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Home History and Culture The Horse-Headed Qin and its Origin
The Horse-Headed Qin and its Origin
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The top of the neck of the horse-headed stringed instrument is carved in the shape of a horse's head, hence the name, and it is the representative instrument of the horse-riding Mongolian people. The sound box is trapezoid in shape, and decorated with ethnic motifs. The instrument has two strings with a four-octave range, and it is played with a horsetail-hair bow on the outside of the strings. Double tones can be played on it.

Its hazy tone color is suitable for expressing soft and mellow moods. Its haunting melodies can often be heard on the vast Mongolian grasslands; whether in solo performance or accompanying folksongs, its quavering notes, using the third or fourth octave, sound like the human voice.

Besides its unique enchantment, the Horse-Headed Qin also has its interesting legend of origin: long ago, there lived a robust young man in the Mongolian grassland. This young man was a good folk singer and as long as he sang, one of his white horses would cry with the melody of its master. They two thus became good friends, and in a horse race, this white horse helped the young man win the first prize. The landlord, however, also wanted to have this magical horse, and he finally succeeded in holding the horse as his own by force. The white horse missed his former master so much that one day it escaped from the cruel landlord.
Although it got the deadly shot from the landlord, the horse insisted on running and fell to the feet of the young man. In memory of this white horse, the young man made one musical instrument with the remains of the horse: its head bone as the sound box and the tail as the outside bow, and decorated it with carving a horse head. This is the first Horse-Headed Qin.

马头琴的传说

马头琴,蒙古语称“胡兀尔”、“莫林胡兀尔”。马头琴名称的来源来自乐器本身:那是因为乐器的顶端有一个端庄生动的马头雕像而得名。故而称为马头琴。

马头琴音色柔和、深沉带有一些苍凉感,具有浓郁的草原韵味而深受到牧民们的喜爱。马头琴除了它的声音具有独特的魅力以外,它还有一段动人的传说。

相传在很早很早以前,在科尔沁草原(中国北方)上有一个健壮的小伙子名字叫苏和,他能唱得一手好歌,他养的马里面有一匹雪白的高头大马,每当小伙子唱歌的时候它都在一旁跟着嘶鸣,声音非常悦耳,好象是给小伙子伴奏一样,苏和非常喜爱这匹通人性的白马,他和白马成了好朋友,苏和走到哪里,白马都会寸步不离地跟着他。

在一次赛马会上,苏和骑着这匹白马获得了冠军,小伙子非常高兴,可是这时忽然来了一群打手把白马抢跑了,原来是这里的王爷也看上了这匹马。

这匹白马离开了小伙子,日夜思念它的主人,每当听到苏和唱歌召唤它时,它都跟着嘶鸣,终于有一天白马挣脱了缰绳跑了出来。但半路上被追来的打手射出的毒箭射中,但它仍然坚持着,一直到了苏和的蒙古包前才倒地而死。苏和这个坚强的小伙子流泪了,他哭着,抚摸着他的马,耳边一直回响着白马苍凉的嘶鸣声,为了使白马一直伴着他,于是他把白马的腿做成一个琴杆,头骨做了音箱,用马的皮蒙在琴箱上,并用马尾做成了弓子,并根据白马生前的模样,在琴头上雕刻了一个同样的马头,于是就产生了草原上第一个马头琴,马头琴的声音传达着牧民的心声,一代又一代

 

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