FUE: Japanese musical instrument

The fue is a Japanese term for flute. The name refers to a category of flutes that are native to Japan. The musical instrument comes in several varieties; they are commonly high-pitched and produced of the bamboo known as shinobue. The most popular version of the musical instruments is the shakuhachi.

The fue are traditionally broken into two distinct categories – the transverse flute and the end-blown flute. The transverse versions of the musical instrument are held to the side, with the player of the musical instrument blowing across a hole that is located near one end. The end-blown versions of the flute are vertically held and the player of the musical instrument blows into one end of the instrument.

The earliest version of this musical instrument came out from pitch pipes known as paixiao in Chinese language. The gabachi musical instrument eventually found its way over to the Japanese world in the 5^th century, becoming prevalent during the period of Nara.

Soon after the introduction of this musical instrument, members of the flute sect of Zen Buddhism made good and normal use of the shakuhachi. These priests of nothingness saw the musical instrument as a spiritual musical instrument, using the flutes for suizen or blowing meditation. Contemporary fue performance may feature a soloist or encompass either a chamber or a larger group of the musical instruments.