The suona (simplified Chinese: 唢呐; \\ntraditional Chinese: 嗩吶; pinyin: suǒnà); also called laba (Chinese: 喇叭; pinyin: \\nlǎbā) or haidi (Chinese: 海笛; pinyin: hǎidí) is a Han Chinese shawm (oboe). It \\nhas a distinctively loud and high-pitched sound, and is used frequently in \\nChinese traditional music ensembles, particularly those that perform outdoors.

It is an important instrument in \\nthe folk music of northern China, particularly the provinces of Shandong and \\nHenan, where it has long been used for festival and military purposes. It is \\nstill used, in combination with sheng mouth organs, gongs, drums, and sometimes \\nother instruments, in wedding and funeral processions.

Such wind and percussion ensembles \\nare called chuida or guchui. Stephen Jones has written extensively on its use in \\nritual music of Shanxi province. It is also common in the ritual music of \\nSoutheast China. In Taiwan, it forms an essential element of ritual music that \\naccompanies Daoist performances of both auspicious and inauspicious rites, i.e., \\nthose for both the living and the dead.

A Brief History

The suona is believed to have been \\ndeveloped from Central Asian instruments such as the sorna, surnay, or zurna, \\nfrom which its Chinese name probably derives. It was originally introduced into \\nChina from central or South Asia.

A musician playing an instrument \\nvery similar to a suona is shown on a drawing on a Silk Road religious monument \\nin western Xinjiang province dated to the 3rd to 5th centuries, and depictions \\ndating to this period found in Shandong and other regions of northern China \\ndepict it being played in military processions, sometimes on horseback.

It was not mentioned in Chinese \\nliterature until the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644), but by this time the suona was \\nalready established in northern \\nChina.