The erhu is a kind of violin (fiddle) with two strings which, together with zhonghu, gaohu, sihu, etc, belongs to the "huqin" family. It is said that its origin would be dated up to the Tang Dynasty (618–907) and related to the instrument called xiqin originated from a Mongolian tribe Xi. During the Song Dynasty (960–1279), the second generation of the huqin was among the instruments played at the imperial banquets. During the Dynasties of Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1911), the erhu underwent a great development at the time of the golden age of the local operas. The erhu then developed in different "schools". Two famous artists Hua Yanjun (1893–1950) and Liu Tianhua (1895–1932) made an exceptional contribution to the improvement of the erhu, and it was indeed due to the latter that the erhu, an instrument mainly for accompaniment in an opera, becomes a solo instrument. The erhu sounds similar to human voice, and can imitate many natural sounds such as birds and horses. It is a very expressive instrument, most well-known for playing melancholic tune, but also capable of playing merry melody. The erhu often plays an important role in the national orchestras. In the smaller orchestras, there are usually 2 to 6 erhus, in the largest, l0 to 12. In fact, the erhu plays the same role as the violin in the western orchestras.