Traditional Chinese musical instruments made from bamboo
The naturally hollow interior of bamboo is believed to be symbolic of humility and modesty, its hardiness in winter of human endurance and longevity. Over a dozen flute names appear in Zhou texts,though most of these are size variants for three basic types: transverse flutes,vertical flutes,and panpipes,The earliest transverse flute to appear in China was known as chi, an instrument constructed from a bamboo variety of relatively large internal dliameter (c. 3 cm). Unlike the arrangement on Western flutes and the later Chinese dizi, its six fingerholes were most commonly positioned on the side of the tuibe rather than in line with the blowhole (on top). The di is historically associated with the xun globular flute as a related pair. Their significance within Confucian ideology is noted in the ancient text of the Shijing: 'the elder brother plays xun,the younger brother plays dii', with further explanation in the text commentary that 'our minds, as brothers, must be in harmony', a metaphoric reminder of the need for familial accord.
Vertical flutes and panpipes wvere known by various names, depending upon the period.The flute today known as xiao is a vertical flute,with a notch at the blowing end (to facilitate tone production),five frontal fingerholes, and one thumbhole.It is clearly one of the most venerated of Chinese instruments,wich an extended history in both ritual and common-practice music.Known by its ancient name di, the vertical flute was symbolically linked to the Confucian concept of di, a different character meaning to wash away evil from the mind',Le.through performance on the flute,one dispels malefic thoughts. For this instrument, quite striking continuity is found in today's practice,the xiao repertory tending to be dominated by the old and slow melodies of introspective character.
The Chinese panpipe,anciently known as yue (introduced above) and subsequently as xiao,was called paixiao (literally 'row xiao')by about the twelfth century,in attempt to distinguish it from the vertical flute. As discussed at the beginning of this chapter, the earliest instruments found were constructed of a series of thirteen notched bamboo pipes in the form of a 'single wing'(i.e. long pipes at one end).By the eighteenth century the prevailing shape had changed to a 'double wing' with sixteen pipes. Thepanpipe is specifically associated with Confucian ideology by its historic name xiao, its character graph derived from the term su,'respect', Many texts also associate the panpipe with the legendary phoenix (fenghuang), both in terms of its sound and its wing-like profile.However,as seen in the decoration of all the eighteenth-century flutes, instruments employed in rituals of the imperial palace were sometimes assigned to the realm of the legendary dragon (long).The image of a scaly,five-clawed dragon is a very common decorative feature on many ritual instruments. Unquestionably the most potent and multivalent of symbols within Chinese mythology,the legendary dragon was a beneficent spirit force,associated with heaven(tian),good fortune,male vigour,and indeed the emperor himself.
