Xiang Mi - Tales of Middle Country

[Yiesha]

Introduction

 

[Yiesha]

Concept Form:

Name: Yiesha
Artifact: Erhu and Qiuniu (囚牛 pinyin qíuníu)
History:
The Erhu is an ancient Asian instrument, brought to China during the Han dynasty (~140 B.C.). It is a member of the /huqin family. Bowed instruments became popular in China during the Sung dynasty (A.D. 960-1279).

The Erhu can be traced back to instruments introduced into China more than a thousand years ago. It is believed to have evolved from the xiqin (奚琴), which was described as a foreign, two-stringed lute in an encyclopedic work on music-by-music theorist Chen Yang called Yue Shu (book of music), written during the Northern Song Dynasty. The Xiqin is believed to have originated from the Xi people of Central Asia, and have come to China in the 10th century.

The body of the Erhu is a drum-like little case usually made of ebony or sandalwood and snake skins. It usually has a hexagonal shape with the length of approximately 13 cm. The front opening is covered with skin of python (snake) and that of the back is left open. The functions of this case of resonance are to amplify the vibrations of the strings. The neck of the Erhu is about 81 cm long and is manufactured with the same materials as the drum. The top of the stem is bent for decoration. The two tuning handles (pegs) are found close to the end of the stem. There is no frets (as contrast to the lute) or touching board (as contrast to violin). The player creates different pitches by touching the strings at various positions along the neck of the instrument. The strings are usually made of silk or nylon.

Being said to be able to create sounds similar to human voice, the Erhu can also imitates many natural sounds such as birds and horse. Played with a variety of techniques, it is now extremely popular for both solo and orchestral performances. In classical Chinese music the Erhu is melodic, haunting, ever changing, and alive. The traditional style of playing is rich in ornamentation, giving the music a deep, three-dimensional quality.

The dragon that resides in the Erhu is one of the Nine Dragon Children that is QIUNIU who loves music and his figure is a common decoration on the bridge of stringed musical instruments.

Spirit: Xie Xiang Mi (fragrant - bewitch, charm)

Inspired by: Own Imaginatin and researches.

Appearance: Long dark black color with shades of wine that usually being tied up with hair sash, soft pale white skin that seems almost translucent, beautiful pair of eyes but it’s always only half open. He usually wears beautiful and many-colored Hanfu decorated with beautiful patterns especially of dragons. He has dragon horns on his head in his human form.

[Facial Appearance] [Expression] [Eye Color] [Hair Style] [Horns] [Beaded bracelet] [Clothing] [Spirits]

Personality: He always talk what he thought was right that always mistaken by being arrogant and didn’t care what others’ feelings. When taking any action, he always very impulsive. He use his instinct a lot then his brain. As a solitary type of person, he doesn’t really go well with big crowd, but he's still approachable in personal or lesser crowd.

Relationship: The Erhu was made by a very talented musical instrument maker that people said, his items always seems alive. One day as he trying to search for material to make an Erhu, he found a very rare kind of items that he thought would be great to use as the Erhu strings. As he finished the Erhu, he tried to play it and the Erhu sounds very very beautifully until it being heard by one of the quiniu dragon whom later decided to resides in it to listen to the song played by the Erhu forever more.

Gender: Male

References:

Artifact citations:

Erhu:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erhu
http://www.jumpingbuddha.com/instruments.html
http://www.jiebingchen.com/Erhu/
http://pachome1.pacific.net.sg/~ak109/Erhu.htm

Dragons:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_dragon
http://www.orienttouch.com/popuptext2.php?pID=50
http://beifan.com/034dragonlinks/34sonsofdragon.html

Spirit:
http://www.mandarintouch.com/product_info.php?products_id=166
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_Chinese_clothing
http://www.mandarintouch.com/product_info.php?cPath=2_20_159&products_id=165#
http://www.mandarintools.com/chinesename.html
http://bbs.chinadaily.com.cn/viewthread.php?gid=3&tid=504184&extra=&page=1
http://s159.photobucket.com/albums/t160/chineseHanfu/?start=all

My photobucket with all combined references image: [x]