The sheng has been used in the works of a few non-Chinese composers, including Unsuk Chin, Jukka Tiensuu, Lou Harrison, Tim Risher, Daníel Bjarnason, Guus Janssen and Christopher Adler.

The first appearance of the word sheng is in some of the poems of Shijing (Book of Odes), dating back c. 7th century BCE.

Ancient instruments with gourd wind chambers, varying numbers of pipes, with bamboo or metal reeds have been discovered in archaeological finds at the tomb of the Marquis Yi of Zeng (c. 433 BCE) in present-day Hubei province, and the Han tombs at Mawangdui (c. 2nd century BCE) in Hunan province.

In the 8th century, three yu and three sheng were sent to the Japanese court and these have been preserved in the Shōsōin imperial repository in Nara.

The kinds of sheng currently used are the products of changes made since the early 20th century that enhanced its sound and volume as well as increasing its range.

Early changes were made by Zheng Jinwen (鄭覲文, 1872–1935) who increased the number of pipes to 32, expanding its range and allowing it to play harmony and chords.

The air chamber and size of the pipes were also enlarged, changing the tone color of the instrument.

[4] Later various changes were also introduced by players such as Weng Zhenfa (翁鎮發) and particularly Hu Tianquan (胡天泉), with different variants of the instrument produced.

However, sheng instruments are generally categorized into either type based on the kind of fingering system that they adopt.

There are four main ranges of keyed sheng, forming a family of soprano, alto, tenor and bass.

The alto variants tend to have a more mellow timbre than the slightly more metallic sounding soprano sheng.

[citation needed] The alto sheng plays an important role in modern Chinese orchestras, serving to provide chordal accompaniment as well as supplementing lower-pitched instruments like the cello.

The bao sheng is usually placed on the musician's lap; one would reach around to the buttons on its posterior (in effect hugging the instrument, and hence the name).

This form is so named as the pipes and resonators are arranged into 3 rows (in a linear manner) instead of a circular fashion.

These are commonly seen in school orchestras, as there is a reduced likelihood of it being dropped (since it is placed on a stand), and is less difficult/expensive to repair (due to its simpler layout).

In fact, many of the chordal parts written for sheng are currently heavily clustered, and as such, a keyboard layout tends to result in slightly cumbersome fingering.