Chinese and Japanese Flutes
solely in religious worship, and such ornaments are not permitted on mere secular flutes.
Most curious of all is the Hwang-chông-Tsche .png)
Fig. 20.—Dragon Flute.or Ch-ih, a transverse flute, with a lateral mouth-hole in the middle of the tube and finger-holes on each side of the mouth-hole. The number of finger-holes sometimes amounts to ten or more. This instrument, which was described by the French Jesuit, Pere Amiot, in 1780, is very possibly the earliest known side-blown flute. Prince Tsai-yu
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Fig. 21.—Chinese Tsche, with Central Mouth-hole.
(1596) says it dates from c. 2200 B.C. In its original form it was open at both ends, but is now usually plugged in the middle, and additional holes are added at one end in substitution for those beyond the plug. The holes on the original form were placed at unequal distances from each end, and were uncovered alternately to produce the scale. (See Borde's Essay, 1780.) The Japanese have also many varieties of flutes (called "Fuye"), and they claim that one, having seven holes, dates from 1000 B.C. Flutes are much used in the service in the Temple, each instrument having a name of its own, such as The Snake-
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