Echoes Across Civilizations: A Comparative Study of Panpipe/Paixiao in the Graeco-Roman World and Ancient China

This article presents a comparative study of the panpipe – known as syrinx or fistula in the Graeco-Roman world and as paixiao in ancient China – examined from an anthropological and music-archaeological perspective. Drawing on iconographic, literary, and archaeological sources, the study traces the instrument’s organological features, mythological associations, and social functions across two major ancient civilizations. In the Graeco-Roman world, the panpipe is consistently linked to the pastoral and Dionysiac spheres, to imperial ceremonial, and, in the late antique period, to Christian iconography. In ancient China, the instrument emerges as a ritual object of the highest order, later expanding into banquet entertainment and military music. By situating the panpipe within the framework of materiality and sound as cultural phenomena, the article argues that the instrument functioned not merely as a musical tool but as a vehicle of identity, power, and worldview. The comparative methodology adopted here aims to defamiliarize established narratives and open new interpretive possibilities for the reconstruction of ancient soundscapes.