It was an important instrument in the folk music of northern China, particularly in provinces of Shandong and Henan, where it has long been used for festival and military purposes.

Such wind and percussion ensembles are called chuida (Chinese: 吹打; pinyin: chuīdǎ; Zhuyin Fuhao: ㄔㄨㄟ ㄉㄚˇ) or guchui (Chinese: 鼓吹; pinyin: gǔchuì; Zhuyin Fuhao: ㄍㄨˇ ㄔㄨㄟˋ; this name refers to the suona itself in Taiwanese Hokkien).

In Chinese culture it was an essential element of ritual music that accompanied Daoist performances of both auspicious and inauspicious rites, i.e., those for both the living and the dead.

One of the most famous pieces that uses suona as the leading instrument is called "Bai Niao Chao Feng" (Chinese: 百鳥朝鳳; pinyin: Bǎiniǎocháofèng), or "Hundred Birds Worship the Phoenix".

The movie Song of the Phoenix[1] casts the rise and fall of the popularity of suona in modern Chinese musical history.

[citation needed] Suona art was approved by the State Council to be included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list on May 20, 2006.

'woolen fabric'), a related instrument that was most commonly used in northern China, consisted of a suona reed (with bocal) that was played melodically.

There is now a family of such instruments, including the zhongyin suona (Chinese: 重音 嗩吶; pinyin: zhòngyīn suǒnà; lit.

For example, in the classic Suona piece "Bai Niao Chao Feng" (百鸟朝凤), which is performed in orchestra.

[10] A musician playing an instrument very similar to a suona was shown on a drawing on a Silk Road religious monument in the western Xinjiang province.

During the Ming and Qing dynasties, it was widely circulated among the people and was mostly used in wind and percussion bands for weddings, funerals, and happy events.

Dressed in "Arabic" garb with mallet drums, Oriental Bands marched in parades that featured "little cars" driven by members.

Modern improvements have even changed the way it is made, adding keys to enhance the range and stability of the suona.