Which Chinese instrument is a bowed lute?

• A. Mazurka
• B. Erhu
• C. Pipa
• D. Kabuki

Answer: (B)

This item tests the ability to recognize instruments by how they produce sound and where they come from. The erhu is a Chinese string instrument played with a bow; it has two strings, a long neck, and a small resonator usually covered with skin, and the bow sits between the strings as you draw it to produce sound. That bowed, stringed setup is what makes it stand out here.

A lute is typically a plucked instrument with a neck and a fretted or unfretted body, and in Chinese music the classic lute is the pipa, which you pluck rather than bow. So while the pipa is also from China, it’s not bowed. The other options don’t fit culturally or structurally—the mazurka is a Polish dance, not an instrument, and kabuki is a Japanese theatre form, not a musical instrument.