Xiaxian

There are different sayings about Xiaxian. The first one is that it is named from the musical instrument-Sanxian, whose notes are C G E. The second saying is that in ancient times, the most Xiaxian performers are blind, who were looked down upon by others. Thus, people named it Haxian, in which “Ha” had similar pronunciation with “Xia”. That’s the origin of Xiaxian. The third saying is contrast with the second one. In the past, people didn’t discriminate blind performers, but respect them as Haxian. The fourth one is that Xianxian is classified as the same tune with Xining Xianxiao, and those two are generally claimed Xianxiao or Xiaxian.