Double-reed pipe of the Han Chinese. It is used in ceremonial ensembles throughout northern China, where the northern ‘r’ sound or the enclitic zi is commonly appended to the name (gua'r, guanzi). The present-day guan (measuring from about 18 to about 23 cm) is made of a short tube of wood, with seven frontal finger-holes, one (or sometimes two) thumb-holes and a large double reed (with about 3 cm protruding from the mouth of the instrument) held in shape by a wrapping of copper wire. Large and medium-sized reeds, used to play different keys, are both much larger than that of the Suona shawm. Unlike the latter the bore is cylindrical, overblowing at the 11th or 12th; it has a common range of about a 12th, though higher notes are possible.
The term guan in Zhou dynasty (c11th century–221 bce) sources refers to small single or double end-blown pipes resembling the Chinese Xiao and the Korean kwan. The earliest appearance of vibrating reeds in China probably dates from the introduction of the hujia reed-pipe from Central Asia in the Han dynasty (206 bce–220 ce). A short pipe with a double reed but no finger-holes, the hujia was perhaps used for military signalling. The precursor of the guan in use today is rather the bili, introduced from the Central Asian kingdom of Kuqa during the pre-Tang period, about 500 ce. Made of bamboo, it was about 18 cm in length, with seven finger-holes, two thumb-holes and a large double reed. The bili became a leading instrument in the courtly ensembles of the Tang dynasty (618–907), and was introduced to Japan, where the Chinese ideograms were pronounced Hichiriki, and used in gagaku (see Japan, §V).
In China the guan continued in ensemble use during the Song dynasty. By about the 14th century it was the leader of temple ensembles using the strict instrumentation of guan, Sheng, Di and Yunluo, accompanied by percussion. In this capacity the guan also became popular for folk ritual; today it is still common throughout northern China among village Daoist and Buddhist ritual practitioners (see illustration). Some nine-hole instruments still in use in modern times are believed to preserve aspects of Song dynasty practice. By the 20th century a large guan was also used, sometimes played in a more virtuoso style, incorporating a less conservative repertory. A double guan (shuang guan) is sometimes played, with two pipes bound, or held, together and played simultaneously.
The instrument appears to be rare in southern China except for some temple traditions. A bamboo variant known as houguan is still occasionally employed in Cantonese music. An adapted version of the guan has also been played under the conservatory system since the 1950s, with ‘improved’ instruments having added keys and equal temperament, but the traditional instrument remains in common use throughout northern China.
Related instruments are the Korean P'iri, the Vietnamese pile, the Thai pi nai and the Khmer pi a.
See also China, §IV, 4(i); Yang Yuanheng.
Li Yuanqing: ‘Guanzi yanjiu’ [Study of the guanzi], Minzu yinyue wenti de tansuo [Exploring issues in Chinese music] (Beijing, 1983), 18–52
Yuan Jingfang: Minzu qiyue xinshang shouce [Handbook for the appreciation of Chinese instrumental music] (Beijing, 1986), 60–62
Liu Dongsheng and Yuan Quanyou, eds.: Zhongguo yinyue shi tujian [Pictorial guide to the history of Chinese music] (Beijing, 1988)
Liu Dongsheng, ed.: Zhongguo yueqi tujian [Pictorial guide to Chinese musical instruments] (Ji'nan, 1992), 148–51
S. Jones: Folk Music of China: Living Instrumental Traditions (Oxford, 1995/R, 2/1998 with CD), 181–225
Chine: musique classique, Ocora C 559039 (1988)
China: Folk Instrumental Traditions, AIMP VDE 822–823 (1995)
Xian' guan chuanqi: Special Collection of Contemporary Chinese Musicians, Wind Records CB-07 (1996)
STEPHEN JONES