Folk stories passed down by some Chinese ethnic groups on the other hand suggest that the instrument was invented rather than imported.
This thesis is a useful resource and relates to my project as it provides historical, cultural, and philosophical context for the erhu, an instrument I plan to incorporate into my fusion composition. Learning about the instrument is important for this project as one of my goals is to get in touch with and explore my heritage through music. Learning the instrument’s history adds additional depth to my project as my work explores themes of cultural blending. The question surrounding whether the instrument was assimilated or invented mirrors themes of biculturalism that I highlight within my project. The erhu’s history serves as a metaphor for the bicultural experience demonstrating how cultural elements are not always pure, but rather the result of exchanges and influences over time.
This week, I had a meeting with Prof. Osei Alleyne to discuss my MA project. The meeting was very helpful for my research as he provided a lot of sources, ideas, and general guidance for my project. In the meeting, he highlighted how my project is autoethnographic as I reflect on my own cultural experiences living as a second-generation immigrant in America. As I plan on going out and meeting with a community of traditional Chinese instrumentalists, he suggested that I document my experiences doing this and reflect on them within my paper. I think this is a great idea as it will make my project more personal allowing me to reflect on what I gained through the process of creating this project. He told me to look into the author Soyini Madison as her work hones in on this topic. Some additional research terms he said I should look out for are transculturation, creolization, and hybridization. Overall the meeting was very helpful and sparked many new ideas and directions for my project
References
Bogen, S. (2019). A History of Non-Western Bowed Instruments A look into the Eastern History of the Modern-Day Violin. Long Island University. https://digitalcommons.liu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1057&context=post_honors_theses