Guan (instrument) - History

History

The earliest use of the word guan can be traced back to Zhou Dynasty records, where it refers to end-blown bamboo flutes such as the xiao or paixiao. The earliest double-reed instrument appears in the late Zhou Dynasty and is referred as hujia (胡笳; literally "foreign reed pipe") because it had been introduced from the northwestern region of China. During that time, the hujia was used as the primarily military instrument for signaling, and is depicted in early Chinese poetry as raucous and barbaric.

The guan was developed after the hujia in the Tang Dynasty due to the flourishing music and art culture that were influenced by the silk road trade. Like the hujia, it was probably adopted from Central Asian nomads, and became an important leading instrument in the court and ritual music. At the height of the Tang Dynasty, the guan, alongside many other instruments was introduced to neighboring countries, where the guan's descendants (called piri in Korea and hichiriki in Japan) are still used today.

However, in subsequent dynasties, the guan fell out of use in court music but became very popular in folk ensembles. It plays an important part in the wind-and-percussion (chuida or guchui) ensembles that play on traditional festivals and celebratory occasions and is still popular in the wind band music of northern China, as well as in some other Chinese regions. In the Beijing opera orchestra, the guan is used to depict military scenes along with the suona and other percussion instruments.