According to documents, pipa was divided into straight pipa and curved pipa in ancient times. First of all, let's look at the straight pipa (Qin Pipa), which is a kind of garden, straight neck and four strings created by our people. According to historical records, it is said that pipa was made when Princess Wusun got married. In order to contact Wusun and fight against Xiongnu, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty betrothed Xijun, the daughter of King Jiangdu, to Wusun Kunmi in the sixth year of Yuanfeng (BC 105), and remembered her on the way. It can be seen that Qin Pipa is a musical instrument created by the working people of the Chinese nation. After Qin Pipa, it developed into Ruan Xian (Ruan Xian, one of the seven sages of bamboo forest in Jin Dynasty, was renamed as "Ruan Xian" because he was good at playing, now called Ruan). So what is the evolution of pipa today? We can only study it from its historical evolution or predecessor. Melody Pipa pear-shaped, melodic, four-stringed, held horizontally and played with a pick. This pipa originated in Persia (now Iran) and was named Ude. According to Al-Farabi, an ancient Islamic scientist, Udchin was created by Lamai, the sixth generation grandson of Adam, a legendary figure in Genesis. It is said that Lamai sadly hung his son's body on a tree, and the first Udine was created with his son's bone shape. ) Zhang Qian, a military commander in the Han Dynasty, made two missions to the Western Regions (BC 139-BC 126), which gradually opened the Silk Road to China, bringing the diversity of countries in the Western Regions into the Central Plains, and played an inestimable role in the culture of China from the Southern and Northern Dynasties to the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Music has always been a way of communication between countries, because it can achieve mutual understanding without language communication, so it has always been valued by rulers of past dynasties. Similarly, the opening of the Silk Road has also promoted the exchange of music between China and the West. Therefore, after a long period of musical and cultural exchanges, Ude Qin was introduced to the Central Plains through Kucha (Kuqa, Xinjiang) in the Southern and Northern Dynasties (420-589 AD) and became a musical pipa. Introduced to the west, it gradually evolved into guitar, mandolin, lute and other musical instruments. Introduced to Japan, it evolved into today's five-string pipa, music pipa, barren god pipa and blind monk pipa.
The first climax: Sui and Tang Dynasties. Among the nine or ten pieces of music in Sui and Tang Dynasties, pipa became the main musical instrument, which played an important role in the development of song and dance art in the prosperous Tang Dynasty. From Dunhuang murals and Yungang stone carvings, we can still see its position in the band at that time. In the 5th and 6th centuries, with the strengthening of commercial and cultural exchanges between China and the nationalities in the western regions, pipa was played with a plectrum. Pipa reached its first climax in the Tang Dynasty. Representative figures: Su Zhipo (a famous musician from Northern Zhou Dynasty to Sui Dynasty, one of the top ten musicians in ancient China, and a court musician at that time), Kang Kunlun, Cao Shancai, etc. Representative works: Nishang Song, Liugong, Fei Mingge, Yang Liuzhi. From some literary works, we can also see the development degree of the pipa at that time, such as Liu Jingfu's children's song "Melody in a Dream" for Wu Taibo, "The wrist is tilted and the current is flowing, and the spring thunder suddenly stops the autumn stork", which vividly depicts the lightning speed and sound of the pipa player when he moves and picks obliquely.
The second climax: Ming and Qing Dynasties. Pipa, which plays a major role in court music, began to move towards the folk; Become one of the main accompaniment instruments of rap music; Changing the horizontal dial into the vertical dial further enriches the playing skills and expressive force; The appearance of "Wen Qu" and "Wu Qu" in artistic style enriches the content. In the rich areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, outstanding pipa masters and aristocratic families have emerged in large numbers, forming a prosperous situation in which a hundred schools of thought contend. Although there were not as many swan songs in this period as in the Tang Dynasty, the pipa art has been solidly inherited and carried forward by the majority of performers. Representatives: Zhang Xiong, Li Jinlou, Chen Mufu, Wang Junxi, Ju Shilin, etc. Genre: Chongming School, Wuxi School, Pudong School, Pinghu School, Wang School, etc. Representative works: Hua's Pipa Story, Thirteen New Pipa Scores of North and South Schools, etc. For example, in Chun Xue, the moonlight shines on the riverside, flying in ambush on all sides, the overlord is dismantled, and the moon is high.
The third climax: with the prosperity of the country, people's living standards have gradually improved, and people's development and pursuit of traditional culture have also gradually improved. Whether from the production of musical instruments. The cultivation of talents and the artistic expression of pipa itself have reached an unprecedented peak. The state has trained thousands of pipa experts, academic researchers and performers for Qian Qian, and constantly promoted the development and innovation of pipa. Representatives: Liu Dehai, Lin Shicheng, Cao An, Yang Dajun, etc. Representative works: Yi Dance Music, The First Military Division of Langya Mountain, Spring Rain, Weishuiqing, etc.
Pipa, an excellent national musical instrument with rich artistic expression, fully embodies the highest pursuit and outstanding contribution of our Chinese nation to culture and art from ancient times to the present, and is a wonderful flower in the treasure house of Chinese music culture. It is also one of the precious cultural products worthy of our admiration and study. Let us continue to explore the reasons for its enduring, inspire us to explore its essence and mystery, and let us continue to discover the truth of things in our future life.