笙(しょう)

しょう
noun
sho (Japanese mouth organ)
1. sho; Japanese mouth organ
A free-reed wind instrument with 17 bamboo pipes mounted on a small cup-shaped chamber, used in 雅楽(ががく) (Japanese court music). Produces an ethereal, sustained chord.
祖父(そふ)は笙(しょう)を吹(ふ)く。
My grandfather plays the sho.
雅楽(ががく)では笙(しょう)が独特(どくとく)な和音(わおん)を奏(かな)でる。
In gagaku the sho produces distinctive sustained chords.
笙(しょう)の音色(ねいろ)は天上(てんじょう)から差(さ)し込(こ)む光(ひかり)にたとえられる。
The tone of the sho is likened to light streaming down from the heavens.

A traditional wind instrument central to 雅楽(ががく) (Japanese court music). The 17 vertical bamboo pipes give it a distinctive shape resembling phoenix wings, and it is one of very few East Asian instruments that play chords. The player both inhales and exhales through the mouthpiece.

COMMON COLLOCATIONS:

  • 笙(しょう)を吹(ふ)く: to play the sho
  • 笙(しょう)の音色(ねいろ): the tone of the sho
  • 笙(しょう)奏者(そうしゃ): sho player

SIMILAR WORDS:

  • 篳篥(ひちりき): hichiriki, double-reed instrument used alongside the sho in gagaku
  • 龍笛(りゅうてき): ryuteki, transverse flute used in gagaku
general
Added 2026.6.5 11:07
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