Gudi (instrument)

The Jiahu gǔdí (Chinese: 贾湖骨笛) are the oldest known musical instruments from China, dating back to around 6000 BCE.

[citation needed] The Jiahu bone whistles are much shorter than the flutes, with lengths of 5.7 to 10.5 cm (2 to 4 in), and generally having a smaller amount of holes.

Lee and Shen believed that the Jiahu culture understood the "resonance of an air column" (see open tube and closed tube) and were able to create an instrument that contained their "complete interval preference of Chinese music".

These harmonic intervals are said to be a "function of culture" and were of a larger set compared to that now familiar in the West.

Bone flutes were apparently also played as part of sacrificial rites, and employed in bird hunting.