[1] In the 1920s, following the development of the gaohu, the erxian experienced a decline and since the late 20th century has been little used outside the tradition of Cantonese opera.

Similar instruments also referred to as erxian (constructed and played differently from the Cantonese erxian discussed above) are used in Chaozhou music (where it is called touxian, 头弦, Teochow: tao5 hin5, literally "leading string [instrument]") and in the nanguan music of the Southern Fujian people.

The sound chamber is made of a large section of bamboo with a dome-shaped ring of hardwood glued on the front end, making the actual playable face of the chamber about half the size of the entire face.

Earlier erxian very closely resembled the jinghu of Beijing opera in size, construction, and playing technique.

Other instruments used in conjunction with the erxian are the juktaikam/zhutiqin (竹提琴), yueqin (yuetkam), sanxian (samyin), and doontong/duantong (短筒).