Wooden Fish

The Wood Fish ( 木魚 Muyu ) is a kind of Daoist musical instrument used for striking during scripture recitation. It is a wood block shaped like a fish and so is named Wood Fish. Another saying goes that it is shaped like a man's head. The Wood Fish is used in combination with the Inverted Bell ( 馨 Qing ) during scripture recitation, for the Chinese word for bell sounds like the Chinese word for "awaken", and the term Wood Fish sounds like "enlighten". The scripture Essential Secrets of Most High says, "The Wood Fish and the Pure Bell awaken the universe". 木魚