Ancient bone paixiao 骨排箫 (panpipe) from Henan, China (late Shang or early Western Zhou Dynasty)

A brief video demonstration of a replica of an ancient bone panpipe (Chinese: gu paixiao, 骨排箫) from China. The performer, whose name is, unfortunately, unknown, is probably a member of the Henan Museum’s Huaxia Ancient Music Ensemble (河南博物院华夏古乐团), which was established in 2000. The name of the craftsman who produced this replica is also unknown. The original artifact, which has 13 pipes made from the leg bones of birds, was excavated in 1997 or 1998 from the Changzikou tomb (“长子口”墓 or 长子口墓) in Taiqinggong Town (太清宫镇), Luyi County (鹿邑县), Zhoukou (周口市), eastern Henan province (河南省), central China, bordering Anhui province to the east. It dates to the late Shang Dynasty or early Western Zhou Dynasty (c. mid-11th century BC). This instrument was one of five bone paixiao found in this tomb, and, together, these are the earliest specimens of paixiao yet discovered. The longest pipe is in. (32.7 cm) long, and the shortest is in. (11.8 cm) in length. This video, which was probably filmed at the Henan Museum (河南博物院) in Zhengzhou, Henan province, central China, was produced by the Henan Museum, c. May 17, 2022. Changzikou (长子口) was the leader of the Chang clan (Chinese: Chang shi, 长氏), the history of which can be traced to the late Shang Dynasty, as evidenced by oracle bone inscriptions that record the Chang clan as one of the suppliers of tortoise carapace to the Shang empire for use in oracle bone divination ceremonies. Some scholars believe that the Chinese family name Zhang originates from the Chang clan, as the Chang people were also assigned the task of producing bows for the Shang dynasty, and the Chinese word for bow (gong, 弓) is a component of the character for Zhang (张). After the Shang empire was conquered by the Zhou, the Chang clan, led by Changzikou, pledged loyalty to the new king and was allowed to occupy the region of today’s Luyi County, Henan. The tomb of Changzikou is believed to date to no later than the period of King Cheng of Zhou (Chinese: Zhou Cheng Wang, 周成王, r. ca. 1042 BC-ca. 1021 BC). The grand scale of his tomb suggests that Changzikou was an aristocrat that enjoyed prestigious social status during the early Western Zhou Dynasty. 每周乐器——骨排箫 More information: 骨排箫/7792462 长子口墓/54559269 河南博物院华夏古乐团/1993983 华夏古乐团/1802738