The yu was a free reed wind instrument used in ancient China. It was similar to the sheng, with multiple bamboo pipes fixed in a wind chest which may have been made of bamboo, wood, or gourd. Each pipe contained a free reed, which was also made of bamboo. Whereas the sheng was used to provide harmony (in fourths and fifths), the yu was played melodically.

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  • The yu was a free reed wind instrument used in ancient China. It was similar to the sheng, with multiple bamboo pipes fixed in a wind chest which may have been made of bamboo, wood, or gourd. Each pipe contained a free reed, which was also made of bamboo. Whereas the sheng was used to provide harmony (in fourths and fifths), the yu was played melodically. The instrument was used, often in large numbers, in the court orchestras of ancient China (and also imported to Korea and Japan) but is no longer used. A third-century BC Han Dynasty stone engraving featuring a yu player (seated in the third row, on the left end of the mat), discovered in Yinan County, Linyi, Shandong, may be seen here. The engraving was found as part of a tomb complex in 1947, and the engraving was revealed in 1954. Although the yu is now obsolete, it is known to most Chinese speakers through the saying "Làn yú chōng shù", meaning "to fill a position without having the necessary qualifications. " The saying is derived from the story of Nanguo, a man from southern China who joined the royal court orchestra of King Xuan (宣王, 319 BC–300 BC), the ruler of the State of Qi (the modern Shandong province of China) as a yu player. Although the man did not actually know how to play this instrument, he knew that the orchestra had no fewer than 300 yu players, so he felt secure that he could simply pretend to play, and thus collect a musician's salary. Upon the king's death, Nanguo was eventually found out as an imposter when the king's son Min (泯王, 300 BC–283 BC), who had succeeded his father as king, asked the musicians to play individually rather than as a group. On the night before he was to play, Nanguo fled the palace, never to return. The yu is similar to the lusheng, a free reed mouth organ used by various ethnic groups in several provinces of southern China.
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  • Yu (percussion instrument)
  • the ancient Chinese percussion instrument in the shape of a tiger
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  • The yu was a free reed wind instrument used in ancient China. It was similar to the sheng, with multiple bamboo pipes fixed in a wind chest which may have been made of bamboo, wood, or gourd. Each pipe contained a free reed, which was also made of bamboo. Whereas the sheng was used to provide harmony (in fourths and fifths), the yu was played melodically.
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  • Yu (wind instrument)
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