Phil's photos with the keyword: Pottery

The Xun is an ancient Chinese earthenware wind instrument which dates back to Neolithic times. The first one ever to be discovered was found in ruins at Xi'an (situated approx. 560 miles S.W. of Beijing), China and was estimated to be between 7000 - 8000 years old. Jia Pingwa (a Chinese author) described the music played on a Xun as "The sound of the Earth". The Xun comes in many shapes and sizes and with a variable number of finger holes......the one in this photo is approximately 3.25 inches / 80 mm high and has 8 holes (6 front and 2 back for the thumbs). It was given to me yesterday by my friend who has recently returned from a holiday in China.....so far I've only managed to play one note !! More information here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xun_(instrument)