A traditional Japanese free-reed wind instrument consisting of 17 bamboo pipes; used in gagaku court music.
See also: 笙
In gagaku, the shō plays beautiful chords.
Standard kanji spelling; 笙 alone can also refer to the instrument, but 笙の笛 is a common explicit term.
笙 (shō) is the instrument name, derived from Chinese shēng; 笛 (fue) means 'flute' or 'pipe', added for clarity. The reading そうのふえ is an older or alternative pronunciation of 笙.