尺八【英】

Chiba

定义

中国吹奏气鸣乐器。竹制，管形，竖吹，因长1尺8寸得名。东汉时，其前身竖篴已尺八流行民间。隋唐时期，尺八是宫廷乐舞中的重要乐器，后传入日本。敦煌壁画唐代洞窟有尺八乐器图像。第321窟(初唐)北壁就有尺八图像，第329窟(初唐)飞天乐伎吹奏的也是尺八。尺八乐器，与箫一样，均由羌笛演变、发展而来。

A Chinese wind instrument consisting of a bamboo pipe played vertically. It is so named because its length is 1 chi, 8 cun (10 cun equal 1 chi; 3 chi equal 1 meter). During the Eastern Han Dynasty, its predecessor, the vertical bamboo flute, was popular among the common people. During the Sui and the Tang dynasties, the chiba was an important instrument in court music and dance, and later it was introduced to Japan. Images of the chiba can be found among the Dunhuang frescoes in grottoes built during the Tang Dynasty. There is a painting of a chiba on the north wall of Mogao Cave 321 (built in the early Tang Dynasty), and the musical instruments played by flying apsaras in Cave 329 (early Tang) are also chiba. As a musical instrument, the chiba, like the xiao, evolved and developed from the qiang flute.