Assignment 4 The Ecological Sustainability of the erhu ____Yunrui Zheng

Introduction

The erhu occupies an important place among traditional Chinese musical instruments, and is loved for its melancholy tone, rich musical expression, and infectious musical power. The overall length of the instrument is about 80 cm, and the vibrational length of the strings is around half of that. The soundbox is a tube, and one end of the tube is covered by a membrane of tensioned python skin. So, the production of the erhu requires not only a large amount of high-quality imported wood, but also natural python skin with a certain python age for the vibrating skin surface. After my research and study, I learn that the quality of python skin is decisive for the sound of the erhu. Since this research revolves around ecological sustainability as the theme, I will focus on the problems arising from the python skin of erhu and the significance of artificial skin erhu.

The reason for using python skin as material & the production process

Making musical instruments with python skin mon is a traditional Chinese craft. According to the information consulted, I learned that the surface of python skin is a soft calcium phosphorus sheet, and the interior is a protein fiber structure. According to experimental analysis, the elasticity, strength against tension, surface density, elongation, and aesthetic appearance of python skin are all superior to those of other animal skin membranes, which is the main reason why previous musicians chose python skin as the material according to the need of the erhu's acoustic qualities, including tone, sound quality, volume. The process of making python skin suitable for erhu is to strip the python skin that python's body, scrape it, tense the leather, and dry it. At the same time, enhance the stability of the skin film, its production process also includes sealing the surface of the skin film by rolling wax on the surface of the skin and seams.

Analysis from an ecologically sustainable perspective

Turning attention to the ecologically sustainable implications of using python skin for vibrating membranes. There is no doubt that using python skin to make musical instruments is against the concept of environmental protection. For example, the annual production of erhu in China is over 500,000, and a four-meter-long python skin can only make 12 ordinary erhus or three high-quality erhus, so at least 60,000 pythons have to be shot and killed each year to satisfy the market demand. Meanwhile, the texture of captive-bred python skin is far less flexible than wild python skin and cannot be the material of choice for making erhu, which leads more people to choose to hunt wild pythons cruelly instead of choosing captive-bred snakes to gain higher economic benefits. From this perspective, the use of python skin as a vibrating membrane for the erhu is detrimental to biodiversity and ecological sustainability, especially considering that the python is listed as an endangered species in the world.

Next, the process of obtaining skins suitable for erhu is also revolting,  unethical and humanitarian. In order to explore the source of making snake skin, I searched for the whole process of taking the skin of python in the python factory. In the video, I could see that the pythons are suspended by ropes from their chins, then workers use an air compressor or wind pump to inject air or water into the pythons, at  which point the pythons still retain signs of consciousness. After they are forcibly inflated or injected with water, their mouths and anuses are tied, which is completely like an ordeal or torture. Eventually, they are skinned from head to tail after the water or air has been expelled. Even at this point, they are likely still alive, since I did notice that the tails of some pythons continued to move after being disemboweled. I think the reason why factories take python skin in this way is to reduce the risk of the workers themselves being attacked by the snake, as well as the most important point is to ensure that the whole skin peeled off is intact and untraumatized, which is beneficial for selling at a good price. But there is no doubt that the gruesome process is extremely immoral, cruel and violent.

What is even more frightening is that there is a problem of improper disposal of the waste generated by the entire slaughtering process. More specifically, python blood, giblets, and other waste are piled up in very unsanitary conditions and then discarded by workers into water sources such as ponds or rivers in a random and unsuitable manner, which undoubtedly creates the risk of spreading dangerous new viruses to humans or other organisms.

Solution and comparison with artificial-leather erhu 

With the strengthening of environmental awareness, many countries have stopped using animal leather in the production of musical instruments and replaced it with alternatives. For example, snare drums and timpani in the West used to be made of calfskin, but now they are all made with alternatives. Japan has also banned the use of animal skins to make musical instruments for a long time, like Japanese musical instruments shamisen used to be made of cat skin, which was specially bred for making musical instruments and now is also made with alternatives. Likewise, with the government restricting the supply of python skin and the people's increasing awareness of environmental protection and wildlife conservation, the erhu has been reformed, with the focus on making synthetic skins to replace python skin. The most typical example is that in 2005, the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra set up a research laboratory for musical instruments and successfully developed an environmentally friendly erhu using PET renewable polyester skin instead of python skin as the main diaphragm.

Besides, I would like to briefly discuss the differences between the erhu made with synthetic eco-skin and the python skin erhu. First of all, python skin is less tense in humid or high-temperature conditions. In this case, the sound of the erhu with python skin would be very muffled. However, the dry or cold conditions also cause the python skin to dry out and crack, resulting in a harsh tone. Therefore, in contrast, artificial skin has stronger stability and durability. Secondly, according to current scientific findings, the tone of the erhu with python skin is indeed more aesthetic, warmer and brighter, while the tone of the erhu with artificial skin is more rigid and stiff. However, through the continuous efforts of musicians and scientists, the difference in tone between the two has gradually narrowed. Thirdly, the use of artificial leather is more conducive to the dissemination of erhu music. This is due to the fact that python skin products are restricted from entering or leaving the customs of many countries, thus players who bring a python skin erhu are required to provide a certificate and obtain permission to perform abroad. At the same time, the high cost of python skin is not affordable for everyone. So in this case, the use of a low-cost and durable synthetic skin would help to attract more people to learn this instrument.

Conclusion

In general, the erhu is an instrument with a history of over a thousand years, and previous musicians chose to use python skin as the vibrating membrane of the erhu, contributing to a very delicate and touching sound, but harmful to biodiversity and ecological balance. Thanks to the efforts of people, the erhu, which uses artificial and environmentally friendly skin as its vibrating membrane, is not only ecologically sustainable, but also has certain performance advantages, and the gap between this kind of erhu and the python skin erhu in terms of tonal beauty is gradually diminishing.

References:

1. Waltham, Chris, and Laura Kim. “Characterization and Modeling of the Erhu.” The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 144, no. 3 (2018): 1753–1753. 

Link: https://doi.org/10.1121/1.5067766.

2. Ren Jianyi. “A First Look at the Difference Between Python Erhu and Artificial Leather.” ( Yue qi, no. 1 (2016): 16–17.

Link: https://julac-hku.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/fulldisplay?docid=cdi_chongqing_primary_667792110&context=PC&vid=852JULAC_HKU:HKU&search_scope=MyInst_and_CI&tab=Everything&lang=en.

3. Xu YeZhen. “ lun erhu qin pi cai liao gai liang de bi ran xing.”[On the Necessity of Improving Erhu Skin Material]. Art Criticism, no. 18 (2017): 132–33. 

Link: https://julac-hku.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/fulldisplay?docid=cdi_chongqing_primary_673417637&context=PC&vid=852JULAC_HKU:HKU&search_scope=MyInst_and_CI&tab=Everything&lang=en.

4. Ruan Shichun. “ huqin chuan tong yi shu yu huan bao——xiang gang zhong yue tuan de 'yue gai' chuang yi yu shi jian.” [Huqin Traditional Art and Environmental Protection - The 'Music Reform' Creativity and Practice of Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra]. Artistic Technology, no. 3 (2007): 3–7.

Link: https://doi.org/10.3969/j.issn.1004-9436.2007.03.001.