Xiao
The xiao in five languages: European languages use the Chinese name; an end-blown flute, not the dizi
Related
Five languages
| Language | Name |
|---|---|
| Chinese | 箫（洞箫） |
| English | xiao |
| Italian | — |
| German | — |
| French | — |
The xiao is China's end-blown bamboo flute: a notch at the top, finger holes along the tube, no membrane, and a soft, dark tone. It is played solo, in silk-and-bamboo ensembles and together with the guqin. The single-tube xiao is also called dongxiao; in older Chinese, xiao could mean panpipes, a different multi-tube instrument.
Watch out: the xiao is end-blown and the dizi side-blown; English calls both "flute", but the hold and timbre differ, and the xiao has no membrane, so its sound is darker. It is not a Western recorder either: fingering and range differ. Italian, German and French have no established native name and use xiao.
Read deeper → Xiao
Sources
- 名称与形制，参《中国音乐词典》与 The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, "Xiao"；译名参通行音乐术语词典；本文为原创表述
Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.