ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Kouxian

A kouxian is a type of ancient Chinese wind instrument made from bamboo. It's similar to a flute, but instead of blowing air into the instrument, you blow across the top of it.

Imagine you have a long piece of bamboo that's covered at one end. On one side of the bamboo, there's a bunch of holes. These holes are like tiny tunnels that the air can go through. On the other side of the bamboo, there's a hole that you can put your mouth close to.

To play the kouxian, you need to blow air across the top of the bamboo, just like blowing on a cup of hot soup to cool it down. The air you blow makes the bamboo vibrate, and this vibration creates sound. By covering some of the holes with your fingers and uncovering others, you can change the pitch or how high or low the sound is.

The cool thing about the kouxian is that you can make different sounds by changing how you blow across the top. You can blow softly to make a soft, quiet sound or blow harder to make a loud, strong sound. You can even make different notes by changing which holes you cover and uncover with your fingers.

People have been playing the kouxian for a very long time in China. It has been used in traditional Chinese music, in festivals, and even in some modern music today. It's a fun instrument to play and listen to because it makes such unique and beautiful sounds!