Huqin is a family of bowed
string instruments, more specifically, a
spike fiddle popularly used in
Chinese music. The instruments consist of a round, hexagonal, or octagonal
sound box at the bottom with a neck attached that protrudes upwards. They also have two strings (except the
sihu, which has four strings tuned in pairs) and their soundboxes are typically covered with either
snakeskin (most often
python) or thin wood.
Huqin instruments have either two (or, more rarely, four) tuning pegs, one peg for each string. The pegs are attached horizontally through holes drilled in the instrument's neck. Most
huqin have the bow hair pass in between the strings.