Yexiao originated from the bone whistle in ancient times. It was also called the flute in history. After the Tang Dynasty, it specifically referred to the flute. "Blowing the flute horizontally and vertically" is the most basic difference between flutes and flutes. The xiao has a long history, the sound is round and soft, quiet and elegant, suitable for solo and ensemble. The flute originated from the bone whistle in ancient times, and it was made of bamboo in the Neolithic Age. From the Qin and Han Dynasties to the Tang Dynasty, the xiao refers to the pan flute made of pipes.

As early as "Shangshu·Yiji" recorded that "Xiao Shao is ninety percent, and the phoenix comes to the instrument." It is called this because the accompaniment instrument of Shao music is mainly the Xiao (the panpipe at that time). The night flute was called "Pan", "Prickly Pit" or "Qiang Flute" in the Han Dynasty. The Qiang flute was originally a musical instrument of the Qiang people who lived in Sichuan and Gansu in ancient times. At first, it only had 4 holes (3 sound holes and 1 hole), and the Western Han Dynasty Jingfang (word Junming, 77-37 BC) was in the back. After adding a top sound hole, it becomes a 5-hole xiao.

The flute reformed by Liehe, a musician in the Western Jin Dynasty, and Xunxu, the supervisor of the Zhongshu, was a 6-hole flute (the first 5 and the last 1), and its shape is very similar to that of today's Yexiao. Huan Yi of the Eastern Jin Dynasty was good at music. He owned a Ke Ting flute (xiao) from Cai Yong. He once played three pieces of music for the unknown Wang Huizhi, which was passed down as a legend in history.

During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the night flute has been used in solo, ensemble, and in bands that accompany Xiang and Song. In the Qing Dynasty, the shape of the night flute was exactly the same as it is today. The Qing "Lv Lu Zhengyi Houbian" records: "In the Ming Dynasty, it was called straight, and there was no longer a vertical grate. Today, the flute is one foot and eight inches long and weak. "