Muyu

Wooden fish
Wooden fish
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	木魚
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin mùyú
Tibetan name
Tibetan	ཤིང་ཉ།
Transcriptions Wylie shingnya
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese	mộc ngư mõ
Korean name
Hangul	목탁
Transcriptions Revised Romanization moktak
Japanese name
Kanji	木魚
Transcriptions Revised Hepburn mokugyo

Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	mùyú

Transcriptions
Wylie	shingnya

Transcriptions
Revised Romanization	moktak

Transcriptions
Revised Hepburn	mokugyo

A wooden fish, also known as a Chinese temple block, Muyu or Mokugyo, is a wooden percussion instrument. The wooden fish is used by monks and laity in the Mahayana Buddhist tradition. It is often used during rituals usually involving the recitation of sutras, mantras, or other Buddhist texts. The wooden fish is mainly used by Buddhist disciples in China, Japan, Korea, and other East Asian countries where the practice of Mahayana, such as the ceremonious reciting of sutras, is prevalent. In most Zen/Ch'an Buddhist traditions, the wooden fish serves to keep the rhythm during sutra chanting. In Pure Land Buddhism, it is used when chanting the name of Amitabha.

The Taoist clergy has also adapted the wooden fish into their rituals.

There are two kinds of wooden fish.

Most commonly today, it is the traditional instrument that is round in shape and often made out of wood, but sometimes other materials are used as well; this form is actually a later development from the original. The fish is hollow with a ridge outside of the wooden fish to help provide the genuine hollow sound when striking the fish; the instrument is similarly shaped like a jingle bell. The sound can differ amongst wooden fish depending on the size, type of wood used, and how hollow the wooden fish is. The instrument is carved with fish scales on its top, and a carving of two fish heads embracing a pearl on the handle (to symbolize unity), hence the instrument is called a wooden fish for that reason. In Buddhism the fish, which never sleeps, symbolizes wakefulness. Therefore, it is to remind the chanting monks to concentrate on their sutra. Often the mallet used to strike the fish has a rubber coated tip to provide a muffled, but clear sound when struck. A simplified form is given in the temple block.

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Wikipedia