Pipa

Take the pipa for instance. It is a four-stringed instrument with a semi-pear-shaped sound box, paulownia-wood top board, and a neck curved backwards with four- or five-octave intervals. In the murals of the Tang Dynasty, it can be seen that the ways of holding the instrument and playing are quite different from what they are today. At the time, the players held pipa horizontally playing with a plectrum like the Central Asians. Over the course of 1,000 years, it evolved into an instrument played vertically using five fingers to pluck the strings.

All rights reserved. Reproduction of text for non-commercial purposes is permitted provided that both the source and author are acknowledged and a notifying email is sent to us.