Southeast Asian in origin and used before the twelfth century B.C, the sheng played an important role in Confucian music. Now it accompanies folk songs and is occasionally used in the Beijing Opera to add harmony. Similar to but predating the Western harmonica, the sheng is the only Chinese wind instrument able to sound many notes simultaneously. It is played by blowing and sucking. The bamboo pipes, symbolizing the folded wings of the phoenix, are fitted with metal free reeds concealed by the bowl-shaped wind chamber.

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