When was the wind instrument shakuhachi introduced to Japan from China?

The wind instrument shakuhachi was introduced to Japan from China in the late Southern and Northern Dynasties to the early Tang Dynasty.

First of all, shakuhachi

The shakuhachi is a traditional Chinese musical instrument, which was introduced to Japan in the Tang and Song Dynasties. Made of bamboo, painted with cinnabar and filled with mixed lacquer, it is now a five-hole (front four and back one), which belongs to a side vibrating wind instrument, named after its length of one foot and eight inches. Its timbre is desolate and vast, and it can show an ethereal and quiet artistic conception.

Second, pass on history.

1. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties in China, the shakuhachi became one of the main musical instruments in the court. Biography of Lv Cai in the New Tang Dynasty: "During the Zhenguan period (627-649), the ancestral music was damaged, which was more difficult than that of musicians Wang Changtong and Bai Mingda. Emperor Taizong wrote a letter to courtiers, praising them ... courtiers Wang Jue and Wei Yan, claiming that they only made shakuhachi, and all the twelve pieces were different in length, which was in line with the law. "

2, because it is one foot eight inches long, it is called foot eight. It belongs to an ancient flute and wind instrument. Since the Song Dynasty, folk musical instruments such as Xiao and Di have gradually replaced the position of shakuhachi in court music. Vertical bamboo wind instruments circulating in China are Xiao, Nanyin and Guangdong.

3. The main difference between it and shakuhachi is that Xiao and Guangdong are internally dug U-shaped pores, which are often capped; Nanyin Dong Xiao (Xiaonan) is a V-shaped mouthpiece without a cover. The mouthpiece of shakuhachi is a half-moon shaped external cutting mouthpiece. Xiao is obviously different, and the mouthpiece is obviously different from shakuhachi.

4. The openings of shakuhachi and Xiao are also different. Take the one-inch shakuhachi tube as an example. Its drum sound is D, and the pitch of each hole is F, G, A, C, D ... In addition, there are significant differences in inner diameter and timbre between shakuhachi and Xiao. There are also eight Tang-style shakuhachi handed down from China in the Tang Dynasty in the Zhengcang Courtyard of Toda Temple in Nara, Japan.

5. One of them is carved on bamboo, 43.7 cm long. The upper end of the tube body is open, and the tube body has six holes (the first five and the last one). The edge of each sound hole has a circular pattern. It is beautifully made, engraved with patterns and ladies. The first hole is engraved with two women, one bent over to pick flowers and the other stood behind to make sleeves.

6. Under the back hole, there is a lady standing with a fan in her hand, and another lady sitting and playing the pipa. The rest are decorated with Hua Niaowen. In addition, there are jade shakuhachi, tooth shakuhachi, stone shakuhachi and birch tape measure. Five-hole shakuhachi was formed in the Song Dynasty and spread to Japan through the Tang Priest sent by Japan at that time, and it has been preserved to this day. Its technique is complex, and its timbre is unique and ancient.

7. Shen Kuo's "Talk about Meng Xi" says: "The flute endowed by Ma Rong in the later Han Dynasty has no bottom, with holes on it, five holes on it and a hole on its back, and now it's a ruler." With the popularity of shakuhachi in the world and the roots of Japanese shakuhachi circle in China, all kinds of shakuhachi gradually returned to China. (Figure 1, from left to right are Qiao Ya, Xiao).