Zhonghu is a musical instrument restructured on the basis of the erhu, and is the abbreviation of the alto erhu. All erhu playing skills are suitable for Chinese hu playing. It is still a less sensitive instrument. It is best at playing some lyrical, vast singing melodies, harmonic long tones and not very complicated tone patterns, and less fast and colorful melodies.

As early as the 1930s, the Shanghai Datong Concert, a famous Chinese folk music society, created a stringed alto-stringed instrument, the bowhu. The string-pulling method has not been passed down. At the same time, Mr. Zhou Rongting (1907-1975), a well-known Chinese national musical instrument maker, studied erhu and pipa playing with Zhou Shaomei, a famous silk and bamboo teacher in the south of the Yangtze River. The Wu Ping Chinese Orchestra.

During this period, in order to enhance the expressive power of the alto music, he developed an alto-stringed instrument based on the erhu—today's Zhonghu. The form and structure of the zhonghu are the same as those of the erhu, except that each component is larger than the erhu, the tuning is a fourth or fifth lower than the erhu, and the timbre is thicker. Fill in the gaps between the high and low bass, making the whole band sound full.

The reformed zhonghu includes the flat cylindrical hu and the symmetrical flat octagonal hu. They are used in ethnic bands and can be used with gaohu and erhu with the same barrel shape. In the past, Zhonghu was only suitable for ensemble and accompaniment. Over time, the Zhonghu was made into a loudspeaker tube, the qin tube was extended, and the back of the qin tube was made into a trumpet shape, so that the Zhonghu became a piece that could be used for accompaniment. Solo instrument.

Famous Zhonghu solos include "On the Prairie" and "Su Wu".