sheng
Sign in to saveAlso known as mouth organ, ching, seng, Chinese mouth organ, gourd organ, Chinese organ, cheng
Chinese mouth-blown free reed instrument
Key facts
- Classification
- Aerophone Interruptive free aerophone Free reed aerophone
- Hornbostel sachs classification
- 412.132, (Sets of free reeds)
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Image
- Sheng (Chinese mouth organ).jpg
Show 3 more facts
- Hornbostel-Sachs classification
- 412.132
- Commons gallery
- 笙
- Commons category
- Sheng
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~13 min read
Article
The sheng (Chinese: 笙) is a Chinese mouth-blown polyphonic free reed instrument consisting of vertical pipes.
It is one of the oldest Chinese instruments, with images depicting its kind dating back to 1100 BCE, and there are original instruments from the Han dynasty that are preserved in museums today. Traditionally, the sheng has been used as an accompaniment instrument for solo suona or dizi performances. It is one of the main instruments in kunqu and some other forms of Chinese opera. Traditional small ensembles also make use of the sheng, such as the wind and percussion ensembles in northern China. In the modern large Chinese orchestra, it is used for both melody and accompaniment.