pipa, short-necked Chinese lute prominent in Chinese opera orchestras and as a solo instrument. It has a shallow, pear-shaped body with a wooden belly and, sometimes, two crescent-shaped sound holes. The modern pipa has 29 or 31 frets, 6 on the neck and the rest on the body of the instrument. The four strings run from a fastener on the belly to conical tuning pegs in the sides of the bent-back pegbox. Once made of silk, they are today usually made of nylon-wrapped steel. Silk strings were played either with a plectrum or with bare fingers, but steel strings are typically played with finger picks, short plectrums attached to the fingers. A common tuning (relative pitch) is c–f–g–c′ (top note around middle C). In performance the instrument is held vertically on the player’s thigh. Performance technique for the pipa is quite sophisticated and may include glissandos, tremolos, and harmonics. The right hand plucks the strings to produce sound, while the left hand is engaged in pressing, bending, and otherwise acting on the strings to produce the desired tonality. According to a document from the Eastern Han dynasty (25–220 ad), the instrument’s name is derived from finger techniques, pi for plucking in a forward motion, pa for plucking in a backward motion, although later different Chinese characters with the same sounds were used as the name.
Ultimately of West Asian origin, the pipa clearly was known in China by the 2nd century ad. There are several varieties of pipa in China, and closely related instruments also are found in Vietnam and Korea. The pipa reached Japan by the 8th century ad, where it was renamed biwa.
From the Qin (221–207 bc) to the Tang (618–907 ad) dynasties, the term pipa was used generically to refer to many types of plucked stringed instruments, both indigenous and imported.
Historically three types of pipa were distinguished, but in the late 20th century four were identified: the qinhanzi, the ruan, the wuxian, and the quxiang. The qinhanzi, or qin pipa—a four-stringed lute having a skin-covered round body, a straight neck, and 12 frets—was developed from a rattle drum by the labourers on the Great Wall during the time of Shihuangdi (the first emperor, ruled 238–210 bc). By the time of Han Wudi (141–87 bc), the body was made of wood and had 12 frets.
This instrument eventually became the ruan, or ruanxian (named for the musician Ruan Xian, one of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove). The ruan differed from the qinhanzi in having a longer neck and 13 frets. In performance the ruan, which is still in use today, is held vertically and plucked with the fingers. The famous yueqin, a short-necked lute, is a variation of this instrument.
The direct ancestor of the contemporary pipa is the quxiang (“curved-neck”) pipa, which traveled from Persia by way of the Silk Road and reached western China in the 4th century ad. It had a pear-shaped wooden body with two crescent-shaped sound holes, a curved neck, four strings, and four frets. In performance it was held sideways and played with a plectrum. This type of instrument was introduced to Korea (the bipa), to Japan (the biwa), and to Vietnam (the tyba). The wuxian (“five-string”) also arrived by means of the Silk Road, arriving with Buddhism from India during the 5th century ad. Like the body of the quxiang pipa, it is pear-shaped but the neck is straight. Although it was not used after the 8th century, by the 21st century the revival of both the five-string pipa and its repertory was underway.
The quxiang pipa was the king of musical instruments during the Sui and Tang dynasties and has been the dominant type ever since. It was used in court entertainment orchestras, folk ensembles, and as a virtuoso solo instrument. During this period the position in which the instrument was held was changed from horizontal to vertical, the plectrum was abandoned in favour of the fingernails, and the number of frets on the body was increased.
The modern pipa is 40 inches (102 cm) long and has a shallow, pear-shaped wooden body with a short neck that is curved at the top. A small sound hole behind the string fastener on the lower side of the body is invisible from the front. The strings are tuned to A, d, e, a, and the range is three octaves plus four pitches.
One type of pipa very popular in Fujian and Taiwan is sometimes called nanpa (“southern pipa”). An important instrument in the Nanyin (“southern music”; Fujianese) or Nanguan (“southern pipes”; Taiwanese) ensemble, it preserves many ancient traits; for example, it has a rounder body with two crescent sound holes, 13 frets (4 on the neck, 9 on the body). In performance it is held horizontally and is played without any virtuoso display.