All about the Chinese clay flute, from its ancient origins to Studio Ghibli inspiration

The Chinese clay flute, from its origins as a hunting tool to its modern use in orchestras and film soundtracks, has a long and rich history

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A musician plays the xun, an ancient Chinese clay flute that began life as a hunting tool to attract prey. Today, it is the signature clay instrument of modern Chinese orchestras. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Published: 11:15am, 16 Sep 2024Updated: 11:50am, 16 Sep 2024

This is the fourth in a series of articles about classical Chinese instruments and the traditional Chinese music orchestra, in which we explore how musicians play the eight different types of instrument, and their history.

Clay, a versatile material that turns into all kinds of objects when married with water and fire, is most often associated with pottery, which has thousands of years of history in China and other parts of the world.

Less well known are the musical instruments made of clay commonly played in China since the Zhou dynasty (1046BC-256BC). Today, clay is one of the bayin, the eight categories into which Chinese instruments are grouped based on the material traditionally used to make them.

The xun – pronounced huen in Cantonese – a flute shaped like an egg but with a flat bottom, is the signature clay instrument of modern Chinese orchestras.

Wu Chih-ting, a Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra member, with a xun. It is the signature clay instrument of modern Chinese orchestras. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Modern examples have multiple finger holes, but the earliest surviving sample, unearthed at an archaeological site in Zhejiang province that dates to 5000BC, has only one finger hole.

The instrument is similar to the ocarina used in Western music, in that both are small, handheld flutes. However, the xun does not have a protruding mouthpiece, and it is always made with clay, whereas the ocarina can be made from a variety of materials.

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Chinese musical instruments

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