China flute has a long history, which can be traced back to the Neolithic Age. At that time, the ancestors lit bonfires, set up prey, sang and danced around the captured prey while eating, and played by drilling holes in the tibia of birds (trapping prey and transmitting signals with sound), thus giving birth to the oldest musical instrument unearthed in China-bone flute.

1977 bone whistle and bone flute about 7000 years ago were unearthed in Hemudu, Yuyao, Zhejiang. In May, 1986 and 16 vertical bone flutes (made of bird limb bones) were excavated at the early Neolithic site in Jia Hu Village, Wuyang County, Henan Province, with a history of more than 8,000 years.

The sound holes range from five holes to eight holes, most of which are seven-tone flutes, and some sound holes are added with small holes, which completely conforms to the timbre of modern China. 1987, seven Jia Hu bone flutes (about 9000 years ago) were unearthed at Jiahu site in Wuyang county, Henan province, which are the earliest musical instruments in the world.

During the period of the Yellow Emperor, that is, more than 4000 years ago, a large number of bamboos grew in the Yellow River basin, and bamboo was chosen as the material for making flutes. According to historical records, "The Yellow Emperor asked Ling Lun to chop bamboo in Kunming, cut it down to make a flute and blow it to Feng Ming". Using bamboo as material is a great progress in flute making. Bamboo vibrates better than bones, and its pronunciation is crisp. Both kinds of bamboo are easy to process. There were seven kinds of flutes in Qin and Han Dynasties, and two kinds of flutes were invented. Cai Yong, Xunxu and Liang Wudi all made twelve flutes, that is to say, one flute is unified.

During 1978, two bamboo flutes were unearthed from the tomb of Zeng Houyi in Sui County, Hubei Province, while the two flutes unearthed from the No.3 Han Tomb in Mawangdui, Changsha, Hunan Province, included an angle of about 90 degrees with the plane of the sound hole, which was very similar to the position of the flute (flute) in Zeng Houyi's tomb. In time, the two are separated by hundreds of years; In space, Changsha, Hunan Province is hundreds of miles away from Suixian County, Hubei Province, and the position of blowing holes is almost zero, which shows the universal form of flute or pool from pre-Qin to early Han Dynasty. During the Warring States period, Qi was one of the main musical instruments played at sacrificial ceremonies or banquets, and the flute was also very popular. Qu Yuan's student Song Yu also talked about the southern flute at that time, which was very similar to the modern flute. [ 1]

Hanjin

The flute was called "Qi" in ancient times. Xu Shen's Shuo Wen Jie Zi in Han Dynasty recorded: "flute, seven holes, bamboo flute".

After the Han Dynasty, the flute has occupied a very important position in the drum music of the court and the army. This fact reminds people that the development of China's flute has been divorced from its original form, and it may be more reasonable and perfect in melody and modeling after absorbing the reasonable components of other national flutes, and it will be more and more harmonious with other instruments in the band. The historical image of advocating the harmonious performance of the band can be clearly seen on the portrait bricks unearthed in Deng County, Henan Province. The direction and angle of holding the flute and the posture of playing the flute with both hands are completely consistent with the posture of playing the modern flute. [ 1]

Hanfu and Di Zi

Before Han Dynasty, flute usually refers to clarinet. Since the Qin and Han dynasties, the flute has become as famous as the clarinet and the flute, and it has been enduring for a long time. During the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Zhang Qian introduced the flute, also known as "transverse blowing". It plays a very important role in drum music in Han Dynasty. Two bamboo flutes unearthed from Mawangdui No.3 Han Tomb in Changsha, Hunan Province belong to the category of transverse flute instruments.

There was a clarinet in the Jin Dynasty, and a piece of wood was added to the blowing head to make the gas pass through the gap and shoot at the edges of the two whistle holes for pronunciation.

During the Northern Dynasties, the flute was not only very popular, but also developed, with great changes in shape, length and thickness. In the Northern Zhou Dynasty and Sui Dynasty, it began to have the name of "Hengdi". At the end of Sui Dynasty, there appeared a ten-hole flute that could play chromatic scales.

Tang and song dynasties

During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, both the "big cross-blowing part" and the "small cross-blowing part" of drum music used cross-blowing flute. In the "Le Yan" music for people to enjoy and entertain in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the flute (then called Liu Heng) was widely active in the band, and it can also be seen in Dunhuang murals in the Sui Dynasty and musicians' pictures in the Tang Dynasty. In other historical pictures, we will also find flute playing postures in two directions.

There are records of famous flute players in the Tang Dynasty, such as Li Mo, Sun Chuxiu, You Chengen and Yun. Among them, Li Mo, a musician from Qiuci in the Western Regions, was praised as "the best in the world" in the Kaiyuan period because of his excellent flute performance and excellent skills.

Chen Geng's "Le Shu" (Volume 148): "The seven stars in the Tang Dynasty played the ancient flute, which was as long as red, and its number was full of seven orifices, and it was played horizontally, with holes attached to the bamboo membrane, so the sound was made by Liu ..." Perhaps at least from the Tang Dynasty, flutes with the timbre characteristics of China membrane flute appeared. The flute film is one of the most unique symbols of China's flute. [ 1]

Since the Tang dynasty, flutes have been divided into large and small blows. At the same time, the vertical blowing of the pool is called Xiao, and the horizontal blowing is called flute. In the Tang Dynasty, Lv Cai made the "shakuhachi", which was introduced to Japan by vertical blowing. In the Zhengcang Courtyard of Nara, the ancient capital, there are four flutes made in the prosperous Tang Dynasty. Among them, there are a carved stone flute with one tooth and two bamboo flutes with different lengths, but they all have seven oval sound holes. Liu was the first person to shoot the seven-star flute. Since the 7th century, the flute has been improved, and membrane holes have been added, so that its expressive force has been greatly developed, and its playing technology has also developed to a high level.

There are various flute systems in Song Dynasty, including fork flute, dragon neck flute, eleven-hole small transverse flute, nine-hole big transverse flute and seven-hole rain flute. With the rise of Song Ci and Yuan Qu and the vigorous development of traditional operas, dizi has become an accompaniment instrument for many operas, which can be divided into two categories: bangdi and Qu Di. Flute is also an indispensable instrument in folk opera and minority opera bands.

Modern Times

In 1960s, Zhao Songting invented Paidi, which tied two or four flutes with different tones together, and the range could be expanded by more than three octaves. The music is colorful and easy to play.