noun
A traditional Japanese free-reed wind instrument consisting of 17 bamboo pipes; used in gagaku court music.
See also: 笙
雅楽では笙の笛が美しい和音を奏でる。
In gagaku, the shō plays beautiful chords.
Same instrument; 笙 alone is more common in technical contexts, while 笙の笛 is a fuller, more descriptive term.
Another gagaku wind instrument, a double-reed flute with a more piercing sound, often played alongside the shō.
A transverse flute used in gagaku; together with shō and hichiriki, it forms the core wind section.
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.