Mouth organ sheng

A traditional sheng 笙, probably dating from the late 19th or early 20th century. The instrument has 17 pipes and a mouthpiece with a square opening; the body – a cup-like base – has a carved ivory inlay in the centre. The body and the part up to the mouthpiece opening are painted black. The pitch is determined by pressing the fingers on the holes of the pipe. The pipes have five different lengths and are arranged to represent the wings of the phoenix. The tips of the pipes, especially the highest ones, are covered with horn. The pipes are connected with a horn band, which is tied together with another wire. Inside the instrument, the pipes are clearly numbered with Chinese characters and lined up according to musical notation.

The sheng is of Southeast Asian origin and is considered one of the oldest Chinese instruments. Depictions of sheng-like instruments are said to date from as early as 1100 B.C., while the instrument appears to have been in use as early as the Han Dynasty (202 B.C.–A.D. 220). Several similar musical instruments have evolved from the Chinese instrument, such as the Japanese shō 笙 and Korean saenghwang 생황, and they are also found in parts of Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam. A traditional form of the instrument accompanies folk songs and is occasionally used in some forms of Chinese opera. It is also played in traditional ensembles, such as wind and percussion bands in northern China. In addition to the traditional 17-, 13- and 14-pipe instruments mentioned above, there are also 21- and 24-pipe instruments, as well as a 36-pipe instrument based on a chromatic scale with all 12 semitones. Especially in modern Chinese ensembles, one of the instruments found is a larger, high-pitched sheng (jiansheng 鍵笙, i.e., sheng with a keyboard), on which western chords can be played. (KH)