Temple block

The temple block is a percussion instrument originating in eastern Asia, where it is used in religious ceremonies.

It is a carved hollow wooden instrument with a large slit. In its traditional form, the wooden fish, the shape is somewhat bulbous; modern instruments are also used which are rectangular in shape. Several blocks of varying sizes are often used together to give a variety of pitches. In Western music, their use can be traced back to early jazz drummers, and they are also used in modern orchestral music, where they are also called dragons' mouths.