Why did shakuhachi disappear in China?

If you often watch Japanese anime, or have a certain understanding of Japanese ancient music, you will be familiar with the sound of shakuhachi. The shakuhachi is simply a wind instrument, which is usually made of bamboo and has five holes. Because the pipe is one foot eight inches long, it is named shakuhachi. Dig deep, the shakuhachi is actually an ancient traditional musical instrument in China, which originated in the south of China.

At present, the earliest known record of the name "shakuhachi" is in the literature of the Tang Dynasty, but the birth of musical instruments should be earlier, even dating back to the Han Dynasty or even further. After all, in the evolution of ancient musical instruments, the standards of many musical instruments were not fixed at one time. For example, the five-hole bamboo wind instrument has been around for a long time, but it is not certain that it must be shakuhachi.

According to records, in the Tang Dynasty and the early Song Dynasty, shakuhachi was still very popular, at least in some paintings and literature records at that time. It was also in the Tang Dynasty that shakuhachi was introduced to Japan by Japanese monks who came to the Tang Dynasty. Gradually, the shakuhachi gradually disappeared in the development of ancient musical instruments in China, while the shakuhachi spread to Japan was inherited. Now it has become one of the important national musical instruments in Japan.

There are many speculations about the reasons why the shakuhachi gradually disappeared in China. Some people pointed out that the music of shakuhachi was too cold, which didn't conform to the aesthetics of the literati in the Southern Song Dynasty and was not magnificent and elegant enough, so it was gradually replaced by other wind instruments, such as Dong Xiao. The change of aesthetic concept is often one of the important reasons for the prosperity or demise of culture. In addition, some people think that the performance of shakuhachi is gradually eliminated because only five holes are not diverse enough and difficult, and the score of shakuhachi is also difficult to understand and gradually lost.

The spread and inheritance of shakuhachi in Japan is closely related to the process of Buddhism spreading eastward. The first introduction of shakuhachi into Japan actually existed as a Buddhist musical instrument, and it was gradually divided into different schools with some Zen thoughts. It was not until the Meiji Restoration that the temple gradually moved to fireworks.

And in contemporary times, Japanese shakuhachi players often play with western musical instruments. This kind of cross-border and collision pushes shakuhachi as a musical instrument and music to further places. At present, the famous shakuhachi performers are Yasuo Sato, who often has a heavy style, and Dozan Fujiwara, who has a majestic and quiet style.