In December 1987, a unique solo flute concert was taken place at a news conference hosted by the Culture Department of Henan Province. There was only one performer: the director of Music Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Arts; and there was only one piece of music performed: Little Cabbage. But this mini-concert has changed the written history of Chinese music, and may also alter the history of world music.

Why this concert has such a cultural significance?

It is not because the director’s performance was so outstanding – he’s an art researcher, not a professional musician; nor is it because the piece of music is so enchanting – it’s a simple folk ditty supposedly to be sung by a 6 or 7-year-old girl.

It is all because of the flute. The last time when this very flute was used to play folk music was more than 8,000 years ago.

Yes, it’s one of the 30 flutes unearthed from an ancient burial site at Jiahu (贾湖) in Wuyang county (舞阳县), Henan province, all of which are made of bones of the red-crowned crane.

When China entered the era of the Shang Dynasty (1760 BC – 1520 BC), more than 70 different kinds of musical instruments were invented, and the instruments were divided into eight categories according to the material used (metal, stone, silk string, bamboo, gourd, clay, leather and wood). Later, they were further grouped into four classes based on how they are played (blow, beat, pluck or pull).

The following is a brief introduction to China’s top 10 unique musical instruments.

Guqin (琴)

Qin Music: Riverside Mooring in Autumn Night (秋江夜泊): a Ming Dynasty music based on a poem by Tang Dynasty poet Zhang Ji.
Performer: Liu Zhengchun  (刘正春), one of China’s best qin players

Poet Zhang Ji of the Tang Dynasty once travelled by boat and passed Suzhou. When night fell, the boat was moored next to the ancient Buddhist monastery Cold Hill Temple. Observing the lights on boats all over the river, the poet felt homesick and became sleepless. Then in the middle of the night, he heard the sound of a bell from the temple announcing the arrival of an incense bearer’s boat. 

In ancient China, there were four traditional artistic skills that were considered to be essential for any scholar worth his salt, which includes being able to perform qin, play chess, compose a poem and execute ink painting. Among the four, the qin skill ranks at the top.

Why qin was so important to Chinese scholar-hood? The answer may have to be found in Daoism (Taoism), the root of Chinese culture.

From the Daoist point of view, I Ching is the theoretical principle that governs a person’s position in the universe and his relationship with the world around him, while four skills can equip him to apply this principle to daily life.

Painting helps him express his understanding of physical existence, poem allows him to articulate his comprehension of life, chess play is a way to study how to interact with others, while qin performance is an exercise to communicate with his own emotions.

As a well-controlled and refined emotion is a precondition for deep intellectual development and spiritual cultivation, qin play thus was regarded as the top important skill for a Daoist or a scholar to master.

The great qin masters in Chinese history include Lao Tze who established Daoism, Confucius who established Confuciusm and Li Bai (Li Bo) the greatest Chinese poet.

Zheng (筝)

Zheng is a plucked musical instrument, quite similar to qin, but much bigger with 21 or 25 strings and not easy to be carried around, so is more commonly used for indoor performances.

The oldest zhengs found in China are the ones unearthed from the tombs dating back to Confucius time about 2,500 years ago, with a structure and shape similar to what is used today.

Pipa (琵琶)

Pipa is a plucked four-stringed lute with a fretted fingerboard, and the strings were made of silks but now wires or nylons are more commonly used.

The heyday of pipa was the Tang Dynasty (618 – 906), by then in virtually all musical bands – from the professional ones serving in court to amateurish groups for self-amusement – pipa was forever featured and featured prominently.

It was also during that period when pipa production and playing techniques improved greatly. Previously pipa was held horizontally when playing, but since Tang, it has changed to a vertical position. And dozens of string pluck methods were also developed, including rolls, slaps, pizzicato and harmonics.

The Ming Dynasty is another heyday for pipa, with most pipa music still playing today on stage being produced during that era, such as “Ambush from All Sides”, “The Conqueror Unarms (霸王卸甲)”, “The Moon Is High (月儿高)”, “Memory of Spring (思春)” and “The Sorrow of Lady Wang Zhaojun (昭君怨)”.

Nowadays pipa is more often played by a woman singer, especially by a female singer of Suzhou Pingtan (苏州评弹), a storytelling audio performing art in Suzhou dialect.

Bamboo Flute (笛)

The history of the Chinese flute can be traced back to at least 8,000 years ago as evidenced by the unearthing of the bone flutes from Jiahu.

About 4,000 years ago, bone flutes were replaced with bamboo flutes. By then the climate of the Central Plain in the north of China was much humid and warmer, and along the Yellow River, bamboos were thriving. According to the Records of the Grand Historian, Yellow Emperor ordered musicians to cut bamboo to make flutes, mimicking the sound of a phoenix (黄帝使伶伦伐竹于昆豀、斩而作笛，吹作凤鸣). It is huge progress in flute development: bamboo flutes are not only more vibration-sensitive but easy to craft, thus helping the flute become the most popular musical instrument in China.

In the family of a Chinese flute, there are two major schools, one is thin and short and played horizontally, known as di (笛), and another is relatively thicker and longer and played vertically, known as xiao (箫).

Among the “di”, there are two major styles, one called qudi (曲笛, bow flute) or Suzhou Flute, originated in Suzhou, and the other is bangdi (梆笛, clapping flute), more popular in northern China.

While bow flute produces gentle, soothing and measured melodies, usually pitching in the key of C or D, and is commonly used to accompany Kunqu, Xiju, Yueju and other local operas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces in south of Yangtze River, bangdi’s sound is more crispy, vigorous and high-pitched, typically for northern opera bands.

Apart from Bow Flute and Clapping Flute, there are also Tone Setting Flute (定调笛), Additional Key Flute (加键笛) and Eleven Holes Flute (十一孔笛).

Vertical Bamboo Flute (箫)

The length of vertically played flute ranges from 45cm to 1.25m, with 75 – 85cm as the most common. It has either six or eight-finger holes, and most often pitches in the key of G, but can also pitch in the keys of C, D, F and B-flat.

Vertical bamboo is best for expressing a tranquil feeling or conveying a reflective mood. A typical image of a Chinese noble hermit would be depicted as a man playing his vertical flute alone at a desolated location (such as sitting on the top of a cliff).

While it is perfect for solo performance, vertical flutes work wonderfully with qins, a seven-stringed plucked musical instrument, as well as with various southern China opera bands.

Reed Pipe (笙)

Reed pipe is a multi-pipe wind instrument, consisting of multiple vertical pipes, normally at the number of 14 or 17, and can produce chords in four-tone, pentatonic and eight-tonne scales.

Traditionally in China, the reed pipe works as an accompaniment instrument for solo flute, and the two are often mentioned in one breath to represent the entire Chinese musical band. “Sound of reed pipe and bamboo flute can be heard every night (夜夜笙箫)” is a common Chinese express describing an extravagant lifestyle with parties held on a daily basis.

Reed pipe and bamboo flute are also the main instruments in kunqu, the mother of all Chinese operas originated in Suzhou, as well as the majority of other gentle-tuned operas in Jiangnan, the region around Suzhou, Shanghai and Hangzhou.

The history of the Chinese reed pipe can be traced to the Shang Dynasty more than 3,000 years ago. In the bone oracle writing a free-reed wind instrument called yu (竽) is mentioned and was identified in the later text as a large form of a reed pipe. The oldest reed pipes found so far are the ones unearthed from two Warring State tombs (250 BC – 475 BC). These ancient musical instruments have gourd wind chambers, various numbers of pipes and bamboo reeds (in the numbers 14, 16 and 18 respectively), similar to today’s copper reeds.

Tang Dynasty (618 – 907) is the golden age of reed pipes as well, with a large number of great musicians specialised in this particular instrument and numerous poems tributing to reed pipe music.

Erhu (二胡)

The Chinese name erhu literally means the two-stringed bowed instrument, which is exactly what it is.

The earliest record of erhu appeared in the Song Dynasty (960 – 1279). But it is until the Ming Dynasty (1368 – 1644), a fuddle with similar structure, shape and playing techniques to today’s erhu was developed, and eventually became the leading musical instrument in various Chinese opera bands.

The sound body of the erhu is a drum-like case made of ebony or sandalwood, with the front covered with snakeskin and the back left open, which amplifies the vibrations of the two strings, while the horsehair bow passes between the two strings when playing. The strings were formed by twisted silks in the old days but now they were replaced with metal,

As erhu’s sound is quite close to the human voice, it is often used to imitate natural sounds from bird chips to horse ceilings.

Banhu Fiddle (板胡)

This musical instrument is very similar to Erhu, but with a thin wooden soundboard. And its sound is even closer to the human voice.

While erhu is the leading accompanying instrument in Kunqu and most southern opera bands, banhu is chiefly used in the northern operas in Hebei, Henan, Shaanxi, Shanxi and Gansu provinces.

Suona Horn (唢呐)

Suona horn is a woodwind instrument consisting of a mouthpiece, tube and bell, with a distinctively loud, bold and high-pitched sound, popular for outdoor performance in rituals (weddings, funerals or other gathering occasions) in northern China, where the land is broader and the population density is relatively low. It’s also featured heavily in various northern opera bands.

The oldest evidence of suona use in Chinese musical bands can be found in stone carvings at Yungang Grottoes in Shanxi province, dating back to the period between the 4th and 6th centuries. And the earliest written reference to suona appears in the Song Dynasty record, by then the form of the modern suona has been established.

Xun (埙)

It is an egg-shaped musical instrument made of clay, with an opening at the top and 1 to 7 finger holes on the body.

The earliest xun unearthed was from the Hemudu Site, dating back to 5,000 BC, with one hole only, while the xuns found in the tombs of Xia Dynasty (2070 BC – 1600 BC) contain three finger holes on the body and can produce five-sound notes.

During the Zhou dynasty (1046 BC – 256 BC), xun became a popular musical instrument used in the palace concert.

Entering the Tang Dynasty (618–907), xuns typically had five finger holes with the shape and sound quality fairly close to the ones used today.

Xun produces a thick and mellow sound and is considered the best instrument to express a feeling of deep pain, heartbreaking sorrow or utter desolation.

Ancient Sound from 2,000 Years Ago

Chinese folk music “A Beautiful Jasmine Flower” played on the Han Dynasty bronze and stone musical instruments.

Concert in Classical Chinese Style

Classic Chinese music “Birds Chipper in a Quiet Mountain”, performed by modern Chinese musicians with various classical Chinese musical instruments.