京胡
Peking opera fiddle
Jīnghú (京胡) is the small, high two-string fiddle that leads the melodic accompaniment of Peking opera. It is the smallest and highest-pitched member of the huqin family of Chinese bowed fiddles.
- 賣馬Mài mǎ — Selling the Horse4:32
- 洪羊洞Hóng yáng dòng — Hongyang Cave3:17
- 戰太平Zhàn tài píng — Battle at Taiping3:26
- 託兆碰碑Tuō zhào pèng bēi — The Dream Message and the Stele6:50
- 四郎探母Sì láng tàn mǔ — The Fourth Son Visits His Mother6:33
- 烏盆記Wū pén jì — The Black Basin6:51
- 借東風Jiè dōng fēng — Borrowing the East Wind3:08
- 戰太平Zhàn tài píng — Battle at Taiping3:23
- 狀元譜Zhuàngyuán pǔ — The Top Scholar's Genealogy2:53
- 玉堂春（頭段）Yù táng chūn — The Story of Su San, part 13:43
- 霸王别姬：劝君王饮酒听虞歌Bàwáng bié jī: Quàn jūnwáng yǐnjiǔ tīng yú gē — Farewell My Concubine: “Drink, my lord, and listen to Yu's song”2:56
- 霸王别姬：看大王在帐中和衣睡稳Bàwáng bié jī: Kàn dàwáng zài zhàng zhōng — Farewell My Concubine: “The king sleeps in his tent”2:55
- 贵妃醉酒：海岛冰轮初转腾Guìfēi zuì jiǔ: Hǎidǎo bīnglún chū zhuǎn téng — The Drunken Concubine: “The icy moon rises over the sea”3:25
- 空城计：我正在城楼观山景Kōng chéng jì: Wǒ zhèng zài chénglóu guān shānjǐng — The Empty City Ruse: “I am on the city wall, admiring the hills”1:54
- 四郎探母：杨延辉坐宫院自思自叹Sì láng tàn mǔ: Yáng Yánhuī zuò gōngyuàn — The Fourth Son Visits His Mother: “Yang Yanhui sits in the palace and sighs”2:48
- 忠臣不怕死Zhōngchén bù pà sǐ — A Loyal Minister Does Not Fear Death2:57
- 三娘教子Sān niáng jiào zǐ — The Third Wife Teaches Her Son3:44
Liner notes
Its sound is often compared to a violin's, only raspier, and in the theatre it is the instrument most closely bound to the singer.
The instrument
Unlike other huqin, the jinghu is made of bamboo. A cylindrical bamboo soundbox is covered at the playing end with python skin, stretched taut like a small drum, and a bamboo bridge stands on that skin. The two strings, once silk and now usually steel or nylon, are tuned a fifth apart and fixed to a peg at the bottom of the soundbox. As on the erhu, the bow cannot be detached: its hair runs between the two strings.
Players seldom move into high positions on the neck. Most of the time the melody stays within a single octave, which keeps the jinghu close to the range of the voice it follows.
How to listen
In a Peking opera band the jinghu is the lead melodic instrument, with the round-bodied yueqin lute as its second. It does not simply double the singer. It follows the vocal line while adding its own ornaments and departing from it in small ways, a kind of playing called heterophony. Listen for the moments when the voice holds or pauses and the fiddle carries the line forward.
The two main musical systems of Peking opera ask for different tunings. For xipi, used for joyful stories, the strings are tuned to A and D. For erhuang, which draws on low, soft folk tunes from Hubei and suits more lyrical stories, they are tuned to C and G. Around the melodic instruments sits the percussion section, led by the drummer, which sets the tempo for everyone; see luogu.
A short history
Peking opera took shape after troupes of Anhui opera came to Beijing in 1790 for the Qianlong Emperor's eightieth birthday, and it is generally seen as fully formed by the mid-19th century. The jinghu's history is less well documented in the sources used here, so this page does not try to date its arrival in the band. The earliest records on Kotone give a sense of how long the partnership between singer and fiddler has been audible: a 1908 recording of Sun Juxian credits his jinghu player, Wang Yunting.
Start with
Begin with The Third Wife Teaches Her Son, Sun Juxian's 1908 recording with Wang Yunting on jinghu. Then jump forward a century to Tian Hao's 2017 The Empty City Ruse. More recordings are on the jingju page.
Questions
- What is a jinghu?
- The jinghu is a small, high-pitched Chinese two-string fiddle with a bamboo body and a python-skin face. It is the lead melodic instrument of Peking opera.
- What does the jinghu do in Peking opera?
- It accompanies the singer, following the vocal melody while adding ornaments and small departures of its own. It is the main melodic instrument of the band, alongside the yueqin lute and the percussion.
- How is the jinghu tuned?
- Its two strings are tuned a fifth apart. In Peking opera they are tuned to A and D for xipi melodies and to C and G for erhuang melodies.
- How is the jinghu different from the erhu?
- The jinghu is smaller and higher, and its body is bamboo rather than wood. Its sound is brighter and raspier, and it is tied mainly to Peking opera rather than to solo concert music.