Mouth organ of the Han Chinese. It is especially prevalent in north and central-eastern China. The instrument is constructed of a bowl-shaped wind-chest of wood or metal (formerly of gourd), with a blow-pipe extending out from one side. Through the flat upper surface of the wind-chest, 17 (or more) bamboo pipes are inserted in an incomplete circle. The pipes are of varying graded lengths, the tallest pipes appearing on opposite sides of the circle (see fig.1). This arrangement, according to the 2nd-century ce dictionary Shuowen Jiezi, represents the two folded wings of the mythical phoenix. Most pipes on traditional instruments are operational, with a free reed at the bottom of each (enclosed within the wind-chest), a small finger-hole (above the surface of the wind-chest) and an upper vent-hole which defines the vibrating length of each pipe. On traditional instruments, however, three or four pipes are usually mute (i.e. blocked and without reeds or finger-holes), their presence being to maintain the ‘phoenix-wing’ profile.
The reeds (huangpian), which are secured by wax to the bottoms of the pipes, are made from ‘resonant bronze’ (xiangtong), an alloy comprised of approximately three parts of copper to one part of tin. Sheng reeds are free-beating reeds, the tongue cut from the same material as the reed frame, rectangular in shape and seated flush with the frame. The reed tongues are tuned with small dots of ‘red wax’ (hongla) applied near their vibrating ends, and are activated by either exhale or inhale. The tuning system normally employed is based on pure overblown 5ths, starting on the keynote of the instrument (d'' for the sheng used in central-eastern China), extending over the diatonic gamut of one and a half octaves (sometimes including one or more chromatic pitches as well; see fig.2 for one of several common pipe arrangements).
The sheng reed, primarily because it has a rectangular tongue, behaves differently from other reed types. Unlike single reeds, double reeds and pointed free reeds (e.g. on bawu reed-pipes), which vibrate at any pitch as defined by the length of the attached air column, the rectangular free reed sounds a pitch of fixed frequency. But because the tongue is seated flush with the reed frame (unlike the accordion tongue which is elevated), it relies on a coupled reinforcing pipe to provide back pressure for vibration. The function of the finger-hole (located on the lower wall of each pipe), when open, is to break the reinforcing air column so that no reed will sound unless selected. The closing of a finger-hole seals the air column and allows it to reinforce reed vibration. The length of each pipe is regulated by an upper aperture cut through the inner wall, the resonating distance matched to the pitch of the reed tongue. As shown by Hayashi, these correlated measurements have been handed down from maker to maker since at least the 8th century, though they were undoubtedly known earlier.
In performance, air is alternately exhaled and inhaled through the blow-pipe. The fingers of both hands are responsible for the activation of specific pipes, the right index finger activating pipes 3 and 4 from inside the circle. The traditional system of producing harmonizing pitch clusters is known as peihe (‘cooperation’) and by other names. In practice, each ‘root tone’ (zhuyin) of a melody is performed together with an ‘accompanying tone’ (peiyin) a perfect 5th above. Owing to the instrument's narrow range, some ‘accompanying tones’ are played instead at the 4th below, and octave pitches are often added as well. The tonal position of ti, which is used infrequently, is usually sounded alone.
Mouth organs are first mentioned in the ancient oracle bone inscriptions (14th–12th centuries bce) by the names he and yu. The name sheng appears first in the Shijing (‘Classic of odes’) around the 7th century bce. Both he and yu are identified as types of sheng in the later classic texts. While there are discrepancies in pipe and reed numbers appearing in these sources (and with archaeological finds), the he is clearly identified as being a small sheng (usually with 13 reeds), the yu a large sheng (with 23, 36 or other numbers of reeds and pipes). Another moderate-size sheng variant, chao (‘nest’) with 19 reeds, is also cited. Recent archaeological finds have shed additional light on these early instruments. The tomb of the Marquis Yi of Zeng (Hubei province), dating to about 433 bce, contains five small mouth organs with gourd wind-chests, varying numbers of pipes (12, 14 and 18) in two parallel ranks and bamboo reeds. The Han tombs 1 and 3 of Mawangdui (Hunan province), dating to the 2nd century bce, contain two large yu with wind-chests of wood and 22 long bamboo pipes in two parallel ranks, one instrument with reeds of metal similar to those in use today. It seems, therefore, there was considerable regional diversity in construction of these ancient mouth-organ types.
During the 8th century ce the Japanese court received from China three sheng and three yu, now preserved in the Shōsōin treasury. In number and arrangement of pipes (17 pipes, in an incomplete circle), tuning and shape, there is remarkable continuity between these instruments and the traditional sheng in use today. Throughout this period, in fact, other variants emerged, such as the various 19-pipe types and the fully chromatic instruments documented in the music treatises Yueshu (early 12th century) and Lülü jingyi (late 16th century). A semi-chromatic 17-pipe, 17-reed sheng dating from the 16th or 17th century is preserved in Beijing. Chromatic instruments, however, were most probably restricted to ritual usage within the courts and Confucian shrines.
The traditional sheng, which is still used in village ceremonies throughout North China and in kunqu opera accompaniment and sizhu (‘silk-and-bamboo’) chamber music of eastern China, generally has a small round wind-chest of lacquered wood, with 17 pipes arranged in an incomplete circle, but usually only 14, 13, or fewer reeds. Tuning is essentially diatonic, though sometimes including the lowered seventh and/or raised fourth degrees. During the 20th century larger instruments have also become common, often with wind-chests of nickel-plated brass. One type distinctive to area of Henan province and south-western Shandong province is the fangsheng (‘square sheng’), with rectangular wind-chest of wood, and 14 pipes arranged in three parallel ranks but traditionally only 12 reeds.
With the emergence of the new concert-hall music (guoyue) in the mid-20th century, the sheng underwent several important changes to accommodate expectations for increased volume, larger range and greater chromatic capability. Two new types have become commonly accepted. The guoyue sheng (‘national music sheng’) has a large wind-chest and sounding reeds in all pipes, such as the 17-pipe, 17-reed semi-chromatic sheng of the early 1950s. Additional pipes were subsequently added for increased range, such as the 21-pipe guoyue sheng, for which four extra pipes are positioned inside the circle. On these (and other) new models, some low pipes are lengthened by being ‘folded’ back at the distal end (dieguan) and all pipes amplified by the external attachment of metal tubes (kuoyin guan). The jiajian sheng (‘keyed sheng’) is a larger, fully chromatic instrument capable of being played in eight or nine keys. While 24- and 26-pipe models were common during the 1950s, present-day models more normally have 36 or 37 pipes. The jiajian sheng is different from traditional design in that there are gaps in the circle for both right and left index fingers, and reed vibration is controlled not by finger-holes but by way of keys which close pipe ends. Some models have a long, curving blow-pipe. There are yet other more specialized new sheng types, such as the organ-like da paisheng (‘large row sheng’, a floor model with foot pedals), the more moderate-sized baosheng (‘held sheng’, which rests on the player’s lap or stand), and variants in between. These types, however, are limited to only the largest of contemporary ensembles.
It is striking that, given its very extended history, mythological associations and sophisticated acoustical system, a solo repertory for the sheng has developed only since the 1950s. Yet in every traditional ensemble of which it is a part, the sheng serves primarily to accompany other instruments.
A.C. Moule: ‘A List of the Musical and Other Sound-Producing Instruments of the Chinese’, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, North China Branch, xxxix (1908), 89–95; repr. separately (Buren, 1989)
Gao Ziming: Xiandai guoyue [Present-day national music] (Taibei, 1959), 52–73
K. Hayashi and others: Shōsōin no gakki [Musical instruments in the Shōsōin] (Tokyo, 1967) [with Eng. summary]
Yang Yinliu: ‘Sheng yu kao’ [Study of sheng and yu], Yang Yinliu yinyue lunwen xuanji [Collected music articles of Yang Yinliu] (Shanghai, 1986), 360–84 [repr. from Yueqi keji jianxun, iii (1974)]
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Liu Dongsheng and others, eds.: Zhongguo yueqi tuzhi [Pictorial record of Chinese musical instruments] (Beijing, 1987), 310–21
Liu Dongsheng, ed.: Zhongguo yueqi tujian [Pictorial guide to Chinese instruments] (Ji'nan, 1992), 154–65
Zhang Zhentao: Chuantong sheng guan yinweide yuexue yanjiu [Musicological study of the scale of the pipes on the traditional sheng] (diss., YYS, 1995)
A. Thrasher: ‘The Chinese Sheng: Emblem of the Phoenix’, ACMR Reports, ix/1 (1996), 1–20
ALAN R. THRASHER