Huqin fiddles, suona oboes, the lute, and many of the other traditional instruments of China actually evolved from earlier instruments played by people in Central Asia. In fact, many of them were introduced to China via the Silk Road, but, as with so many other things, the Chinese absorbed them and made them their own.
The musician was playing a type of huqin, a musical instrument which has been dubbed a Chinese spike fiddle in the West — as the ceremony in the temple continued on. There was an older man next to him plucking a lute, another squeaking notes out on an oboe, and an entire percussion section beating out a rhythm on drums, chimes, and cymbals. The band consisted of six or seven members, and they squeaked, pounded, and squawked out something the Chinese call music as a row of men worshiped before the alter.
Various types of huqin are popular throughout China. They are incredibly simple instruments, and are often played by beggars in the street. But the man who was playing it in front of me wasn't just scrapping strings for coins: he really knew how to play it. I'm unsure if I ever watched someone in China play this type of fiddle with better precision. I had to remind myself at one point that the instrument that was resonating sounds through the temple was just two strings attached to a stick that was stuck in a drum that was stroked with horse hair.
Called the "Chinese oboe," a musical instrument known here as a suǒnà hung from a pillar of the temple. It had a long, wooden body that terminated at a detachable metal bell. The top of which had a brass attachment within which a reed was placed. The sound it makes can only be described as a controlled squeak. I watched as a few of the musicians assembled along the side of the temple and all began playing these oboes together. The sound which resonated from them was "trumpet-esque" in the way they totally took control of the melody.
I have no idea what this instrument is called, but its sound is somewhere between a Jewish shofar and a trombone. It is essentially a retractable brass tube with a magnificent bell at the bottom. The musicians were either proud of the fact that it was made in Taiwan or they were trying to tell me that it originated here. Watch the video below to hear the sound of this instrument, it's impressive.
