Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
musical instrument
A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person who pl ...
lute
A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted.
More specifically, the term "lute" can ref ...
", the instrument has a pear-shaped wooden body with a varying number of frets ranging from 12 to 31. Another Chinese four-string plucked lute is the
liuqin
The ''liuqin'' (Chinese: , pinyin: ) is a three, four or five -stringed Chinese mandolin with a pear-shaped body. The range of its voice is much higher than the ''pipa'', and it has its own special place in Chinese music, whether in ...
, which looks like a smaller version of the pipa. The pear-shaped instrument may have existed in China as early as the
Han dynasty
The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...
, and although historically the term ''pipa'' was once used to refer to a variety of plucked
chordophone
String instruments, stringed instruments, or chordophones are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer plays or sounds the strings in some manner.
Musicians play some string instruments by plucking the st ...
s, its usage since the
Song dynasty
The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...
refers exclusively to the pear-shaped instrument.
The pipa is one of the most popular Chinese instruments and has been played for almost two thousand years in China. Several related instruments are derived from the pipa, including the
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
ese
biwa
The is a Japanese short-necked wooden lute traditionally used in narrative storytelling. The is a plucked string instrument that first gained popularity in China before spreading throughout East Asia, eventually reaching Japan sometime duri ...
and
Korea
Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
n
bipa
The ''bipa'' is a pear-shaped lute that is a traditional Korean musical instrument. It is derived from Chinese ''pipa'' and was introduced through the Silk Road to Goguryeo and Silla. There are two major types of ''bipa'': the four stringed ''d ...
in
East Asia
East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea and ...
, and the
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
. The Korean instrument is the only one of the three that is no longer widely used.
History
There are some confusions and disagreements about the origin of pipa. This may be due to the fact that the word pipa was used in ancient texts to describe a variety of plucked chordophones of the period from the
Qin Qin may refer to:
Dynasties and states
* Qin (state) (秦), a major state during the Zhou Dynasty of ancient China
* Qin dynasty (秦), founded by the Qin state in 221 BC and ended in 206 BC
* Daqin (大秦), ancient Chinese name for the Roman Emp ...
to the
Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...
, including the long-necked spiked lute and the short-necked lute, as well as the differing accounts given in these ancient texts. Traditional Chinese narrative prefers the story of the Han Chinese Princess
Liu Xijun
Sara Liu Xijun (), is a Chinese pop singer who rose to fame through televised singing competitions. Born 30 April 1988 in Shenzhen, Guangdong, she began as a singer by ranking fifth in the fourth season (2009) of a singing contest in China, '' ...
sent to
marry
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...
a barbarian
Wusun
The Wusun (; Eastern Han Chinese *''ʔɑ-suən'' <
(140 BCE < 436 BCE): *''Ɂâ-sûn'') were an ancient semi- king during the
Han dynasty
The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...
, with the ''pipa'' being invented so she could play music on horseback to soothe her longings. Modern researchers such as
Laurence Picken
Laurence Ernest Rowland Picken (16 July 1909 – 16 March 2007) was an ethnomusicologist and scientist. He had a wide research interest, and published works on cytology, biochemistry, musicology, Turkish musical instruments, and ancient Chines ...
, Shigeo Kishibe, and John Myers suggested a non-Chinese origin.
The earliest mention of pipa in Chinese texts appeared late in the
Han dynasty
The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...
around the 2nd century AD. According to Liu Xi's
Eastern Han dynasty
The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...
onomatopoeic
Onomatopoeia is the process of creating a word that phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes. Such a word itself is also called an onomatopoeia. Common onomatopoeias include animal noises such as ''oink'', ''m ...
origin (the word being similar to the sounds the instrument makes),Chinese Text Project – 《釋名·釋樂器》 Shiming by Liu Xi (劉熙)]. Original text: 枇杷,本出於胡中,馬上所鼓也。推手前曰枇,引手卻曰杷。象其鼓時,因以為名也。 Translation: Pipa, originated from amongst the Hu people, who played the instrument on horseback. Striking outward with the hand is called "pi", plucking inward is called "pa", sounds like when it is played, hence the name. (Note that this ancient way of writing pipa (枇杷) also means "
loquat
The loquat (''Eriobotrya japonica'') is a large evergreen shrub or tree, grown commercially for its orange fruit and for its leaves, which are used to make herbal tea. It is also cultivated as an ornamental plant.
The loquat is in the family R ...
".) although modern scholarship suggests a possible derivation from the Persian word " barbat", the two theories however are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Liu Xi also stated that the instrument called ''pipa'', though written differently ( or ) in the earliest texts, originated from amongst the Hu people (a general term for non-Han people living to the north and west of ancient China). Another Han Dynasty text, ''
Fengsu Tongyi
''Fengsu Tongyi'' (), also known as ''Fengsu Tong'', is a book written about 195 AD by Ying Shao, who lived during the later Eastern Han period. The manuscript is similar to an almanac
An almanac (also spelled ''almanack'' and ''almanach'') is ...
'', also indicates that, at that time, ''pipa'' was a recent arrival, although later 3rd-century texts from the Jin dynasty suggest that pipa existed in China as early as the
Qin dynasty
The Qin dynasty ( ; zh, c=秦朝, p=Qín cháo, w=), or Ch'in dynasty in Wade–Giles romanization ( zh, c=, p=, w=Ch'in ch'ao), was the first Dynasties in Chinese history, dynasty of Imperial China. Named for its heartland in Qin (state), ...
(221–206 BC). An instrument called ''xiantao'' (弦鼗), made by stretching strings over a small drum with handle, was said to have been played by labourers who constructed the
Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China (, literally "ten thousand ''li'' wall") is a series of fortifications that were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection against various nomadic grou ...
during the late Qin Dynasty. 《琵琶錄》 ''Records of Pipa'' by Duan Anjie (段安節)] citing Du Zhi of Jin Dynasty (265–420), Jin Dynasty. Original text: 樂錄雲,琵琶本出於弦鼗。而杜摯以為秦之末世,苦於長城之役。百姓弦鼗而鼓之 Translation: According to Yuelu, pipa originated from ''xiantao''. Du Zhi thought that towards the end of Qin Dynasty, people who suffered as forced labourers on the Great Wall, played it using strings on a drum with handle. (Note that for the word xiantao, xian means string, tao means
pellet drum
Pellet drums, or rattle drums, are a class of membranophone, or drum, characterized by their construction and manner of playing. They have two heads (either a single double-headed drum or two hemispherical single-headed drums joined together with ...
, one common form of this drum is a flat round drum with a handle, a form that has some resemblance to Ruan.) This may have given rise to the ''Qin pipa'', an instrument with a straight neck and a round
sound box
A sound box or sounding box (sometimes written soundbox) is an open chamber in the body of a musical instrument which modifies the sound of the instrument, and helps transfer that sound to the surrounding air. Objects respond more strongly to vibr ...
, and evolved into ''
ruan
Ruan may refer to:
Buildings
* Ruan Center, office building in Des Moines, Iowa
* John Ruan House, historic mansion in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, t ...
'', an instrument named after
Ruan Xian
Ruan Xian (fl. 3rd century), courtesy name Zhongrong, was a Chinese scholar who lived in the Six Dynasties period. One of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove, he was a skilled player of the Chinese lute, an old version of pipa which has been ca ...
, one of the
Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove
The Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove (also known as the Seven Worthies of the Bamboo Grove, ) were a group of Chinese scholars, writers, and musicians of the third century CE. Although the various individuals all existed, their interconnection is ...
and known for playing similar instrument. Yet another term used in ancient text was ''Qinhanzi'' (秦漢子), perhaps similar to Qin pipa with a straight neck and a round body, but modern opinions differ on its precise form. 《舊唐書·音樂二》 Jiu Tangshu
Old Book of Tang
The ''Old Book of Tang'', or simply the ''Book of Tang'', is the first classic historical work about the Tang dynasty, comprising 200 chapters, and is one of the Twenty-Four Histories. Originally compiled during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdo ...
. Original text: 今《清樂》奏琵琶,俗謂之「秦漢子」,圓體修頸而小,疑是弦鞀之遺制。其他皆充上銳下,曲項,形制稍大,疑此是漢制。兼似兩制者,謂之「秦漢」,蓋謂通用秦、漢之法。 Translation: Today's "Qingyue" performance ''pipa'', commonly called the ''Qinhanzi'', has a round body with a small neck, and is suspected to be descended from ''Xiantao''. The others are all shaped full on top and pointed at the bottom, neck bent, rather large, and suspected to be of Han Dynasty origin. Being composite of two different constructions, it's called "Qinhan", as it is thought to use both Qin and Han methods. (Note that the description of the pear-shaped ''pipa'' as being "full on top and pointed at the bottom", an orientation that is inverted compared to modern instrument, and refers to the way pipa was often held in ancient times).
The pear-shaped pipa is likely to have been introduced to China from Central Asia,
Gandhara
Gandhāra is the name of an ancient region located in the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent, more precisely in present-day north-west Pakistan and parts of south-east Afghanistan. The region centered around the Peshawar Vall ...
, and/or India. Pear-shaped lutes have been depicted in
Kusana
The Kushan Empire ( grc, Βασιλεία Κοσσανῶν; xbc, Κυϸανο, ; sa, कुषाण वंश; Brahmi: , '; BHS: ; xpr, 𐭊𐭅𐭔𐭍 𐭇𐭔𐭕𐭓, ; zh, 貴霜 ) was a syncretic empire, formed by the Yuezhi, i ...
sculptures from the 1st century AD. The pear-shaped pipa may have been introduced during the Han dynasty and was referred to as Han pipa. However, depictions of the pear-shaped pipas in China only appeared after the Han dynasty during the Jin dynasty in the late 4th to early 5th century. Pipa acquired a number of Chinese symbolisms during the Han dynasty - the instrument length of three feet five inches represents the three realms (heaven, earth, and man) and the five elements, while the four strings represent the four seasons.應劭 -《風俗通義·聲音》
Fengsu Tongyi
''Fengsu Tongyi'' (), also known as ''Fengsu Tong'', is a book written about 195 AD by Ying Shao, who lived during the later Eastern Han period. The manuscript is similar to an almanac
An almanac (also spelled ''almanack'' and ''almanach'') is ...
(Common Meanings in Customs) by
Ying Shao
Ying Shao (140–206), courtesy name Zhongyuan, was a Chinese politician, writer and historian who lived during the Eastern Han dynasty. He was an author of the ''Fengsu Tongyi'', an encyclopedic work about the folk customs and legends that exis ...
. Original text: 批把: 謹按: 此近世樂家所作,不知誰也。以手批把,因以為名。長三尺五寸,法天地人與五行,四弦象四時。 Translation: Pipa, made by recent musicians, but maker unknown. Played "pi" and "pa" with the hand, it was thus named. Length of three feet five inches represents the Heaven, Earth, and Man, and the five elements, and the four strings represent the four seasons. (Note that this length of three feet five inches is equivalent to today's length of approximately two feet and seven inches or 0.8 meter.)
Depictions of the pear-shaped pipas appeared in abundance from the
Southern and Northern dynasties
The Northern and Southern dynasties () was a period of political division in the history of China that lasted from 420 to 589, following the tumultuous era of the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Eastern Jin dynasty. It is sometimes considered as ...
onwards, and pipas from this time to the Tang Dynasty were given various names, such as Hu pipa (胡琵琶), bent-neck pipa (曲項琵琶, quxiang pipa), some of these terms however may refer to the same pipa. Apart from the four-stringed pipa, other pear-shaped instruments introduced include the five-stringed, straight-necked, wuxian pipa (五弦琵琶, also known as
Kuchean
Kuchean (also known as Tocharian B or West Tocharian) was a Western member of Tocharian branch of Indo-European languages, extinct from ninth century. Once spoken in the Tarim Basin in Central Asia. Tocharian B shows an internal chronological de ...
pipa (龜茲琵琶)), a six-stringed version, as well as the two-stringed hulei (忽雷). From the 3rd century onwards, through the Sui and Tang dynasty, the pear-shaped ''pipas'' became increasingly popular in China. By the
Song dynasty
The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...
, the word pipa was used to refer exclusively to the four-stringed pear-shaped instrument.
The pipa reached a height of popularity during the
Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...
, and was a principal musical instrument in the imperial court. It may be played as a solo instrument or as part of the imperial orchestra for use in productions such as ''daqu'' (大曲, grand suites), an elaborate music and dance performance. During this time,
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
and
Kucha
Kucha, or Kuche (also: ''Kuçar'', ''Kuchar''; ug, كۇچار, Кучар; zh, t= 龜茲, p=Qiūcí, zh, t=庫車, p=Kùchē; sa, कूचीन, translit=Kūcīna), was an ancient Buddhist kingdom located on the branch of the Silk Road ...
n performers and teachers were in demand in the capital,
Chang'an
Chang'an (; ) is the traditional name of Xi'an. The site had been settled since Neolithic times, during which the Yangshao culture was established in Banpo, in the city's suburbs. Furthermore, in the northern vicinity of modern Xi'an, Qin Shi ...
(which had a large Persian community). Some delicately carved ''pipa''s with beautiful inlaid patterns date from this period, with particularly fine examples preserved in the Shosoin Museum in Japan. It had close association with Buddhism and often appeared in mural and sculptural representations of musicians in Buddhist contexts. For example, masses of ''pipa''-playing
Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
semi-deities are depicted in the wall paintings of the
Mogao Caves
The Mogao Caves, also known as the Thousand Buddha Grottoes or Caves of the Thousand Buddhas, form a system of 500 temples southeast of the center of Dunhuang, an oasis located at a religious and cultural crossroads on the Silk Road, in Gansu p ...
near
Dunhuang
Dunhuang () is a county-level city in Northwestern Gansu Province, Western China. According to the 2010 Chinese census, the city has a population of 186,027, though 2019 estimates put the city's population at about 191,800. Dunhuang was a major ...
. The four and five-stringed ''pipas'' were especially popular during the Tang dynasty, and these instruments were introduced into Japan during the Tang dynasty as well as into other regions such as Korea and Vietnam. The five-stringed ''pipa'' however had fallen from use by the Song dynasty, although attempts have been made to revive this instrument in the early 21st century with a modernized five-string pipa modeled on the Tang dynasty instrument.
During the Song dynasty, ''pipa'' fell from favour at the imperial court, perhaps a result of the influence of
neo-Confucian
Neo-Confucianism (, often shortened to ''lǐxué'' 理學, literally "School of Principle") is a moral, ethical, and metaphysical Chinese philosophy influenced by Confucianism, and originated with Han Yu (768–824) and Li Ao (772–841) in th ...
nativism as ''pipa'' had foreign associations. However, it continued to be played as a
folk instrument
A folk instrument is a musical instrument that developed among common people and usually does not have a known inventor. It can be made from wood, metal or other material. Such an instrument is played in performances of folk music.
Overview
The ...
that also gained the interest of the literati. The ''pipa'' underwent a number of changes over the centuries. By the Ming dynasty, fingers replaced plectrum as the popular technique for playing pipa, although finger-playing techniques existed as early as Tang.杜佑 《通典》
Tongdian
The ''Tongdian'' () is a Chinese institutional history and encyclopedia text. It covers a panoply of topics from high antiquity through the year 756, whereas a quarter of the book focuses on the Tang Dynasty. The book was written by Du You from 766 ...
by
Du You
Du You () (735 – December 23, 812), courtesy name Junqing (), formally Duke Anjian of Qi (), was a Chinese historian, military general, and politician. He served as chancellor of the Tang Dynasty. Du was born to an eminent aristocratic family i ...
Original text: 舊彈琵琶,皆用木撥彈之,大唐貞觀中始有手彈之法,今所謂搊琵琶者是也。《風俗通》所謂以手琵琶之,知乃非用撥之義,豈上代固有搊之者?手彈法,近代已廢,自裴洛兒始為之。 Translation: The olden ways of playing pipa all used a wooden plectrum for playing. During the reign of Tang Dynasty's Emperor Taizong, there began the use of a finger-playing technique, which is what's called plucked pipa today. What's referred to in '' Common Meanings in Customs'' as playing ''pipa'' by hand is thus understood to be played without plectrum, but how are we sure that there were those who played by plucking in this early period? The use of this technique has fallen away in recent times, but it was started by Pei Luoer. (Note that Pei Luoer is also known as Pei Shenfu (裴神符)). Extra frets were added; the early instrument had 4 frets (相, ''xiāng'') on the neck, but during the early Ming dynasty extra bamboo frets (品, pǐn) were affixed onto the soundboard, increasing the number of frets to around 10 and therefore the range of the instrument. The short neck of the Tang ''pipa'' also became more elongated.
In the subsequent periods, the number of frets gradually increased, from around 10 to 14 or 16 during the Qing dynasty, then to 19, 24, 29, and 30 in the 20th century. The 4 wedge-shaped frets on the neck became 6 during the 20th century. The 14- or 16-fret ''pipa'' had frets arranged in approximately equivalent to the western tone and semitone, starting at the nut, the intervals were T-S-S-S-T-S-S-S-T-T-3/4-3/4-T-T-3/4-3/4, (some frets produced a 3/4 tone or "neutral tone"). In the 1920s and 1930s, the number of frets was increased to 24, based on the 12 tone
equal temperament
An equal temperament is a musical temperament or tuning system, which approximates just intervals by dividing an octave (or other interval) into equal steps. This means the ratio of the frequencies of any adjacent pair of notes is the same, wh ...
scale, with all the intervals being semitones. The traditional 16-fret ''pipa'' became less common, although it is still used in some regional styles such as the pipa in the southern genre of '' nanguan''/nanyin. The horizontal playing position became the vertical (or near-vertical) position by the Qing dynasty, although in some regional genres such as nanguan the pipa is still held guitar fashion. During the 1950s, the use of metal strings in place of the traditional silk ones also resulted in a change in the sound of the pipa which became brighter and stronger.
In Chinese literature
Early literary tradition in China, for example in a 3rd-century description by
Fu Xuan
Fu Xuan (217–278), courtesy name Xiuyi, was a Chinese historian, poet, and politician who lived in the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period and later under the Jin dynasty. He was one of the most prolific authors of ''fu'' poet ...
, ''Ode to Pipa'',Song Shu 《宋書·樂志一》
Book of Song
The ''Book of Song'' (''Sòng Shū'') is a historical text of the Liu Song Dynasty of the Southern Dynasties of China. It covers history from 420 to 479, and is one of the Twenty-Four Histories, a traditional collection of historical records. I ...
quoting earlier work by Fu Xuan (傅玄), ''Ode to Pipa'' (琵琶賦). Original text: 琵琶,傅玄《琵琶賦》曰: 漢遣烏孫公主嫁昆彌,念其行路思慕,故使工人裁箏、築,為馬上之樂。欲從方俗語,故名曰琵琶,取其易傳於外國也。 Translation: Pipa – Fu Xuan's "Ode to Pipa" says: "The Han Emperor sent the Wusun princess to marry Kunmi, and being mindful of her thoughts and longings on her journey, instructed craftsmen to modify the Chinese zither
Zheng Zheng may refer to:
*Zheng (surname), Chinese surname (鄭, 郑, ''Zhèng'')
*Zheng County, former name of Zhengzhou, capital of Henan, China
*Guzheng (), a Chinese zither with bridges
*Qin Shi Huang (259 BC – 210 BC), emperor of the Qin Dynasty, ...
and zhu to make an instrument tailored for playing on horseback. Therefore the common use of the old term pipa came about because it was transmitted to a foreign country." (Note that this passage contains a number of assertions whose veracity has been questioned by scholars.) associates the Han pipa with the northern frontier,
Wang Zhaojun
Wang Qiang (Wang Ch'iang; 王牆, also 王檣 and 王嬙), commonly known by her courtesy name Wang Zhaojun () was known as one of the Four Beauties of ancient China. Born in Baoping Village, Zigui County (in current Hubei Province) in the Western ...
and other princesses who were
married
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...
to nomad rulers of the
Wusun
The Wusun (; Eastern Han Chinese *''ʔɑ-suən'' <
(140 BCE < 436 BCE): *''Ɂâ-sûn'') were an ancient semi- and
Xiongnu
The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, the supreme leader after 20 ...
peoples in what is now
Mongolia
Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...
, northern
Xinjiang
Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...
and
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
. Wang Zhaojun in particular is frequently referenced with pipa in later literary works and lyrics, for example
Ma Zhiyuan
Ma Zhiyuan (, 1250–1321), courtesy name Dongli (), was a Chinese poet and celebrated playwright, a native of Dadu (present-day Beijing) during the Yuan dynasty.Cihai: Page 1132-1133.
Among his achievements is the development and populariz ...
's play ''Autumn in the Palace of Han'' (漢宮秋), especially since the Song dynasty (although her story is often conflated with other women including Liu Xijun), as well as in music pieces such as ''Zhaojun's Lament'' (昭君怨, also the title of a poem), and in paintings where she is often depicted holding a pipa.
There are many references to pipa in Tang literary works, for example, in ''A Music Conservatory Miscellany'' Duan Anjie related many anecdotes associated with pipa. The ''pipa'' is mentioned frequently in Tang dynasty poetry, where it is often praised for its expressiveness, refinement and delicacy of tone, with poems dedicated to well-known players describing their performances. A famous poem by
Bai Juyi
Bai Juyi (also Bo Juyi or Po Chü-i; ; 772–846), courtesy name Letian (樂天), was a renowned Chinese poet and Tang dynasty government official. Many of his poems concern his career or observations made about everyday life, including as g ...
, "
Pipa xing
"''Pipa xing''" (), variously translated as "Song of the Pipa" or "Ballad of the Lute", is a Tang Dynasty poem composed in 816 by the Chinese poet Bai Juyi, one of the greatest poets in Chinese history. The poem contains a description of a pipa p ...
" (琵琶行), contains a description of a pipa performance during a chance encounter with a female pipa player on the
Yangtze River
The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest list of rivers of Asia, river in Asia, the list of rivers by length, third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in th ...
:
:
The encounter also inspired a poem by
Yuan Zhen
Yuan Zhen (; 779 – September 2, 831), courtesy name Weizhi (), was a Chinese novelist, poet, and politician of the middle Tang Dynasty. In prose literature, Yuan Zhen is particularly known for his work ''Yingying's Biography'', which has often ...
, ''Song of Pipa'' (琵琶歌). Another excerpt of figurative descriptions of a pipa music may be found in a eulogy for a pipa player, ''Lament for Shancai'' by
Li Shen
Li Shen () (died July 29, 846''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 248.), courtesy name Gongchui (), formally Duke Wensu of Zhao (), was a Chinese historian, military general, poet, and politician of the Tang Dynasty, serving as a chancellor during the reign ...
:李紳 《悲善才》 Lament for Shancai by Li Shen. The name Shancai is also used to mean virtuoso or maestro in the Tang Dynasty.
:
During the Song dynasty, many of the literati and poets wrote ''ci'' verses, a form of poetry meant to be sung and accompanied by instruments such as ''pipa''. They included
Ouyang Xiu
Ouyang Xiu (; 1007 – 1072 CE), courtesy name Yongshu, also known by his art names Zuiweng () and Liu Yi Jushi (), was a Chinese historian, calligrapher, epigrapher, essayist, poet, and politician of the Song dynasty. He was a renowned writer a ...
,
Wang Anshi
Wang Anshi ; ; December 8, 1021 – May 21, 1086), courtesy name Jiefu (), was a Chinese economist, philosopher, poet, and politician during the Song dynasty. He served as chancellor and attempted major and controversial socioeconomic reforms k ...
, and
Su Shi
Su Shi (; 8 January 1037 – 24 August 1101), courtesy name Zizhan (), art name Dongpo (), was a Chinese calligrapher, essayist, gastronomer, pharmacologist, poet, politician, and travel writer during the Song dynasty. A major personality of ...
. During the
Yuan dynasty
The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fifth ...
, the playwright
Gao Ming
Gao Ming (; 13051370), also known as Kao Ming, Gao Zecheng, and the Cabbage Root Taoist, was a Chinese poet and playwright during the Yuan Dynasty.
Gao was born and grew up in Wenzhou. In 1345, needing to find a way to support his widowed mothe ...
wrote a play for '' nanxi'' opera called '' Pipa ji'' (琵琶記, or "Story of the Pipa"), a tale about an abandoned wife who set out to find her husband, surviving by playing the ''pipa''. It is one of the most enduring work in Chinese theatre, and one that became a model for
Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
drama as it was the favorite opera of the first Ming emperor. The Ming collection of supernatural tales ''
Fengshen Yanyi
''The Investiture of the Gods'', also known by its Chinese names () and is a 16th-century Chinese novel and one of the major vernacular Chinese works in the gods and demons (''shenmo'') genre written during the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). Cons ...
'' tells the story of
Pipa Jing
Pipa Jing ( zh, c=琵琶精, p=Pípa Jīng), or Wang Guiren ( zh, c=王貴人, p=Wáng Guìrén), is a character featured within the classic Chinese novel ''Fengshen Yanyi'' ( Investiture of the Gods). She is a yaojing (seductive spirit) change ...
, a pipa spirit, but ghost stories involving ''pipa'' existed as early as the Jin dynasty, for example in the 4th century collection of tales ''
Soushen Ji
The ''Soushen Ji'', variously translated as ''In Search of the Sacred'', ''In Search of the Supernatural'', and ''Anecdotes about Spirits and Immortals'', is a Chinese compilation of legends, short stories, and hearsay concerning Chinese gods, ...
''. Novels of the Ming and Qing dynasties such as ''
Jin Ping Mei
''Jin Ping Mei'' () — translated into English as ''The Plum in the Golden Vase'' or ''The Golden Lotus'' — is a Chinese novel of manners composed in vernacular Chinese during the latter half of the 16th century during the late Ming dynasty ...
'' showed ''pipa'' performance to be a normal aspect of life in these periods at home (where the characters in the novels may be proficient in the instrument) as well as outside on the street or in pleasure houses.
Playing and performance
The name "pipa" is made up of two Chinese syllables, "pí" (琵) and "pá" (琶). These, according to the Han dynasty text by Liu Xi, refer to the way the instrument is played – "pí" is to strike outward with the right hand, and "pá" is to pluck inward towards the palm of the hand. The strings were played using a large
plectrum
A plectrum is a small flat tool used for plucking or strumming of a stringed instrument. For hand-held instruments such as guitars and mandolins, the plectrum is often called a pick and is held as a separate tool in the player's hand. In harpsic ...
in the
Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...
, a technique still used now for the Japanese
biwa
The is a Japanese short-necked wooden lute traditionally used in narrative storytelling. The is a plucked string instrument that first gained popularity in China before spreading throughout East Asia, eventually reaching Japan sometime duri ...
. It has however been suggested that the long plectrum depicted in ancient paintings may have been used as a friction stick like a bow. The plectrum has now been largely replaced by the fingernails of the right hand. The most basic technique, ''tantiao'' (彈挑), involves just the index finger and thumb (''tan'' is striking with the index finger, ''tiao'' with the thumb). The fingers normally strike the strings of pipa in the opposite direction to the way a
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
is usually played, i.e. the fingers and thumb flick outward, unlike the guitar where the fingers and thumb normally pluck inward towards the palm of the hand. Plucking in the opposite direction to ''tan'' and ''tiao'' are called ''mo'' (抹) and ''gou'' (勾) respectively. When two strings are plucked at the same time with the index finger and thumb (i.e. the finger and thumb separate in one action), it is called ''fen'' (分), the reverse motion is called ''zhi'' (摭). A rapid strum is called ''sao'' (掃), and strumming in the reverse direction is called ''fu'' (拂). A distinctive sound of pipa is the
tremolo
In music, ''tremolo'' (), or ''tremolando'' (), is a trembling effect. There are two types of tremolo.
The first is a rapid reiteration:
* Of a single Musical note, note, particularly used on String instrument#Bowing, bowed string instrument ...
produced by the ''lunzhi'' (輪指) technique which involves all the fingers and thumb of the right hand. It is however possible to produce the tremolo with just one or more fingers.
The left hand techniques are important for the expressiveness of pipa music. Techniques that produce
vibrato
Vibrato (Italian language, Italian, from past participle of "wikt:vibrare, vibrare", to vibrate) is a musical effect consisting of a regular, pulsating change of pitch (music), pitch. It is used to add expression to vocal and instrumental music. ...
,
portamento
In music, portamento (plural: ''portamenti'', from old it, portamento, meaning "carriage" or "carrying") is a pitch sliding from one note to another. The term originated from the Italian expression "''portamento della voce''" ("carriage of the v ...
,
glissando
In music, a glissando (; plural: ''glissandi'', abbreviated ''gliss.'') is a glide from one pitch to another (). It is an Italianized musical term derived from the French ''glisser'', "to glide". In some contexts, it is distinguished from the co ...
,
pizzicato
Pizzicato (, ; translated as "pinched", and sometimes roughly as "plucked") is a playing technique that involves plucking the strings of a string instrument. The exact technique varies somewhat depending on the type of instrument :
* On bowed ...
,
harmonics
A harmonic is a wave with a frequency that is a positive integer multiple of the ''fundamental frequency'', the frequency of the original periodic signal, such as a sinusoidal wave. The original signal is also called the ''1st harmonic'', the ...
or
artificial harmonic
Playing a string harmonic (a flageolet) is a string instrument technique that uses the nodes of natural harmonics of a musical string to isolate overtones. Playing string harmonics produces high pitched tones, often compared in timbre to a whis ...
s found in violin or guitar are also found in pipa. String-bending for example may be used to produce a glissando or portamento. Note however that the frets on all Chinese lutes are high so that the fingers and strings never touch the fingerboard in between the frets, this is different from many Western fretted instruments and allows for dramatic vibrato and other pitch changing effects.
In addition, there are a number of techniques that produce sound effects rather than musical notes, for example, striking the board of the pipa for a percussive sound, or strings-twisting while playing that produces a
cymbal
A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs soun ...
-like effect.
The strings are usually tuned to although there are various other ways of tuning. Since the revolutions in Chinese instrument-making during the 20th century, the softer twisted silk strings of earlier times have been exchanged for nylon-wound steel strings, which are far too strong for human fingernails, so false nails are now used, constructed of plastic or tortoise-shell, and affixed to the fingertips with the player's choice of elastic tape. However, false nails made of horn existed as early as the Ming period when finger-picking became the popular technique for playing pipa.
The pipa is held in a vertical or near-vertical position during performance, although in the early periods the instrument was held in the horizontal position or near-horizontal with the neck pointing slightly downwards, or upside down. Starting about the 10th century, players began to hold the instrument "more upright", as the fingernail style became more important. Through time, the neck was raised and by the Qing dynasty the instrument was mostly played upright.
Repertoire
Pipa has been played solo, or as part of a large ensemble or small group since the early times. Few pieces for pipa survived from the early periods, some, however, are preserved in Japan as part of togaku (Tang music) tradition. In the early 20th century, twenty-five pieces were found amongst 10th-century manuscripts in the
Mogao caves
The Mogao Caves, also known as the Thousand Buddha Grottoes or Caves of the Thousand Buddhas, form a system of 500 temples southeast of the center of Dunhuang, an oasis located at a religious and cultural crossroads on the Silk Road, in Gansu p ...
near
Dunhuang
Dunhuang () is a county-level city in Northwestern Gansu Province, Western China. According to the 2010 Chinese census, the city has a population of 186,027, though 2019 estimates put the city's population at about 191,800. Dunhuang was a major ...
, most of these pieces however may have originated from the Tang dynasty. The scores were written in
tablature
Tablature (or tabulature, or tab for short) is a form of musical notation indicating instrument fingering rather than musical pitches.
Tablature is common for fretted stringed instruments such as the guitar, lute or vihuela, as well as many fr ...
form with no information on tuning given, there are therefore uncertainties in the reconstruction of the music as well as deciphering other symbols in the score. Three Ming dynasty pieces were discovered in the ''High River Flows East'' (高河江東, ''Gaohe Jiangdong'') collection dating from 1528 which are very similar to those performed today, such as "The Moon on High" (月兒高, ''Yue-er Gao''). During the
Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...
, scores for pipa were collected in ''Thirteen Pieces for Strings''. During the Qing dynasty there originally two major schools of ''pipa'' — the Northern and Southern schools, and music scores for these two traditions were collected and published in the first mass-produced edition of solo pieces for pipa, now commonly known as the ''Hua Collection'' (華氏譜).This was first published a Nanbei Erpai Miben Pipapu Zhenzhuan (南北二派祕本琵琶譜真傳) The collection was edited by Hua Qiuping (華秋萍, 1784–1859) and published in 1819 in three volumes. The first volume contains 13 pieces from the Northern school, the second and third volumes contain 54 pieces from the Southern school. Famous pieces such as " Ambushed from Ten Sides", "The Warlord Takes Off His Armour", and "Flute and Drum at Sunset" were first described in this collection. The earliest-known piece in the collection may be "Eagle Seizing a Crane" (海青挐鶴) which was mentioned in a
Yuan dynasty
The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fifth ...
text. Other collections from the Qing dynasty were compiled by Li Fangyuan (李芳園) and Ju Shilin (鞠士林), each representing different schools, and many of the pieces currently popular were described in these Qing collections. Further important collections were published in the 20th century.
The pipa pieces in the common repertoire can be categorized as ''wen'' (文, civil) or ''wu'' (武, martial), and ''da'' (大, large or suite) or ''xiao'' (小, small). The ''wen'' style is more lyrical and slower in tempo, with softer dynamic and subtler colour, and such pieces typically describe love, sorrow, and scenes of nature. Pieces in the ''Wu'' style are generally more rhythmic and faster, and often depict scenes of battles and are played in a vigorous fashion employing a variety of techniques and sound effects. The ''wu'' style was associated more with the Northern school while the ''wen'' style was more the Southern school. The ''da'' and ''xiao'' categories refer to the size of the piece – ''xiao'' pieces are small pieces normally containing only one section, while ''da'' pieces are large and usually contain multiple sections. The traditional pieces however often have a standard metrical length of 68 measures or beat, and these may be joined together to form the larger pieces ''dagu''.
Famous solo pieces now performed include:
Most of the above are traditional compositions dating to the Qing Dynasty or early 20th century, new pieces however are constantly being composed, and most of them follow a more Western structure. Examples of popular modern works composed after the 1950s are "
Dance of the Yi People ''Dance of the Yi People'' (simplified: 彝 族 舞 曲; traditional: 彞 族 舞 曲; pinyin: Yízú Wǔqǔ; sometimes also called ''Dance of the Yi Tribe'' or ''Yi Dance'') is one of the most popular solo compositions for the '' pipa'', a four-s ...
" and "Heroic Little Sisters of the Grassland" (草原英雄小姐妹). Non-traditional themes may be used in these new compositions and some may reflect the political landscape and demands at the time of composition, for example "Dance of the Yi People" which is based on traditional melodies of the
Yi people
The Yi or Nuosu people,; zh, c=彝族, p=Yízú, l=Yi ethnicity historically known as the Lolo,; vi, Lô Lô; th, โล-โล, Lo-Lo are an ethnic group
An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with eac ...
, may be seen as part of the drive for national unity, while "Heroic Little Sisters of the Grassland" extols the virtue of those who served as model of exemplary behaviour in the
People's commune
The people's commune () was the highest of three administrative levels in rural areas of the People's Republic of China during the period from 1958 to 1983, until they were replaced by townships. Communes, the largest collective units, were div ...
.
Schools
There are a number of different traditions with different styles of playing pipa in various regions of China, some of which then developed into schools. In the narrative traditions where the pipa is used as an accompaniment to narrative singing, there are the Suzhou ''
tanci
Tanci is a narrative form of song in China that alternates between verse and prose.Wang, Lingzhen, p53 The literal name "plucking rhymes" refers to the singing of verse portions to a '' pipa''.Hu, Siao-chen, p539 A ''tanci'' is usually seven word ...
'' (蘇州彈詞), Sichuan ''qingyin'' (四川清音), and Northern ''quyi'' (北方曲藝) genres. Pipa is also an important component of regional chamber ensemble traditions such as
Jiangnan sizhu ''Jiangnan sizhu'' () is a style of traditional Chinese instrumental music from the ...
,
Teochew string music
Teochew string music or Chaozhou xianshi ( also called "string-poem music") is classed as a type of music (chamber music for strings and woodwind, literally 'silk/bamboo') although it typically uses stringed instruments only. It is found in northe ...
and Nanguan ensemble. In Nanguan music, the pipa is still held in the near-horizontal position or guitar-fashion in the ancient manner instead of the vertical position normally used for solo playing in the present day.
There were originally two major schools of pipa during the Qing Dynasty — the Northern (
Zhili
Zhili, alternately romanized as Chihli, was a northern administrative region of China since the 14th-century that lasted through the Ming dynasty and Qing dynasty until 1911, when the region was dissolved, converted to a province, and renamed ...
, 直隸派) and Southern (
Zhejiang
Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiang ...
, 浙江派) schools, and from these emerged the five main schools associated with the solo tradition. Each school is associated with one or more collections of pipa music and named after its place of origin –
*
Wuxi
Wuxi (, ) is a city in southern Jiangsu province, eastern China, by car to the northwest of downtown Shanghai, between Changzhou and Suzhou. In 2017 it had a population of 3,542,319, with 6,553,000 living in the entire prefecture-level city ar ...
school (無錫派) – associated with the ''Hua Collection'' by Hua Qiuping, who studied with Wang Junxi (王君錫) of the Northern school and Chen Mufu (陳牧夫) of the Southern school, and may be considered a synthesis of these two schools of the Qing Dynasty. As the first published collection, the ''Hua Collection'' had considerable influence on later pipa players.
*
Pudong
Pudong is a district of Shanghai located east of the Huangpu, the river which flows through central Shanghai. The name ''Pudong'' was originally applied to the Huangpu's east bank, directly across from the west bank or Puxi, the historic city ...
school (浦東派) – associated with the ''Ju Collection'' (鞠氏譜) which is based on an 18th-century handwritten manuscript, ''Xianxu Youyin'' (閑敘幽音), by Ju Shilin.
*
Pinghu
Pinghu is a county-level city in the east of Jiaxing's administrative area, in the northeast of Zhejiang Province, bordering Shanghai to the northeast. It sits next to the East China Sea and the north shore of Hangzhou Bay. Prior to the Ming ...
school (平湖派) – associated with the ''Li Collection'' (李氏譜) first published in 1895; it was compiled by Li Fangyuan who came from a family of many generations of ''pipa'' players.
* Chongming school (崇明派) – associated with ''Old Melodies of Yingzhou'' (瀛洲古調) compiled by Shen Zhaozhou (沈肇州, 1859–1930) in 1916.
*
Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
or Wang school (汪派) – named after Wang Yuting (汪昱庭) who created this style of playing. It may be considered a synthesis of the other four schools especially the Pudong and Pinghu schools. Wang did not publish his notation book in his lifetime, although handwritten copies were passed on to his students.
These schools of the solo tradition emerged by students learning playing the pipa from a master, and each school has its own style, performance aesthetics, notation system, and may differ in their playing techniques. Different schools have different repertoire in their music collection, and even though these schools share many of the same pieces in their repertoire, a same piece of music from the different schools may differ in their content. For example, a piece like "The Warlord Takes off His Armour" is made up of many sections, some of them
metered
A measuring instrument is a device to measure a physical quantity. In the physical sciences, quality assurance, and engineering, measurement is the activity of obtaining and comparing physical quantities of real-world objects and events. Esta ...
and some with free meter, and greater freedom in interpretation is possible in the free meter sections. Different schools however can have sections added or removed, and may differ in the number of sections with free meter. The music collections from the 19th century also used the
gongche notation
''Gongche'' notation or ''gongchepu'' is a traditional musical notation method, once popular in ancient China. It uses Chinese characters to represent musical notes. It was named after two of the Chinese characters that were used to represen ...
which provides only a skeletal melody and approximate rhythms sometimes with the occasional playing instructions given (such as tremolo or string-bending), and how this basic framework can become fully fleshed out during a performance may only be learnt by the students from the master. The same piece of music can therefore differ significantly when performed by students of different schools, with striking differences in interpretation, phrasing,
tempo
In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...
ornamentation
An ornament is something used for decoration.
Ornament may also refer to:
Decoration
*Ornament (art), any purely decorative element in architecture and the decorative arts
*Biological ornament, a characteristic of animals that appear to serve on ...
s.
In more recent times, many pipa players, especially the younger ones, no longer identify themselves with any specific school. Modern notation systems, new compositions as well as recordings are now widely available and it is no longer crucial for a pipa players to learn from the master of any particular school to know how to play a score.
Performers
Historical
Pipa is commonly associated with Princess Liu Xijun and Wang Zhaojun of the Han dynasty, although the form of pipa they played in that period is unlikely to be pear-shaped as they are now usually depicted. Other early known players of ''pipa'' include General
Xie Shang
Xie Shang (308– 14 June 357), courtesy name Renzu, was a military general, musician and writer of the Jin dynasty (266–420). He was a member of the Xie clan of Chen Commandery and was the elder cousin to the Jin prime minister Xie An. In ...
from the Jin Dynasty who was described to have performed it with his leg raised. The introduction of pipa from Central Asia also brought with it virtuoso performers from that region, for example Sujiva (蘇祇婆, ''Sujipo'') from the Kingdom of
Kucha
Kucha, or Kuche (also: ''Kuçar'', ''Kuchar''; ug, كۇچار, Кучар; zh, t= 龜茲, p=Qiūcí, zh, t=庫車, p=Kùchē; sa, कूचीन, translit=Kūcīna), was an ancient Buddhist kingdom located on the branch of the Silk Road ...
during the
Northern Zhou
Zhou (), known in historiography as the Northern Zhou (), was a Xianbei-led dynasty of China that lasted from 557 to 581. One of the Northern dynasties of China's Northern and Southern dynasties period, it succeeded the Western Wei dynasty and ...
dynasty, Kang Kunlun (康崑崙) from
Kangju
Kangju (; Eastern Han Chinese: ''kʰɑŋ-kɨɑ'' < *''khâŋ-ka'' (c. 140 BCE)) was the Chinese name of a kingdom in
, and Pei Luoer (裴洛兒) from Shule. Pei Luoer was known for pioneering finger-playing techniques, while Sujiva was noted for the "Seven modes and seven tones", a musical modal theory from India. (The
heptatonic scale
A heptatonic scale is a musical scale that has seven pitches, or tones, per octave. Examples include the major scale or minor scale; e.g., in C major: C D E F G A B C—and in the relative minor, A minor, natural minor: A B C D E F G A; the m ...
was used for a time afterwards in the imperial court due to Sujiva's influence until it was later abandoned). These players had considerable influence on the development of ''pipa'' playing in China. Of particular fame were the family of ''pipa'' players founded by Cao Poluomen (曹婆羅門) and who were active for many generations from the
Northern Wei
Wei (), known in historiography as the Northern Wei (), Tuoba Wei (), Yuan Wei () and Later Wei (), was founded by the Tuoba (Tabgach) clan of the Xianbei. The first of the Northern and Southern dynasties#Northern dynasties, Northern dynasties ...
to Tang dynasty.
Texts from Tang dynasty mentioned many renowned pipa players such as He Huaizhi (賀懷智), Lei Haiqing (雷海清), Li Guaner (李管兒), and Pei Xingnu (裴興奴).元稹 《琵琶歌》 Pipa Song by
Yuan Zhen
Yuan Zhen (; 779 – September 2, 831), courtesy name Weizhi (), was a Chinese novelist, poet, and politician of the middle Tang Dynasty. In prose literature, Yuan Zhen is particularly known for his work ''Yingying's Biography'', which has often ...
. Duan Anjie described the duel between the famous pipa player Kang Kunlun and the monk Duan Shanben (段善本) who was disguised as a girl, and told the story of Yang Zhi (楊志) who learned how to play the pipa secretly by listening to his aunt playing at night. Celebrated performers of the Tang Dynasty included three generations of the Cao family — Cao Bao (曹保), Cao Shancai (曹善才) and Cao Gang (曹剛), whose performances were noted in literary works.劉禹錫 《曹剛》 Cao Gang by
Liu Yuxi
Liu Yuxi ( Wade-Giles: Liu Yü-hsi; ; 772–842) was a Chinese poet, philosopher, and essayist, active during the Tang dynasty.
Biography
Family background and education
His ancestors were Xiongnu nomadic people. The putative ‘seventh generat ...
Original text: 大弦嘈囋小弦清,噴雪含風意思生。一聽曹剛彈薄媚,人生不合出京城。
During the Song Dynasty, players mentioned in literary texts include Du Bin (杜彬). From the Ming dynasty, famous pipa players include Zhong Xiuzhi (鍾秀之), Zhang Xiong (張雄, known for his playing of "Eagle Seizing Swan"), the blind Li Jinlou (李近樓), and Tang Yingzeng (湯應曾) who was known to have played a piece that may be an early version of "Ambushed from Ten Sides".
In Qing dynasty, apart from those of the various schools previously mentioned, there was Chen Zijing (陳子敬), a student of Ju Shilin and known as a noted player during late Qing dynasty.
Modern era
In the 20th century, two of the most prominent ''pipa'' players were Sun Yude (孙裕德; 1904–1981) and Li Tingsong (李廷松; 1906–1976). Both were pupils of Wang Yuting (1872–1951), and both were active in establishing and promoting ''
Guoyue
''Guoyue'' ( 國 樂; literally "national music"; also ''minyue'' (民乐), ''huayue'' (華樂) or ''zhongyue'' (中樂)), nowadays refers to the music composed for Chinese musical instruments, which is an extension of the Chinese traditional ...
'' ("national music"), which is a combination of traditional regional music and Western musical practices. Sun performed in the United States, Asia, and Europe, and in 1956 became deputy director of the
Shanghai Chinese Orchestra The Shanghai Chinese Orchestra () is a large orchestra of traditional Chinese musical instruments based in Shanghai, China. It was established in 1952, and was the first large-scale modern orchestra of traditional instruments in China. Its conductor ...
. As well as being one of the leading pipa players of his generation, Li held many academic positions and also carried out research on pipa scales and temperament. Wei Zhongle (卫仲乐; 1903-1997) played many instruments, including the ''
guqin
The ''guqin'' (; ) is a plucked seven-string Chinese musical instrument. It has been played since ancient times, and has traditionally been favoured by scholars and literati as an instrument of great subtlety and refinement, as highlighted b ...
''. In the early 1950s, he founded the traditional instruments department at the
Shanghai Conservatory of Music
The Shanghai Conservatory of Music () was founded on November 27, 1927, as the first music institution of higher education in China. Its teachers and students have won awards at home and abroad, thus earning the conservatory the name "the crad ...
. Players from the Wang and Pudong schools were the most active in performance and recording during the 20th century, less active was the Pinghu school whose players include Fan Boyan (樊伯炎). Other noted players of the early 20th century include
Liu Tianhua
Liu Tianhua (; 1895–1932) was a Chinese musician and composer best known for his innovative work for the ''erhu''.
Liu's students, such as Jiang Fengzhi and Chen Zhenduo, continued to contribute to the development of the ''erhu''.
He was the ...
, a student of Shen Zhaozhou of the Chongming school and who increased the number of frets on the ''pipa'' and changed to an
equal-tempered
An equal temperament is a musical temperament or tuning system, which approximates just intervals by dividing an octave (or other interval) into equal steps. This means the ratio of the frequencies of any adjacent pair of notes is the same, w ...
tuning, and the blind player
Abing
Abing (; 17 August 1893 – 4 December 1950), born as Hua Yanjun (), was a blind Chinese musician specializing in the ''erhu'' and '' pipa''.
Life
Abing was born on August 17, 1893, in the eastern Chinese city of Wuxi to father Hua Qinghe, ...
from Wuxi.
Lin Shicheng (林石城; 1922–2006), born in Shanghai, began learning music under his father and was taught by Shen Haochu (沈浩初; 1899–1953), a leading player in the Pudong school style of pipa playing. He also qualified as a doctor of Chinese medicine. In 1956, after working for some years in Shanghai, Lin accepted a position at the
Central Conservatory of Music
The Central Conservatory of Music () is a prestigious leading public music school of China and a member of Double First Class University Plan and former Project 211. Its campus is in the Xicheng District of Beijing, China, near Fuxingmen Statio ...
in Beijing.
Liu Dehai
Liu Dehai () (13 August 1937 – 11 April 2020) was a Chinese pipa player. He was born in Shanghai. In 1954, he learned the instrument under Lin Shicheng's guidance, entering the Central Conservatory of Music in 1957. After graduating in 1962, ...
(1937–2020), also born in Shanghai, was a student of Lin Shicheng and in 1961 graduated from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. Liu also studied with other musicians and has developed a style that combines elements from several different schools. Ye Xuran (叶绪然), a student of Lin Shicheng and Wei Zhongle, was the Pipa Professor at the first Musical Conservatory of China, the
Shanghai Conservatory of Music
The Shanghai Conservatory of Music () was founded on November 27, 1927, as the first music institution of higher education in China. Its teachers and students have won awards at home and abroad, thus earning the conservatory the name "the crad ...
. He premiered the oldest Dunhuang Pipa Manuscript (the first interpretation made by Ye Dong) in Shanghai in the early 1980s.
Other prominent students of Lin Shicheng at the
Central Conservatory of Music
The Central Conservatory of Music () is a prestigious leading public music school of China and a member of Double First Class University Plan and former Project 211. Its campus is in the Xicheng District of Beijing, China, near Fuxingmen Statio ...
in Beijing include Liu Guilian (刘桂莲, born 1961),
Gao Hong
Gao Hong (born 1964 in Luoyang, Henan) is a composer and performer of the Chinese pipa (pear-shaped lute).
Gao has lived in the United States since 1994. She performs traditional and modern Chinese music, with her groups Spirit of Nature and ...
and
Wu Man
Wu Man (; b. Hangzhou, Zhejiang, January 2, 1963) is a Chinese pipa player and composer. Trained in Pudong-style pipa performance at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, she is known for playing in a broad range of musical styles and i ...
. Wu Man is probably the best known ''pipa'' player internationally, received the first-ever master's degree in pipa and won China's first National Academic Competition for Chinese Instruments. She lives in
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
and works extensively with Chinese, cross-cultural, new music, and jazz groups. Shanghai-born Liu Guilian graduated from the Central Conservatory of Music and became the director of the Shanghai Pipa Society, and a member of the Chinese Musicians Association and Chinese National Orchestral Society, before immigrating to Canada. She now performs with Red Chamber and the Vancouver Chinese Music Ensemble. Gao Hong graduated from the Central Conservatory of Music and was the first to do a joint tour with Lin Shicheng in North America. They recorded the critically acclaimed CD "Eagle Seizing Swan" together.
Noted contemporary pipa players who work internationally include
Min Xiao-Fen
Min Xiao-Fen () is a Chinese-American pipa player, vocalist, and composer known for her work in traditional Chinese music, contemporary classical music, and jazz.
Life
Min Xiao-Fen studied with her father, Min Jiqian (闵季骞), a music profe ...
Qiu Xia He
He Qiuxia () is a Chinese '' pipa'' player.
He Qiuxia was born in Baoji, Shaanxi, China and she studied at the Xi'an Academy of Music. After graduating, she taught at the academy and toured with the Shaanxi Music and Dance Troupe. In 1989, she ...
,
Liu Fang
Liu Fang 1974) is a Chinese–Canadian musician who is one of the most prominent '' pipa'' players in the world. Described in the media as the "empress of pipa" (''L'actualité''), "divine mediator" (World), "the greatest ambassadress of ...
,
Cheng Yu
Cheng Yu (141 – December 220), originally named Cheng Li, courtesy name Zhongde, was a Chinese politician who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He was an adviser to Cao Cao, the warlord who became the ''de facto'' head of ...
,
Jie Ma
Jie Ma () is a traditional Chinese musician who plays the pipa
The pipa, pípá, or p'i-p'a () is a traditional Chinese musical instrument, belonging to the plucked category of instruments. Sometimes called the "Chinese lute", the instrument ...
,
Yang Jing
Yang Jing (; born December 1953) is a former Chinese politician of Mongol heritage. He previously served as State Councilor and Secretary-General of the State Council, and the President of the Chinese Academy of Governance.
Prior to his ascend ...
, Yang Wei (杨惟), Guan Yadong (管亚东), Jiang Ting (蔣婷), Tang Liangxing (湯良興), and Lui Pui-Yuen (呂培原, brother of Lui Tsun-Yuen). Some other notable pipa players in China include Yu Jia (俞嘉), Wu Yu Xia (吳玉霞), Fang Jinlong (方錦龍) and Zhao Cong (赵聪).
Use in contemporary classical music
In the late 20th century, largely through the efforts of Wu Man (in USA),
Min Xiao-Fen
Min Xiao-Fen () is a Chinese-American pipa player, vocalist, and composer known for her work in traditional Chinese music, contemporary classical music, and jazz.
Life
Min Xiao-Fen studied with her father, Min Jiqian (闵季骞), a music profe ...
(in USA), composer
Yang Jing
Yang Jing (; born December 1953) is a former Chinese politician of Mongol heritage. He previously served as State Councilor and Secretary-General of the State Council, and the President of the Chinese Academy of Governance.
Prior to his ascend ...
(in Europe) and other performers, Chinese and Western contemporary composers began to create new works for the pipa (both solo and in combination with chamber ensembles and orchestra). Most prominent among these are
Minoru Miki
Minoru Miki ( ja, 三木 稔, 16 March 19308 December 2011) was a Japanese composer and artistic director, particularly known for his promotional activities in favor of Japanese (as well as Chinese and Korean) traditional instruments and some o ...
,
Thüring Bräm
Thüring Bräm (born 10 April 1944) is a Swiss composer and conductor.
Bräm graduated from a high school in Basel. He then studied piano, conducting and composition in Basel and musicology at the University of Basel and the University of Hei ...
,
YANG Jing
Yang Jing (; born December 1953) is a former Chinese politician of Mongol heritage. He previously served as State Councilor and Secretary-General of the State Council, and the President of the Chinese Academy of Governance.
Prior to his ascend ...
,
Terry Riley
Terrence Mitchell "Terry" Riley (born June 24, 1935) is an American composer and performing musician best known as a pioneer of the minimalist school of composition. Influenced by jazz and Indian classical music, his music became notable for it ...
,
Donald Reid Womack
Donald Reid Womack (born 1966) is a composer of contemporary classical music. He was born in Virginia, raised in East Tennessee and studied at Furman University and Northwestern University, receiving degrees in philosophy, music theory, and music ...
,
Philip Glass
Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...
,
Lou Harrison
Lou Silver Harrison (May 14, 1917 – February 2, 2003) was an American composer, music critic, music theorist, painter, and creator of unique musical instruments. Harrison initially wrote in a dissonant, ultramodernist style similar to his form ...
,
Tan Dun
Tan Dun (, ; born 18 August 1957) is a Chinese-born American composer and conductor. A leading figure of contemporary classical music, he draws from a variety of Western and Chinese influences, a dichotomy which has shaped much of his life and ...
,
Bright Sheng
Bright Sheng ( Chinese: 盛宗亮 pinyin: ''Shèng Zōngliàng''; born December 6, 1955) is a Chinese-born American composer, pianist and conductor. Sheng has earned many honors for his music and compositions, including a MacArthur Fellowship in ...
,
Chen Yi Chen Yi may refer to:
* Xuanzang (602–664), born as Chen Yi, Chinese Buddhist monk in Tang Dynasty
* Chen Yi (Kuomintang)
Chen Yi (; courtesy names Gongxia (公俠) and later Gongqia (公洽), sobriquet Tuisu (退素); May 3, 1883 – June ...
,
Zhou Long
Zhou Long (; born July 8, 1953) is a Chinese American composer. He won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Music.
Biography
Zhou Long was born in Beijing, China. Born into an artistic family, he began studying piano from an early age. Due to the artist ...
,
Bun-Ching Lam
Lam Bun-Ching (; b. Macau, 1954) is a Chinese American composer, pianist, and conductor.
Early life and training
Lam holds a B.A. degree in piano performance from the Chinese University of Hong Kong (1976). She obtained a scholarship from the Un ...
, and
Carl Stone
Carl Stone (born Carl Joseph Stone, February 10, 1953) is an American composer, primarily working in the field of live electronic music. His works have been performed in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, Australia, South America, and the ...
.
Cheng Yu
Cheng Yu (141 – December 220), originally named Cheng Li, courtesy name Zhongde, was a Chinese politician who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He was an adviser to Cao Cao, the warlord who became the ''de facto'' head of ...
researched the old Tang Dynasty five-stringed pipa in the early 2000s and developed a modern version of it for contemporary use. It is very much the same as the modern pipa in construction save for being a bit wider to allow for the extra string and the reintroduction of the soundholes at the front. It has not caught on in China but in Korea (where she also did some of her research) the
bipa
The ''bipa'' is a pear-shaped lute that is a traditional Korean musical instrument. It is derived from Chinese ''pipa'' and was introduced through the Silk Road to Goguryeo and Silla. There are two major types of ''bipa'': the four stringed ''d ...
was revived since then and the current versions are based on Chinese pipa, including one with five-strings. The 5 String Pipa is tuned like a Standard Pipa with the addition of an Extra Bass String tuned to an E2 (Same as the Guitar) which broadens the range (Tuning is E2, A2, D3, E3, A3). Jiaju Shen from The Either also plays an Electric 5 String Pipa/Guitar hybrid that has the Hardware from an Electric Guitar combined with the Pipa, built by an instrument maker named Tim Sway called "Electric Pipa 2.0".
Use in other genres
The pipa has also been used in rock music; the California-based band
Incubus
An incubus is a demon in male form in folklore that seeks to have sexual intercourse with sleeping women; the corresponding spirit in female form is called a succubus. In medieval Europe, union with an incubus was supposed by some to result in t ...
featured one, borrowed from guitarist
Steve Vai
Steven Siro Vai (; born June 6, 1960) is an American guitarist, composer, songwriter, and producer. A three-time Grammy Award winner and fifteen-time nominee, Vai started his music career in 1978 at the age of eighteen as a transcriptionist for ...
, in their 2001 song " Aqueous Transmission," as played by the group's guitarist,
Mike Einziger
Michael Aaron Einziger (born June 21, 1976) is an American musician, songwriter and producer. He is best known for being co-founder and guitarist of the rock band Incubus, and has also co-written, produced and collaborated with a wide array of a ...
. The Shanghai progressive/folk-rock band
Cold Fairyland Cold Fairyland () is a Chinese rock music group based in Shanghai. Their style combines Eastern melodies and rhythms with Western symphonic rock and classical music. The band has two sides; classical and rock, which allows them to play in concert h ...
, which was formed in 2001, also use ''pipa'' (played by
Lin Di
Lin Di (; born 1975 in Shanghai) is a Chinese musician, composer, and vocalist.
Her current band is Cold Fairyland, a progressive rock band in which she plays ''pipa'' and keyboard synthesizers, and also sings.
Lin began playing pipa at the ag ...
), sometimes multi-tracking it in their recordings. Australian
dark rock
Darkness, the direct opposite of lightness, is defined as a lack of lighting, illumination, an absence of visible spectrum, visible light, or a surface that absorbs light, such as black or brown.
Human visual perception, vision is unable to di ...
band The Eternal use the ''pipa'' in their song "Blood" as played by singer/guitarist
Mark Kelson
Mark Kelson (born 7 March 1976) is a Melbourne born musician, best known for his work as a member of The Eternal, Cryptal Darkness (1995–2002) & Alternative 4 (2010–2013).
Career
Mark Kelson began his music career in the doom band Crypt ...
on their album ''Kartika''. The artist
Yang Jing
Yang Jing (; born December 1953) is a former Chinese politician of Mongol heritage. He previously served as State Councilor and Secretary-General of the State Council, and the President of the Chinese Academy of Governance.
Prior to his ascend ...
plays ''pipa'' with a variety of groups. The instrument is also played by musician
Min Xiaofen
Min Xiao-Fen () is a Chinese-American pipa player, vocalist, and composer known for her work in traditional Chinese music, contemporary classical music, and jazz.
Life
Min Xiao-Fen studied with her father, Min Jiqian (闵季骞), a music profe ...
in "I See Who You Are", a song from
Björk
Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct three-octave vocal range and eccentric persona, she has de ...
's album ''Volta''. Western performers of pipa include French musician Djang San, who integrated jazz and rock concepts to the instrument such as
power chords
A power chord (also fifth chord) is a colloquial name for a chord in guitar music, especially electric guitar, that consists of the root note and the fifth, as well as possibly octaves of those notes. Power chords are commonly played on ...
and
walking bass
Bassline (also known as a bass line or bass part) is the term used in many styles of music, such as blues, jazz, funk, Dub music, dub and electronic music, electronic, traditional music, traditional, or classical music for the low-pitched Part ( ...
.
Electric pipa
The electric pipa was first developed in the late 20th century by adding
electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...
–style magnetic pickups to a regular acoustic pipa, allowing the instrument to be amplified through an
instrument amplifier
An instrument amplifier is an electronic device that converts the often barely audible or purely electronic signal of a musical instrument into a larger electronic signal to feed to a loudspeaker. An instrument amplifier is used with musical ins ...
or
PA system
A public address system (or PA system) is an electronic system comprising microphones, amplifiers, loudspeakers, and related equipment. It increases the apparent volume (loudness) of a human voice, musical instrument, or other acoustic sound sou ...
.
A number of Western pipa players have experimented with amplified pipa. Brian Grimm placed the contact mic pickup on the face of the pipa and wedged under the bridge so he is able to plug into pedalboards, live computer performance rigs, and direct input (DI) to an audio interface for studio tracking. In 2014, French zhongruan player and composer Djang San, created his own electric pipa and recorded an experimental album that puts the electric pipa at the center of music. He was also the first musician to add a strap to the instrument, as he did for the zhongruan, allowing him to play the pipa and the zhongruan like a guitar.
In 2014, an industrial designer residing in the United States Xi Zheng (郑玺) designed and crafted an electric pipa – "E-pa" in New York. In 2015, pipa player Jiaju Shen (沈嘉琚) released a mini album composed and produced by Li Zong (宗立), with E-pa music that has a strong Chinese flavor within a modern Western pop music mould.
Gallery
File:Cernuschi Museum 20060812 106.jpg, Sandstone carving, showing the typical way a pipa was held when played with plectrum in the early period.
Northern Wei
Wei (), known in historiography as the Northern Wei (), Tuoba Wei (), Yuan Wei () and Later Wei (), was founded by the Tuoba (Tabgach) clan of the Xianbei. The first of the Northern and Southern dynasties#Northern dynasties, Northern dynasties ...
Dynasty (386–534 AD).
File:Painted Panel of the Sarcophagus of Yü Hung (detail 3).jpg, Painted panel of the sarcophagus of Yü Hung, depicts one of the
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
Sui dynasty
The Sui dynasty (, ) was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China that lasted from 581 to 618. The Sui unified the Northern and Southern dynasties, thus ending the long period of division following the fall of the Western Jin dynasty, and layi ...
.
File:Pipa player from Kizil.jpg, An
apsara
An apsaras or apsara ( sa, अप्सरा ' lso ' pi, अक्चरा, translit=accharā) is a type of female spirit of the clouds and waters in Hinduism and Buddhist culture. They figure prominently in the sculpture, dance, literat ...
(feitian) playing pipa, using fingers with the pipa held in near upright position. Mural from Kizil, estimated Five Dynasties to Yuan Dynasty, 10th to 13th century.
File:Flickr - dalbera - Lingling Yu au pipa en concert (musée Guimet, Paris).jpg, Modern pipa player, with the pipa held in near upright position
File:Mogao Caves Pipa-Player.jpg, A pipa player playing with the pipa behind his back.
Dunhuang
Dunhuang () is a county-level city in Northwestern Gansu Province, Western China. According to the 2010 Chinese census, the city has a population of 186,027, though 2019 estimates put the city's population at about 191,800. Dunhuang was a major ...
,
Mogao Caves
The Mogao Caves, also known as the Thousand Buddha Grottoes or Caves of the Thousand Buddhas, form a system of 500 temples southeast of the center of Dunhuang, an oasis located at a religious and cultural crossroads on the Silk Road, in Gansu p ...
.
File:Pictura CARPE DIEM.jpg, An early depiction of pipa player in a group of musicians. From the Dingjiazha Tomb No. 5, period of the
Northern Wei
Wei (), known in historiography as the Northern Wei (), Tuoba Wei (), Yuan Wei () and Later Wei (), was founded by the Tuoba (Tabgach) clan of the Xianbei. The first of the Northern and Southern dynasties#Northern dynasties, Northern dynasties ...
(384-441 A.D.)
File:Fresco of the Tomb of Chao Ta-wêng 2.jpg, A
Song dynasty
The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...
fresco depicts a female pipa player among a group of musicians
File:CapitalMuseum18.jpg, Group of female musician from the
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms
The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (), from 907 to 979, was an era of political upheaval and division in 10th-century Imperial China. Five dynastic states quickly succeeded one another in the Central Plain, and more than a dozen concu ...
Period (907-960 AD)
File:Yüen Dynasty Mural Painting of a Man Playing the Pipa.jpg, A mural from a
Yuan dynasty
The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fifth ...
tomb found in Hengshan County, Shaanxi, showing a man playing the pipa
File:MUSICIANS 1.jpg, A Chinese woman playing a pipa, 1870
File:Lai-Afong, Female Musicians and Singers of Foo-Chow.jpg, A group of Qing dynasty musicians from
Fuzhou
Fuzhou (; , Fuzhounese: Hokchew, ''Hók-ciŭ''), alternately romanized as Foochow, is the capital and one of the largest cities in Fujian province, China. Along with the many counties of Ningde, those of Fuzhou are considered to constitute t ...
See also
*
List of Chinese musical instruments
Chinese musical instruments are traditionally grouped into eight categories known as (). The eight categories are silk, bamboo, wood, stone, metal, clay, gourd and skin; other instruments considered traditional exist that may not fit these group ...
*
Lute
A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted.
More specifically, the term "lute" can ref ...
*
Jiangnan sizhu ''Jiangnan sizhu'' () is a style of traditional Chinese instrumental music from the ...
*
Wang Wei (Tang dynasty)
Wang Wei (; 699–759) was a Chinese poet, musician, painter, and politician of the middle Tang dynasty. He is regarded as one of the most famous men of arts and letters of his era. Many of his poems survive and 29 of them are included in the ...
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
External links
The Pipa on the Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History,
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 F ...