Xiao (flute)

Xiao (flute)

The xiao (simplified Chinese: 箫; traditional Chinese: 簫; pinyin: xiāo; Wade–Giles: hsiao, pronounced ) is a Chinese vertical end-blown flute. It is generally made of dark brown bamboo (called "purple bamboo" in Chinese). It is also sometimes (particularly in Taiwan) called dòngxiāo (simplified Chinese: 洞箫; traditional Chinese: 洞簫), dòng meaning "hole." An ancient name for the xiāo is shùdí (豎笛, lit. "vertical bamboo flute", ) but the name xiāo in ancient times also included the side-blown bamboo flute, dizi.

The xiāo is a very ancient Chinese instrument usually thought to have developed from a simple end-blown flute used by the Qiang people of Southwest China in ancient period.