Chinese History and Culture
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Harvest Drum is popular among regions of Northeast China, Inner Mongolia, Hebei and Anhui provinces. It's a kind of feature instrument used mainly by the Han and Manchu people.
It is said that the drum came into being in the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and was named as Harvest Drum in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).
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 The only earthen musical instrument is a kind of ocarina called Xun. It can produce sound with a tamber similar to that of human voice, and is suitable for performing some lamenting aria. People in ancient times used the instrument to imitate birds' sound and ensnare them.
The oldest Xun that has been discovered in China up to now was made about six to seven thousands years ago. For instance, a conical Xun was discovered in the Hemudu of the Hangzhou Bay in Zhejiang Province (eastern China), the Xun without holes and the one-hole Xun were found in the Yangshao Culture site in Banpo Village in Xi'an (western China) and Xun was also discovered in Wanrong County of Shanxi Province (northern China), Yumen Huoshao Gou of Gansu Province (northwestern China) and Huixian County in Henan Province (central China).
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 a smaller version of pipa with four strings, which sound similar to mandolin.
Liuqin is played with a piece of spectrum, and is used to be accompany instrument for folk songs and local opera. However, in recent decades, Composer Wang Huiran made great contribution to its making and composed many pieces such that the liuqin also becomes a soloist instrument.
song: Spring comes to Yihe River
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 Zhuihu (Bowed String Instrument), also known as Zhuiqin or Zhuizi, is altered from Sanxian (a three-stringed musical instrument), can be used to perform solo and tutti. Since Zhuihu has a wide diapason, a soft sound and relatively
high sound volume, performers can use it to imitate the voice of human and animals.
There is one legend about the origin of Zhuihu. In the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Emperor Kangxi forbad all the opera performances in the Forbidden City and artists had to earn a living on the street. One day, an artist's Sanxian was bitten by mice and the covering leather of the sound box got a hole in it. In order not to miss the performance, the artist had to use a thin wooden piece to replace the leather and used a bow from Huqin (two-stringed Chinese violin) to play the Sanxian. This musical instrument, that can not only play music but also imitate human voice, was later called Zhuihu.
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 More than 2,000 years ago, there were many instruments in China, including bell, chime, drum and Xun (an egg-shaped, holed wind instrument). In the Zhou Dynasty (11th century - 771BC) and Spring and Autumn (770-476BC) and Warring States (475-221BC) period, the instruments totaled 80 kinds. During the period of the Qin Dynasty (221-206BC), the Han Dynasty (206BC-25AD), the Three Kingdoms (220-280), the Jin Dynasty (317-420), the Southern and Northern Dynasties (386-589) and Sui (581-618) and Tang Dynasties (618-907), there appeared instruments of Hengchui (like today's bamboo flute), Qiangdi (a musical instrument of the Qiang), Bi, bronze drum and waist drum, etc. They were all key instruments in national orchestral music.
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