Pipa During The Ming Dynasty

During the Ming dynasty there have been many beautiful forms of art. One of these forms of art was music, which has been an important art for many years. The Ming dynasty had introduced new instruments and types of music. To play music, an instrument is necessary, of course. One of the most famous instruments used during the Ming dynasty was the pipa. The pipa looked like a big pear with strings on it. It is not a guitar, it is a lute. A lute is a musical instrument like a guitar with a round body, played with the fingers or a small piece of plastic. It was introduced to Eastern Asia during the Han and Sui dynasties. During the Ming dynasty the sides and the back of the pipa had many hexagonal plaques. The plaques were made of ivory. The instrument also had bone plaques on the neck of the instrument. The plaques situated on the neck of the pipa were smaller than the ones on the sides and back of the instrument. Each plaque had different symbols on them.
The one who plays the instrument is sitting behind the instrument and cannot see want strings he is playing. So it takes an expert to play the instrument. …show more content…
Some plaques had Daoist figures which represented the Dao (also spelled Tao), which means the way (going with the flow of things). Some plaques had Confucian figures and others had Buddhist symbols. The symbols represented good luck, happiness and prosperity. Prosperity occurs when people have everything they want in life in order to live a good and long life. Some plaques also represented deity. A deity is a godly figure. So the pipa influenced China through religion. The pipa also influenced China due to the Chinese classical music, according to Danwei (A service of Financial