Saenghwang
/ˈsɛŋ.hwɑːŋ/noun
A Korean mouth organ consisting of a bundle of bamboo pipes fitted with free reeds and played by blowing through a wind chamber.
Did you know?The saenghwang belongs to the same free-reed instrument family as the Chinese sheng and Japanese shō, whose layered buzzing tones were associated with court ritual and refined cosmological music.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient China, 1st millennium BCE
Old Chinese
笙
“Shēng, a mouth-blown reed instrument made from multiple bamboo pipes”
Ancient China
Old Chinese
簧
“Huáng, a vibrating reed or tongue used in a musical instrument”
Medieval Korea
Middle Korean
생황
“Saenghwang, the Korean form of the multi-pipe reed instrument”
1116
Korean
생황
“The instrument was included among the ritual and court instruments introduced or standardized during the Goryeo period”
19th–20th Century
Korean
saenghwang
“Romanized name for the traditional Korean mouth organ”
Modern English
English
saenghwang
“A Korean free-reed mouth organ, also described as a Korean sheng”
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