A musician plays the xun, an ancient Chinese musical instrument, at a village in Zoucheng, Shandong, China. Photo: Xiaomei ChenClay is a versatile material that can be made into many types of objects. It is most often associated with pottery, which has many years of history worldwide.
Less well-known are the musical instruments made of clay. They have been played in China since the Zhou dynasty (1046BC-256BC). Today, clay is one of the bayin, the eight categories into which Chinese instruments are grouped based on the material traditionally used to make them.
The xun – pronounced huen in Cantonese – is a flute shaped like an egg but with a flat bottom. It is the signature clay instrument of modern Chinese orchestras.
Modern examples have multiple finger holes. The earliest surviving sample, found at an archaeological site in Zhejiang province that dates to 5000BC, has only one.