Pipa - History

History

The earliest mention of pipa in Chinese texts appeared late in the Han Dynasty around 2nd century CE. According to Liu Xi's Eastern Han Dynasty Dictionary of Names, the word pipa may have an onomatopoeic origin (the word being similar to the sounds the instrument makes) 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 (枇杷 or "piba" 批把) in the earliest texts, originated from amongst the Hu (meaning foreigners or barbarians). These Han Dynasty texts also indicate 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 (221 BCE–206 BCE). The word pipa, however, was used in the ancient texts to describe a variety of plucked chordophones from the Qin to the Tang Dynasty, as a result, there are still considerable confusion and disagreements about its history. One instrument, called xiantao (弦鼗), with strings stretched over a small drum with handle, was said to have been played by labourers who constructed the Great Wall of China during late Qin Dynasty. This may have given rise to the Qin pipa, which had a straight neck and a round sound box, along with twelve frets. Qin pipa later became the instrument known today as the ruan which was named after Ruan Xian, one of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove. Yet another term used in ancient text was Qinhanzi (秦漢子), perhaps related to Qin pipa, but modern opinions differ as to what it may be.

The pear-shaped pipa was likely to have been introduced to China from Central Asia, Gandhara, and/or India. Pear-shaped lutes have been depicted in Kusana sculptures from the 1st century AD. Pipa from the Han Dynasty is 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. There are therefore differing opinions about the form of the Han Dynasty pipa. Pipa acquired a number of Chinese symbolisms during the Han Dyansty - 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.

Depictions of the pear-shaped pipas appeared in abundance from the Southern and Northern Dynasties 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) and Kuchean pipa (龜茲琵琶), some of these terms however may refer to the same pipa. Apart from the four-stringed pipa, other instruments introduced include the five-stringed, straight-necked, wuxian pipa (五弦琵琶), 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 word pipa was used to refer exclusively to the pear-shaped instrument.

The pipa reached a height of popularity during the Tang Dynasty, and was a principal musical instrument in the imperial court. During this time Persian and Kuchan performers and teachers were in demand in the capital, Chang'an (which had a large Persian community). Many delicately carved pipas with beautiful inlaid patterns date from this period. 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 semi-deities are depicted in the wall paintings of the Mogao Caves near Dunhuang. 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.

Pipa fell from favour in the imperial court during the Song Dynasty. During the Ming period, the plectrum was replaced by fingernails, while the horizontal playing position became the vertical (or near-vertical) position by the Qing Dynasty. The early instrument had 4 frets (相) on the neck, but during the early Ming Dynasty extra bamboo frets (品) were affixed onto the soundboard, increasing the range of the instrument. The number of frets gradually increased to 10, 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 scale, with all the intervals being semitones. The traditional 16-fret pipa is becoming less common, although it is still used in some regional styles such as the pipa in the southern genre of nanguan/nanyin. 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.