Southeastern and Far Eastern Asia 

                 The erhu is one of the most important Chinese instruments. It only have two strings, but it can convey a wide range of emotions. It is played vertically, often resting on the musician's lap. It has no fingerboard, so the player's fingers must hold and vibrate the strings by pressing only against the springs themselves. The erhu bow is already fixed between the two strings, and the bow hair is either pushed forward between the two strings, and the bow hair is either pushed forward or backward to catch a string. The erhu is incredibly expressive, capable of limitating sounds from chirping birds to neighing horses. 



         The dragon dance is the most well-known of all the Chinese dances and is recreated all over the world for Chinese spring festival celebrations. In China, the dragons are actually auspicious, and it is believed that the longer the dragon, the luckier it is. The dragons used in Dragon Dances can stretch to be 100 meters long. They are normally constructed with multiple "joints" held up by the dancers who twist and prance their way down a street. 


       The Hanfu is the oldest of China's traditional clothes. when Huangdi's consort, leizu, made cloth with silk. the Hanfu was adopted and vigorously promoted by the ruling class. It then became the national clothing of the Han ethnic people. It also had a far-reaching influence on neighboring Asian Countries, such as Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. 

hanfu

Comments

  1. I really enjoyed your video and paragraph on the Dragon dance. That is the dance I think we always see on shows or the T.V and I did not know what it represented. Very cool!

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  2. The video of the dragon dance was so fun and really interesting! It must be so scary for them to be up above the ground that high, but then again, they probably don't do this if they have a fear of heights.

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  3. I am so happy that you included the erhu in your blog. When I first heard this instrument in class, I fell in love with the beauty of the sound. It really can imitate anything and I think that's what makes the instrument so unique and versatile. Also, I have always heard of the dragon dance but it was cool to see the dance actually in action. I have always associated China with dragons and I loved that you metnioned the importance of them. That was super cool!

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  4. I'm really glad you had talked about the dragon dance in your blog. I had not come across the dance before. It is very exciting to see how the new years is celebrated in this unique way.

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  5. I love the dragon dance! Well, anything to do with dragons, honestly. The contrast between the benevolent Eastern dragons and the horrible firebreathing beasts of Western dragons has always fascinated me. The erhu is also one of my favorite instruments; it's so cool how versatile and beautiful it is.

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  6. Wow, that's a really cool picture of the Chinese Hanfu. And, I'll admit, I didn't really know the name of that sort of outfit.

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