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Guanzi

The guan (管; pinyin: guǎn; literally "pipe" or "tube") where northern China version is called guanzi (管子) or bili (traditional: 篳篥; simplified: 筚篥) and the Cantonese version is called houguan (喉管). It is classified as a bamboo instrument in the Ba Yin (ancient Chinese instrument classification) system. The guan is a Chinese double reed wind instrument. Unlike instruments in the shawm family, such as the Western oboe or Chinese suona, the guan has a cylindrical bore, giving it a clarinet-like tone.

The earliest use of the word guan can be trace back to Zhou Dynasty records, where it refers to end-blown bamboo flutes such as the xiao or paixiao. The earliest double-reed instrument appears in the late Zhou dynasty and is referred as hujia (胡笳; literally "foreign reed pipe") because it had been introduced from the northwestern region of China. During that time, the hujia was used as the primarily military instrument for signaling, and is depicted in early Chinese poetry as raucous and barbaric.

The guan was developed after the hujia in the Tang Dynasty due to the flourishing music and art culture that were influenced by the silk road trade. Like the hujia, it was probably adopted from Central Asian nomads, and became an important leading instrument in the court and ritual music. At the height of the Tang Dynasty, the guan, alongside many other instruments was introduced to neighboring countries, where the guan's descendants (called piri in Korea and hichiriki in Japan) are still used today.

However, in subsequent dynasties, the guan fell out of use in court music but became very popular in folk ensembles. It plays an important part in the wind-and-percussion (chuida or guchui) ensembles that play on traditional festivals and celebratory occasions and is still popular in the wind band music of northern China, as well as in some other Chinese regions. In the Beijing opera orchestra, the guan is used to depict military scenes along with the suona and other percussion instruments.^{[citation needed]}

The guan consist of a short cylindrical tube made of hardwood in northern China, where the instrument is called bili. In the Guangdong region of southern China, it is made from bamboo and is called houguan (literally "throat guan"). Traditionally the instrument has seven finger holes on the top and one thumb hole on the back. The length of the guan varies from 7 inches (18cm) to 13 inches (33cm).

The northern guanzi comes in various keys and the houguan is available in three sizes.

In the 20th century, modern versions of the guan were developed in China. These modernized guan have extra holes and are fitted with metal keys to provide a wider and fully chromatic range. Such instruments are used primarily in large traditional orchestras.

All guan have a large, wide double reed made from Arundo cane, which is inserted into the top end of the tube.

The instrument's range is about two and one-half octaves. It has been used in a variety of musical contexts over the centuries, often as a solo instrument used to evoke a mood of sadness. Guan is capable of doing vibrato and wide pitch bends.

The guan is quite difficult to play, largely due to the difficulty of controlling the embouchure; a Chinese saying states that "the sheng (mouth organ) takes 100 days to learn, but the guan takes 1,000 days to learn."

• "Guan - Chinese Traditional Musical Instruments" from Paul and Bernice Noll site
• "The Guanzi or Bili" from AZSA.com
• Guan article (Chinese)
• Houguan article
• Houguan article
• Houguan article

• Houguan video from The Musical Instruments E-book

• Guanzi audio (click headphones to listen to individual tracks)

Si Shang Xiang-Guanzi Tu Chunxi.ogg

Sample of "Si Shang Xiang" (Incense over the Monastery), guanzi: Tu Chunxi, sheng: Gua Jingning, bangzi: Han Fengchun. Recorded in 1960 by China Records.

Problems listening to the file? See media help.

• Traditional Chinese musical instruments
• Piri
• Hichiriki