Scan 25
Researches into the early history of the violin family, 1883
10 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 15. See the scan on archive.org.
1where it is still flourishing. The Kalmuks, in the south of Russia, who are Buddhists, possess a rude fiddle which in shape and construction is identical with the Chinese urheen. Furthermore, the Kalmuks adore a musical deity called Maidari, who is represented playing on a stringed instrument, almost precisely like a certain musical idol found in the Buddhist temples in China. These evidences point to a common source in Hindustan.
3Attention must be drawn to certain coincidences in the construction of some of the Asiatic instruments played with a bow and in that of our violin. It is, indeed, difficult to believe that the coincidences are accidental; nor does it seem at all probable that the instruments have been introduced into Asia from Europe. Let us examine one or two suggestive similarities.
5We have seen that the shape of the Chinese urheen bears no resemblance to our violin. Its body consists of a cylinder covered at the top with snake-skin, and the number of its strings is generally restricted to two. The strings, made of twisted silk, are placed so far distant from the neck of the instrument as to render it impossible for the player to press them down for the production of different tones. In short, the urheen must be classed with the most primitive attempts at constructing an instrument of the violin family. The woopu exhibits a great improvement upon it, since the small body of the woopu is pear-shaped, slightly incurved at the sides, and mounted with four strings, which are placed closely over the neck so as to enable the player to shorten them at pleasure with his fingers.
7The Japanese kokiu, of which an illustration is here given (Fig. 3), is likewise four-stringed; however, its body, which consists of a square-shaped wooden frame, covered at the top and at the back with parchment, does not bear the slightest resemblance in shape to the violin. Its strings are of silk, neatly twisted and rubbed with some resinous substance.
9Turning to Hindustan, we find, among the numerous instruments played with a bow, which are popular in that country, several which rather resemble our violin. Nay, it is well known that in some of the seaport towns of Hindu-
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