Monday, March 1, 2021

Musical instrument: quxiang pipa (曲項琵琶)

Musical instrument:  quxiang pipa
(曲項琵琶)
compiled by David Badagnani (rev. 1 December 2023)
Detail of mural depicting an apsara musician (Chinese:  feitian yueji, 飞天乐伎) playing a quxiang pipa.  From Cave 15, Yulin Grottoes (榆林窟15窟 / 榆林窟第15窟), Guazhou County (瓜州县), near Dunhuang, Jiuquan, northwestern Gansu province, northwest China.  The cave was built in the Tang Dynasty and the murals were repainted in the Song Dynasty.  Guazhou County was formerly (until 2006) called Anxi County (安西县).  The Yulin Grottoes (榆林窟; also called the Yulin Caves) is a Buddhist cave temple site located 100 km east of the oasis town of Dunhuang and the Mogao Caves.  The 42 caves house some 250 polychrome statues and 4,200 square meters of wall paintings, dating from the Tang Dynasty to the Yuan Dynasty (7th to 14th centuries).

In an effort to make this information more accessible, this document contains resources related to the Chinese musical instrument called quxiang pipa (曲項琵琶, literally "bent-neck pipa")--a pear-shaped lute with four strings and four raised frets, and a pegbox that is angled backwards--as documented in the Chinese historical record.

The quxiang pipa is believed to have been first introduced to China during the Eastern Jin Dynasty (东晋, 317-420). By the time of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Sui Dynasty, and Tang Dynasty, it was considered a classical instrument par excellence in China, with numerous virtuoso players, many of Central Asian (particularly Kuchean and Sogdian) origin.

This instrument type first appears in iconography around the first century AD in Gandhara (modern-day northwest Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan), and in subsequent centuries also appears in Central Asia, becoming a popular instrument among the Sogdians, Kucheans, and other Indo-European and Turkic peoples of that region.

A similar instrument, the wuxian pipa (五弦琵琶, literally "five-stringed pipa"), which has five strings rather than four, and whose pegbox is straight rather than bent backwards, appears in iconography in India in the second century AD; in India it was called kacchapi (Sanskrit: कच्छपी), deriving from a term meaning "female tortoise" or a kind of small tortoise; the related term kacchapa (कच्छप) means "tortoise" or "turtle."

As transmitted to Japan, the quxiang pipa is called biwa (琵琶 / びわ), gaku-biwa (楽琵琶 / がくびわ), or gagaku-biwa (雅楽琵琶 / ががくびわ), and in Korea it is called bipa (비파 / 琵琶).  The gaku-biwa remains in use in Japan's tradition of gagaku (imperial court music), and, as of the late 20th century, the quxiang pipa has been revived by some period ensembles for the reconstructive performance of Tang-era music.

The quxiang pipa's four raised frets were placed so that the first fret is a whole step (c. 200 cents) above the nut, with the remaining three frets each being a half step (c. 100 cents) above the first fret.  Including open strings, this allows for the production of 20 pitches (some being unisons), and the notation system in use since at least the 7th century uses twenty different tablature symbols to represent these pitches.  Unlike the modern pipa, string bending was not used.

The origin of the word pipa (originally spelled 枇杷, and pronounced biba in Middle Chinese) is explained in the "Explanation of Musical Instruments" (Shi Yueqi, 释乐器) section of the Shiming《释名》(Explanation of Names), a dictionary employing phonological glosses from c. 200 AD, during the Eastern Han Dynasty, as follows:
「枇杷，本出於胡中，馬上所鼓也。推手前曰枇，引手卻曰杷。象其鼓時，因以為名也。」
The pipa originated from the Western barbarians, who played the instrument while on horseback.  Pushing [the plucking hand] outward is called "pi," while drawing [the plucking hand] inward is called "pa."  That's [what the instrument sounds] like when it is played, hence the name.
Note that, at the time the Shiming was written, the term pipa referred to a long-necked fretted lute with round (moon-shaped) body, which would later be known as Qin pipa (秦琵琶), ruanxian (阮咸), or yueqin (月琴).

Fengsu Tongyi《风俗通义》(Comprehensive Meaning of Customs and Mores or Comprehensive Meaning of Customs and Habits), from 195 AD, during the late Eastern Han Dynasty, contains the following passage, which also describes the aforementioned round-bodied lute:

批把

謹按：此近世樂家所作，不知誰也。以手批把，因以為名。長三尺五寸，法天地人與五行，四絃象四時。

Links to textual sources are highlighted in green.

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Historical tunings documented for the quxiang pipa

This is the list of historical tunings used in tuning pieces and modal preludes for the quxiang pipa given by Nelson (2018):

1) Fengxiang diao (風香調; called Fukōjō, 風香調 / ふこうじょう in Japan): Acea (or Bdf#b)
--notes: the Acea tuning was used for the Huangzhong diao/Ōshiki-chō (黃鐘調) mode (Dorian on A), and the Bdf#b tuning was used for the Panshe diao/Banshiki-chō (盤渉調) mode (Dorian on B)
2) Fan fengxiang diao (返風香調; called Hen-pukōjō / へんぷこうぢよう? in Japan) GAdg (or ABea or dead')
--notes: the GAdg tuning was used for the Shuang diao/Sōjō (雙調) mode (Mixolydian on G), and the ABea tuning was used for the Shui diao/Sui-chō (水調) mode (Mixolydian on B)
3) Huangzhong diao (黃鐘調; called Ōshikichō, 黃鐘調 / おうしきちょう in Japan): EBea
--notes: this tuning was used for both the Ping diao/Hyōjō (平調, Dorian on E) and Xing diao/Sei-chō (性調, also Dorian on E) modes
4) Fan Huangzhong diao (返黃鐘調; called Hen-ōshikichō, 黃鐘調 / へんおうしきちょう in Japanese): EBea
--notes: this tuning was used for both the Dashi diao/Taishiki-chō (大食調, Mixolydian on E) and Qishi diao/Kotsujiki-chō (乞食調, Mixolydian on A) modes
5) Seichō (清調): Beeb (or F♯BBf♯)
--notes: the Beeb tuning was used for the Ping diao/Hyōjō (平調) mode (Dorian on E), and the F♯BBf♯ tuning was used for the Panshe diao/Banshiki-chō (盤渉調) mode (Dorian on B)
6) Shuang diao (雙調; called Sōjō, 雙調 / そうじょう in Japan): Adea
--notes: this tuning was used for both the Yiyue diao/Ichikotsu-chō (壹越調, Mixolydian on D) and Shatuo diao/Sada-chō (沙陀調, Lydian on D) modes
7) Ping diao (平調; called Hyōjō, 平調 / ひょうじょう in Japan): F♯Bea
--notes: this tuning was used for the Panshe diao/Banshiki-chō (盤渉調) mode (Dorian on B)
8) Zhuomu Diao (啄木調; called Takubokuchō, 啄木調 / in Japan): GGdg (or AAea)
--notes: this tuning is only used for a handful of "secret" solo pieces, which do not have mode names

This is the list of historical tunings used by the quxiang pipa given by Wolpert (1977):

1) Yue diao (越調; called Ichikotsu-chō, 壹越調 壱越調 / いちこつちょう in Japan): F♯BEA 2) Yiyue shang diao: F♯BF♯C♯ 3) Shashi diao: F♯BEA 4) Shuang diao (雙調; called Sōjō, 雙調 / そうじょう in Japan): ADEA 5) Ping diao (平調; called Hyōjō, 平調 / ひょうじょう in Japan): F♯BEA
6) Dashi diao (大食調; called Taishiki-chō, 太食調 / たいしきちょう in Japan): F♯BEA
7) Dao diao: BBGB (the two Bs are a unison)
8) Huangzhong diao: EBEA 9) Da huangzhong diao: ABEA 10) Shui diao (水調; called Sui-chō, 水調 / すいちょう in Japan): probably GDGA
11) Wanshi diao: F♯BEA 12) Fengxiang diao (風香調): ACEA 13) Fan fengxiang diao (返風香調): ABEA
14) Xiannü diao (仙女調): EBDA 15) Linzhong diao (林鍾調): G♯DEB
16) Qing diao: F♯BBF♯ (the two Bs are a unison) 17) Shagong diao: F♯BEG♯ 18) No diao: F♯BC♯G♯ 19) Xianhao diao: EBEB 20) Yuanyang diao: F♯BC♯F♯ 21) Nanpin diao: ACEE (the two Es are a unison) 22) Yushen diao: AC♯EA 23) Biyü diao: probably ABEA The Dunhuang pipa tablatures (mid-10th century) feature three unnamed tunings (from Chen 2005): 1) BDGA (pieces 1-10) 2) ACEA (pieces 11-20) - equivalent to Fengxiang diao 3) AC♯EA (pieces 21-25) - equivalent to Yushen diao

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Chinese historical reference works discussing the quxiang pipa

● Tongdian《通典》(Comprehensive Institutions)
Written by Tang scholar and historian Du You (杜佑, 735-812) between 766 and 801, Tongdian mentions the quxiang pipa in many sections.
https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E9%80%9A%E5%85%B8#.E6.A8.82.E5.85.B8
http://www.guoxue123.com/shibu/0101/01tdf/index.htm

● Yuefu Zalu《乐府杂录》(Miscellaneous Notes Regarding the Music Bureau)
A collection of small essays (biji, 笔记) by the scholar Duan Anjie (段安节, fl. 880-898), published around 890 near the end of the Tang Dynasty. This work survives in no fewer than 23 different editions. An extensively annotated German translation was published by Martin Gimm (b. 1930) in 1966. It includes a long section on the quxiang pipa, which is referred to simply as "pipa."

● Pipa Lu《琵琶录》(Records of the Pipa) Pipa Lu is an essay about the pipa by the scholar Duan Anjie (段安节, fl. 880-898), written near the end of the Tang Dynasty. http://www.guoxue123.com/biji/tang/0000/016.htm https://ctext.org/wiki.pl?if=gb&chapter=149582

● Jiu Tang Shu《旧唐书》(The Old Book of Tang), also known simply as Tang Shu 《唐书》 (The Book of Tang)
This historical work in 200 volumes was completed in 945, actually during the Later Jin (后晋) Dynasty, one of the Five Dynasties during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms (五代十国) period following the fall of the Tang Dynasty.  It is one of the Twenty-Four Histories (二十四史).

● An amusing story about the quxiang pipa is told in Gu Jin Tan Gai 《古今谭概》 (Anecdotes Old and New, 1620), a collection of amusing anecdotes and short stories by the Ming Dynasty novelist Feng Menglong (冯梦龙, 1574-1646), most of which he excerpted from historical records, with a small number created by Feng himself:

琵琶果
Pipa fruit

莫廷韓過袁太衝家，見桌上有帖，寫「琵琶四斤」，相與大笑。適屠赤水至，而笑容未了，即問其故。屠亦笑曰：「枇杷不是此琵琶。」袁曰：「只為當年識字差。」莫曰：「若使琵琶能結果，滿城簫管盡開花。」屠賞極，遂廣為延譽。
Mo Tinghan [(1539-1587, a famous calligrapher and painter)] went to Yuan Taichong's house, and when [those in attendance] saw a note on the table [on which was] written "four pounds of pipa [(琵琶 = lute)]," the friends roared with laughter.  Just then, Tu Chishui [(1543-1605, a writer and dramatist)] arrived, but [their] laughter had not yet subsided, so [he] asked the reason [why they were laughing].  Tu, smiling, said, "Pipa [枇杷, i.e., loquats] are not the same as pipa [琵琶, the musical instrument]." Yuan said, "It's just because of the poor literacy of the age." Mo said, "If the pipa [musical instrument] could bear fruit, the whole city would be overflowing with xiao [(vertical flutes)] and guan [(double reed pipes)] in full bloom."  Tu received exceedingly high acclaim [for this witticism], and subsequently his reputation spread far and wide.

Taken together, the four 7-syllable lines form a nicely rhyming qijue (七绝, quatrain with seven characters per line):

枇杷不是此琵琶，只為當年識字差。
Pípá bù shì cǐ pípá,
Zhǐ wèi dāngnián shìzì chà.
若使琵琶能結果，滿城簫管盡開花。
Ruò shǐ pípá néng jiéguǒ,
Mǎn chéng xiāo guǎn jǐn kāihuā.

According to Benjamin Daniels:  "That's part of the game these guys were playing, being able to bounce off each other's lines with a perfect complement in verse. It's a common literati game."  He also noted that "it is a common motif in biographies (列傳, liezhuan) for someone's fame to spread among literati-officials because they came up with a memorable and witty couplet like this off the top of their head."

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Chinese poems mentioning the quxiang pipa

《琵琶》
Pipa
作者：无名氏（唐）
Anonymous (Tang Dynasty)

粉胸绣臆谁家女，香拨星星共春语。
This woman with white-powdered chest and embroidery-graced bosom, to whose household does she [belong]?
Her fragrant plectrum, in scintillating style, [evokes] a tête-à-tête between lovers in spring.
七盘岭上走鸾铃，十二峰头弄云雨。
Across Qipan Ridge, luan bells walk,
As the Twelve Peaks conjure clouds and rain.
千悲万恨四五弦，弦中甲马声骈阗。
[She pours out] a thousand sorrows and ten thousand regrets on [her instrument's] four or five strings,
And on these strings [she produces] the sound of armored horses riding two abreast.
山僧扑破琉璃钵，壮士击折珊瑚鞭。
A mountain-dwelling monk smites a glass bowl,
And a warrior cracks a coral whip.
珊瑚鞭折声交戛，玉盘倾泻真珠滑。
As the coral whip cracks, it sounds "khau-khat,"
While pearls, poured out onto a jade plate, skitter smoothly.
海神驱趁夜涛回，江娥蹙踏春冰裂。
The sea god urges on [his dragons], and nocturnal waves swirl;
The River Maidens tread and trample, and the spring ice cracks.
满坐红妆尽泪垂，望乡之客不胜悲。
Teardrops fall from the [eyes of] all the red-made-up beauties in attendance;
Being far from home and longing for their hometowns [is an] unbearable sorrow.
曲终调绝忽飞去，洞庭月落孤云归。
At the piece's end, the tune breaks off as if suddenly floating away;
The moon sets [over] Dongting [Lake], and a solitary cloud returns.

Notes:

● "Fragrant plectrum" (Chinese:  long xiang bo, 龙香拨) refers to a pipa plectrum made from a material called long xiang mu (龙香木, literally "dragon incense wood").  "星星" (pronounced "seng-seng" in Middle Chinese) was probably intended by the poet as onomatopoeic as well as metaphorical.
● Qipan Ridge (Chinese:  Qipan Ling, 七盘岭), also known as Wupan Ridge (Chinese:  Wupan Ling, 五盘岭) or the Qipan Mountains (Chinese:  Qipan Shan, 七盘山), was located in modern-day Guangyuan, northeastern Sichuan, and was part of Ba Prefecture (Chinese:  Bazhou, 巴州) during the Tang Dynasty.
● Luan bells are a set of bells that were attached to the bridles of horses (especially those of cavalry regiments) or the crossbars in the front of horse-drawn vehicles, which were said to produce a sound like the chirping of the mythical luan (鸾) bird.  This is probably a reference to the mountain goddess Yaoji (瑶姬), also known as Wushan Shennü (巫山神女), who in the poem Shennü Fu《神女赋》(Rhapsody on the Goddess), which is attributed to the Late Warring States poet Song Yu (宋玉, c. 298 BC-c. 222 BC), but which is probably by a later author, rings luan bells upon taking her leave from King Qingxiang of Chu (楚顷襄王, r. 298 BC-263 BC).
● The Twelve Peaks (Chinese:  Shi'er Feng, 十二峰) refers to the twelve peaks of Wushan (巫山, literally "Shaman Mountains"), on the border between eastern Sichuan (modern-day northeastern Chongqing) and western Hubei, at the western entrance to Wu Gorge (Chinese:  Wu Xia, 巫峡), the second of the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River.  Of these twelve peaks, the tallest, Goddess Peak (Chinese:  Shennü Feng, 神女峰), was believed to be the abode of the goddess Yaoji (瑶姬), also known as Wushan Shennü (巫山神女), who at daybreak took the form of morning clouds, and each dusk into driving rain.  A legendary story about the meeting, in a dream of King Huai of Chu (楚怀王, r. 328 BC-299 BC), with this goddess is recounted memorably in two poems attributed to the Late Warring States poet Song Yu (宋玉, c. 298 BC-c. 222 BC), but which are probably by a later author:  Gaotang Fu《高唐赋》(Rhapsody on the Gaotang Shrine) and Shennü Fu《神女赋》(Rhapsody on the Goddess), and the sexual liason described therein inspired the idiom yunyu (云雨, literally "clouds and rain"), which is a euphemistic metaphor for lovemaking between men and women.  By the Tang Dynasty (and in particular in the works of the poet Yuan Zhen), references to the Wushan Goddess were used as a literary device indicating eroticism.
● "Coral whip" (Chinese:  shanhu bian, 珊瑚鞭) refers to a horsewhip whose handle is decorated with precious red coral gemstones.  An implement called a "seven-treasure whip" (Chinese:  qi bao bian, 七宝鞭) is described in Jin Shu《晋书》(The Book of Jin), the official history of the Jin Dynasty (266-420), and the coral whip (as a variety of seven-treasure whip) is mentioned in numerous poems dating to the Southern Dynasties and Tang periods.
● "Sea god" probably refers to Yu Qiang (禺强), the legendary god of the northern sea, wind, and plague, who was associated with the Chu culture.  According to the Shan Hai Jing《山海经》(Classic of Mountains and Seas), a compendium of mythological lore from pre-Qin China, Yu Qiang had a human face and a bird's body, with a pair of green snakes decorating his ears, and he traveled astride a pair of large red snakes (which are often interpreted as snake-like dragons).
● "River Maidens" (Chinese:  Jiang'e, 江娥) is another name for the Goddesses of the Xiang River (the daughters of the legendary Emperor Yao, who drowned themselves in the Xiang River out of grief upon the death of their husband, the legendary Chinese Emperor Shun), who are called Xiang Jun (湘君) in Chinese.
● The Xiang River, which flows generally northeast through the provinces of Guangxi and Hunan, flowed into Dongting Lake (located in northeastern Hunan, near the border with Hubei) through the ancient kingdom of Chu, whose songs in the worship of the Goddesses of the Xiang River have been recorded in a work attributed to the Warring States-period poet Qu Yuan (c. 340 BC-278 BC).


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《琵琶行》
Pipa Song (Pipa Xing)
作者：白居易（唐）
by Bai Juyi (Tang Dynasty, 772-846)

Preface (bing xu, 并序):
元和十年，予左迁九江郡司马。明年秋，送客湓浦口，闻船中夜弹琵琶者，听其音，铮铮然有京都声；问其人，本长安倡女，尝学琵琶於穆曹二善才。年长色衰，委身为贾人妇。遂命酒，使快弹数曲，曲罢悯然。自叙少小时欢乐事，今漂沦憔悴，转徙於江湖间。予出官二年恬然自安，感斯人言，是夕，始觉有迁谪意，因为长句歌以赠之，凡六百一十六言，命曰琵琶行。

Poem:
浔阳江头夜送客，枫叶荻花秋瑟瑟。
主人下马客在船，举酒欲饮无管弦。
醉不成欢惨将别，别时茫茫江浸月。
忽闻水上琵琶声，主人忘归客不发。
寻声暗问弹者谁，琵琶声停欲语迟。
移船相近邀相见，添酒回灯重开宴。
千呼万唤始出来，犹抱琵琶半遮面。
转轴拨弦三两声，未成曲调先有情。
弦弦掩抑声声思，似诉平生不得志。
低眉信手续续弹，说尽心中无尽事。
轻拢慢拈抹复挑，初为霓裳后六幺。
大弦嘈嘈如急雨，小弦切切如私语。
嘈嘈切切错杂弹，大珠小珠落玉盘。
间关莺语花底滑，幽咽泉流冰下难。
水泉冷涩弦凝绝，凝绝不通声暂歇。
别有幽愁暗恨生，此时无声胜有声。
银瓶乍破水浆迸，铁骑突出刀枪鸣。
曲终收拨当心画，四弦一声如裂帛。
东船西舫悄无言，唯见江心秋月白。
沉吟放拨插弦中，整顿衣裳起敛客。
自言本是京城女，家在虾蟆陵下住。
十三学得琵琶成，名属教坊第一部。
曲罢常教善才服，妆成每被秋娘妒。
五陵年少争缠头，一曲红绡不知数。
钿头云篦击节碎，血色罗裙翻酒污。
今年欢笑复明年，秋月春风等闲度。
弟弟从军阿姨死，暮去朝来颜色故。
门前冷落车马稀，老大嫁作商人妇。
商人重利轻别离，前月浮梁买茶去。
去来江口空守船，绕船明月江水寒。
夜深忽梦少年事，梦啼妆泪红阑干。
我闻琵琶已叹息，又闻此语重唧唧。
同是天涯沦落人，相逢何必曾相识。
我从去年辞帝京，谪居卧病浔阳城。
浔阳地僻无音乐，终岁不闻丝竹声。
住近湓江地低湿，黄庐苦竹绕宅生。
其间旦暮闻何物，杜鹃啼血猿哀鸣。
春江花朝秋月夜，往往取酒还独倾。
岂无山歌与村笛？呕哑嘲哳难为听。
今夜闻君琵琶语，如听仙乐耳暂明。
莫辞更坐弹一曲，为君翻作琵琶行。
感我此言良久立，却坐促弦弦转急。
凄凄不似向前声，满座重闻皆掩泣。
座中泣下谁最多，江州司马青衫湿。

More information:

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《代琵琶弟子谢女师曹供奉寄新调弄谱》
For the Court Pipa Master Lady Xie, Cao Gongfeng Sent a Newly Arranged Score
(Dai Pipa Dizi Xie Nüshi Cao Gongfeng Ji Xin Tiaonong Pu)
作者：白居易（唐）
by Bai Juyi (Tang Dynasty, 772-846)

琵琶师在九重城，忽得书来喜且惊。
The pipa master within the Nine Walls,
Upon suddenly receiving the document, was overjoyed and shocked.
一纸展看非旧谱，四弦翻出是新声。
The sheet, when unfolded and examined, was [found] not [to be] an old score;
[On her] four strings, [what she] dashed out was a new sound.
《蕤宾》掩抑娇多怨，《散水》玲珑峭更清。
"Sharpened Fourth" hid within it feelings of suppressed tenderness and heightened sorrow,
And "Scattered Stream" was exquisitely crisp and exceedingly clear.
珠颗泪沾金捍拨，红妆弟子不胜情。
Like pearlescent beads, tears moistened the gold-flecked plectrum guard,
And the emotions of the red-made-up court ladies were overwhelmed.

Notes:

Jiu chong cheng (九重城, literally "nine walls") refers to the confines of the imperial palace, the activities taking place therein (including music) being forbidden to outsiders.

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《听曹刚琵琶兼示重莲》
Listening to Cao Gang's Pipa Along With Chong Lian (Ting Cao Gang Pipa Jian Shi Chonglian)
作者：白居易（唐） 
by Bai Juyi (Tang Dynasty, 772-846)

拨拨弦弦意不同，胡啼番语两玲珑。
[He] plucks and plucks, string after string, but the meaning's not the same [as when Chong Lian plays];
The Western wail and foreign speech both come through crisp and clear.
谁能截得曹刚手，插向重莲衣袖中？
Who could intercept Cao Gang's hands,
And insert them into Chong Lian's [red] cloth sleeves?

Notes:

The pipa player Cao Gang (曹刚) was a prominent scion of a Chinese musical dynasty of Sogdian origin, whose ancestor, Cao Poluomen (曹婆罗门, literally "Brahman Cao"), had immigrated from Kabudhan (Kapūtānā, called Caoguo 曹国 in Chinese), northeast of Samarkand, serving as a court musician in Luoyang during the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534); many of his descendants went on to become prominent court musicians in the subsequent Sui and Tang periods.  Interestingly, the Chinese pipa master Lian Chengwu (廉承武), with whom the Japanese diplomat and musician Fujiwara no Sadatoshi (藤原貞敏, 807-867) studied while visiting Yangzhou in the year 838 (at which time Lian was 85 years of age), is believed to have been a pupil of Cao Gang.

Chong Lian (重莲, literally "Layered Lotus [Flowers]") was apparently the name of one of Bai Juyi's eight musician-courtesans, and the poem seems to express a wish that Cao Gang's special skill and musical style (inherited from his Central Asian ancestors) could somehow be transferred to Bai's musician.

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《琵琶行》
Pipa Ballad (Pipa Xing)
作者：牛殳（中唐）
by Niu Shu (mid-Tang Dynasty)

何人劚得一片木，三尺春冰五音足。
Who hewed a slab of wood
Into three feet of spring ice that can fully express the Five Tones?
一弹决破真珠囊，迸落金盘声断续。
With each pluck, a cultured pearl ruptures its sac,
Bursts forth, and falls onto a gilt plate with stuttering sounds.
飘飘飖飖寒丁丁，虫豸出蛰神鬼惊。
Fluttering and floating with a chill pitter-patter,
Bugs of all sorts emerge from hibernation, frightening gods and ghosts alike.
秋鸿叫侣代云黑，猩猩夜啼蛮月明。
Autumn swan geese call to their mates as clouds blacken over the northern plains,
And gibbons cry by night under the clear moonlight of the southern wilds.
潏潏汩汩声不定，胡雏学汉语未正。
Gushing and gurgling with tentative voices,
Like barbarian youths who haven't yet learned to speak the Han tongue correctly.
若似长安月蚀时，满城敲鼓声噒噒。
As if in Chang'an at the time of a lunar eclipse,
With drums beating throughout the bustling city, sounding "liem-liem."
青山飞起不压物，野水流来欲湿人。
Verdant mountains soar upwards without weighing anything down,
While wild waters wend their way in, with a wish to wet those in their wake.
伤心忆得陈后主，春殿半酣细腰舞。
With a heavy heart, I recall the last ruler of Chen,
Half-drunk as slender-waisted maidens dance in the palace hall in spring.
黄莺百舌正相呼，玉树后庭花带雨。
The oriole and the mockingbird call to one another in perfect counterpoint, 
As the jade tree blooming in the rear court is laden with rain.
二妃哭处山重重，二妃没后云溶溶。
In the place where the Two Concubines cried, the mountains are piled layer upon layer,
And where the Two Concubines drowned, the clouds are broad and billowing.
夜深霜露锁空庙，零落一丛斑竹风。
In the depths of the night, frost and dew seal the abandoned temple,
While the wind causes the stand of spotted bamboo to wither and fall.
金谷园中草初绿，石崇一弄思归曲。
In the Golden Valley Gardens, the grass newly green,
Shi Chong once played the song "Longing to Return."
当时二十四友人，手把金杯听不足。
At that time, the Twenty-Four Friends,
With gilt winecups in hand, listened, but couldn't get enough.
又似贾客蜀道间，千铎万磬鸣空山。
It's also like the traveling merchant who, while traversing Shu's steep mountain paths,
Heard thousands of bells and tens of thousands of chime stones sound forth from the empty mountains.
未若此调呦呦兮啁啁，嘈嘈兮啾啾。
This tune is unparalleled,
Alternately sounding yiu-yiu (like the bleating of a doe)—ah!—or tiu-tiu (like the quiet twittering of a songbird),
Dzau-dzau (like the noisy chattering of a flock of birds)—ah!—or tsiu-tsiu (like the melodious chirping of birds in spring).
引之于山，兽不能走。
Drag it up a mountain, and the beasts won't be able to walk.
吹之于水，鱼不能游。
Blow it into the water, and the fish won't be able to swim.
方知此艺不可有，人间万事凭双手。
I've only now realized that this kind of artistry is exceedingly rare,
And everything in this world depends on a skilled pair of hands.
若何为我再三弹，送却花前一尊酒。
If you could play for me a few times more,
I'd offer you, before the blooming flowers, a goblet of wine.

Notes:

1. The pipa (琵琶) is a plucked lute of foreign origin that enjoyed great popularity in China during the Tang Dynasty.  Its pear-shaped back was carved from a single block of dense hardwood, and the whole instrument measured 3 chi (尺, Chinese feet) and 5 cun (寸, Chinese inches).  "Spring ice" is a laudatory metaphor describing the rarity, density, and luminous polished shine of the back of the pipa described in this poem.
2. The reference to "barbarian youths" (Chinese:  hu chu, 胡雏) may be related to the fact that the pipa was introduced to China from Central Asia during the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420), and, even during the Tang Dynasty, performers of Central Asian heritage (originating from such oasis states as Sogdiana, Kucha, or Khotan) were considered to have a special feeling and flavor in their playing that native Chinese musicians were unable to duplicate.
3. Chang'an (长安, literally "Perpetual Peace"; now Xi'an), located in modern-day central Shaanxi province, northwest China, was China's capital and largest metropolis in both the Sui and Tang dynasties.
4. "The last ruler of Chen" is a reference to Chen Houzhu (陈后主, 553-604), personal name Chen Shubao (陈叔宝), the fifth and last emperor of the Chen Dynasty, the last of the Southern Dynasties during the Northern and Southern Dynasties period, which was conquered by the Sui Dynasty in 589.  Inordinately fond of feasting and music and preoccupied with the pleasures of his imperial harem, he composed several sets of palace-style lyrics, the most famous of which, entitled "Yushu Hou Ting Hua"《玉树后庭花》(A Jade Tree's Rear-Court Blossom), praises the beauty of two of his most beloved concubines.  This poem (which also survives in the form of a Tang court ensemble piece preserved in Sino-Japanese tablatures) later became inseparably associated with his state's decadence and eventual subjugation at the hands of the invading Sui Dynasty.
5. "Two Concubines" is an allusion to Ehuang (娥皇) and Nüying (Chinese: 女英), the wives of Emperor Shun (traditionally 2294 BC-2184 BC), who, according to legend, wept by the Xiang River for days after learning of his death, their copious tears falling upon the bamboos by the river and staining them permanently with their spots.
6. Shi Chong (石崇, 249-300) was a politician and literatus of the Western Jin Dynasty who was well known for his extravagant and ostentatious lifestyle.  His magnificent estate, located just to the northwest of the Western Jin capital of Luoyang, was called Jin Gu Yuan (金谷园, literally "Golden Valley Gardens"), and later generations referred to the gardens of wealthy families as Shi jia yuan (石家园, literally "Shi family's garden").  Shi Chong composed a poem on the qin entitled "Si Gui Yin"《思归引》(Longing to Return [Home] Prelude), and also headed a group of intellectuals called the Twenty-Four Friends of the Golden Valley (Chinese:  Jin Gu Ershisi You, 金谷二十四友), who would gather frequently in his garden for sumptuous banquets at which they would discuss current affairs, recite poems, and view excellent performances of music and dance presented by his highly skilled maids and concubines.  Niu Shu's use of pearls as a metaphor earlier in the poem may also be an allusion to the fact of Shi Chong's obsession with pearls, as well as the fact that he is said to have used pearls to purchase a beautiful and talented flute player, singer, and dancer named Lü Zhu (绿珠, literally "Green Pearl"), making her his favorite concubine.
7. Shu (蜀) was the name of an ancient kingdom located in China's mountainous southwestern province of Sichuan (and is still used as a synonym for that province's name).  "Thousands of bells and tens of thousands of chime stones sound forth from the empty mountains" may be a reference to the mountain goddess Yaoji (瑶姬), also known as Wushan Shennü (巫山神女), who, according to legend, inhabited Goddess Peak (Chinese:  Shennü Feng, 神女峰), the tallest of the Twelve Peaks (Chinese:  Shi'er Feng, 十二峰) of Wushan (巫山, literally "Shaman Mountains"), on the border between eastern Sichuan (modern-day northeastern Chongqing) and western Hubei, at the western entrance to Wu Gorge (Chinese:  Wu Xia, 巫峡), the second of the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River.  In the poem Shennü Fu《神女赋》(Rhapsody on the Goddess), which is attributed to the Late Warring States poet Song Yu (宋玉, c. 298 BC-c. 222 BC), but which is probably by a later author Yaoji shakes metal bells and jade pendants upon taking her leave from King Qingxiang of Chu (楚顷襄王, r. 298 BC-263 BC).


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《琵琶》
Pipa
作者：元稹（中唐）
by Yuan Zhen (mid-Tang Dynasty, 779-831)

学语胡儿撼玉玲，甘州破里最星星。
Learning the [musical] language of the people of the West,
which produces a crystalline sound like the tinkling of shaken jade ornaments,
The po ["broaching"/development section] of "Ganzhou" is like a profusion of stars.
使君自恨常多事，不得工夫夜夜听。
Civil governors being consumed with too many matters [of state],
They don't have sufficient time to listen to it night after night.

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《琵琶歌》
Pipa Song (Pipa Ge)
作者：元稹（中唐）
by Yuan Zhen (mid-Tang Dynasty, 779-831)

琵琶宫调八十一，旋宫三调弹不出。
玄宗偏许贺怀智，段师此艺还相匹。
自后流传指拨衰，昆仑善才徒尔为。
澒声少得似雷吼，缠弦不敢弹羊皮。
人间奇事会相续，但有卞和无有玉。
段师弟子数十人，李家管儿称上足。
管儿不作供奉儿，抛在东都双鬓丝。
逢人便请送杯盏，著尽工夫人不知。
李家兄弟皆爱酒，我是酒徒为密友。
著作曾邀连夜宿，中碾春溪华新绿。
平明船载管儿行，尽日听弹无限曲。
曲名无限知者鲜，霓裳羽衣偏宛转。
凉州大遍最豪嘈，六幺散序多笼撚。
我闻此曲深赏奇，赏著奇处惊管儿。
管儿为我双泪垂，自弹此曲长自悲。
泪垂捍拨朱弦湿，冰泉呜咽流莺涩。
因兹弹作雨霖铃，风雨萧条鬼神泣。
一弹既罢又一弹，珠幢夜静风珊珊。
低回慢弄关山思，坐对燕然秋月寒。
月寒一声深殿磬，骤弹曲破音繁并。
In the cold moonlight, one sound is heard from a chime deep in the palace,
Briskly playing the breakdown, the sounds are numerous and varied,
百万金铃旋玉盘，醉客满船皆暂醒。
[Like] millions of golden bells spinning on a jade plate;
The drunken guests on the boat all become momentarily sober.
自兹听后六七年，管儿在洛我朝天。
游想慈恩杏园里，梦寐仁风花树前。
Apricot Garden
去年御史留东台，公私蹙促颜不开。
今春制狱正撩乱，昼夜推囚心似灰。
暂辍归时寻著作，著作南园花坼萼。
胭脂耀眼桃正红，雪片满溪梅已落。
是夕青春值三五，花枝向月云含吐。
著作施樽命管儿，管儿久别今方睹。
管儿还为弹六幺，六幺依旧声迢迢。
猿鸣雪岫来三峡，鹤唳晴空闻九霄。
逡巡弹得六幺彻，霜刀破竹无残节。
幽关鸦轧胡雁悲，断弦砉騞层冰裂。
我为含凄叹奇绝，许作长歌始终说。
艺奇思寡尘事多，许来寒暑又经过。
如今左降在闲处，始为管儿歌此歌。
歌此歌，寄管儿。
管儿管儿忧尔衰，尔衰之后继者谁。
继之无乃在铁山，铁山已近曹穆间。
性灵甚好功犹浅，急处未得臻幽闲。
努力铁山勤学取，莫遣后来无所祖。

Notes:

Guan'er (管儿), a member of the Li family, was a noted female pipa player during the reign of the Tang emperor Xuanzong (r. 713-756).

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《王家琵琶》
The Pipa in the Prince's Household (Wang Jia Pipa)
作者：张祜（唐）
by Zhang Hu (Tang Dynasty, c. 785-c. 849)

金屑檀槽玉腕明，子弦轻撚为多情。
Over a gold-flecked sandalwood soundbox, jade wrists glow;
Gentle pressure on the thinnest string makes feelings flow.
只愁拍尽凉州破，画出风雷是拨声。
There's only sorrow at the stroke that ends "Liangzhou"'s Po,
Wind and thunder are conjured from that plucked note.

Notes:

In the Tang Dynasty, "Liangzhou"《凉州》was the title of a piece of music originating from Liangzhou (modern-day Wuwei, Gansu) in China's far northwest, which had for centuries been an important hub in the Silk Road trade.  Liangzhou's location at the edge of Chinese civilization, and its high degree of influence from the cultures of neighboring Central Asia, gave its music an exotic character that made it especially attractive to Tang-period listeners.

In music of the Tang period, po (破, translated as "broaching," "breaking," or "breakdown") was a movement of medium tempo that usually fell between an introductory xu (序, prelude) and a final ji (急, "quick"), movement, essentially taking the form of a development section.

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《春夕酒醒》
Sobering Up on a Spring Evening (Chun Xi Jiuxing)
作者：皮日休（唐）
by Pi Rixiu (Tang Dynasty, c. 834-c. 884 or c. 840-c. 880)

四弦才罢醉蛮奴，酃醁馀香在翠炉。
Four strings are the only thing that can stop a lowly drunken southerner in his tracks,
But the aroma of the fine green-tinged wine keeps on wafting from its emerald brazier.
夜半醒来红蜡短，一枝寒泪作珊瑚。
At midnight I awaken, the red candles [having grown] short,
And cold tears [streak down my cheeks] like the branchlets of a coral.

Notes:

1. This poem was written in Yangzhou in the year 871, during which time Pi was serving as magistrate of Suzhou.
2. "Four strings" is a synecdochical reference to the quxiang pipa (曲项琵琶), a 4-stringed plucked lute that enjoyed great popularity in China during the Tang Dynasty.
2. Pi Rixiu was a native of Xiangyang in northwestern Hubei, an area that had been the heartland of the Chu (楚) state, which was also known as Jing (荊) or Jingchu (荊楚).  Since the people of China's central plains referred to the inhabitants of this area as Jing Man (荆蛮), Man (蛮) referring to "uncivilized" indigenous ethnic groups living in inland southern and southwestern China, mainly around the Yangtze River valley, in this poem Pi, who is believed to have been of humble birth, refers to himself lightheartedly and self-deprecatingly as Man nu (蛮奴, literally "southern barbarian slave").


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《六朝门·简文帝》
作者：周昙（唐）
by Zhou Tan (Tang Dynasty)

救兵方至强抽军，与贼开城是简文。
曲项琵琶催酒处，不图为乐向谁云。

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Historical specimens

The five quxiang pipa in the collection of the Shōsōin Repository (正倉院), Nara, Japan, which may have been produced in China during the Tang Dynasty (8th century-early 9th century).

Front and rear views of a richly decorated quxiang pipa.  Collection of the Shōsōin Repository (正倉院), Nara, Japan.  This instrument is designated as no. 1 of five quxiang pipa in the collection of the Shōsōin Repository.  This instrument, which is decorated in the luodian (螺鈿) style, called raden in Japanese, with mother-of-pearl inlay, as well as tortoiseshell (with painted colors underneath) and amber, may have been made in Yangzhou, Jiangsu province, east-central China during the Tang Dynasty (c. early 9th century).

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Bibliography

● Chen Yingshi 陈应时.  Dunhuang Yuepu Jieyi Bianzheng 敦煌乐谱解译辨证 [A Dialectical Investigation of the Interpretation/Deciphering/Decoding of the Dunhuang Scores].  Shanghai:  Shanghai Yinyue Xueyuan Chu Ban She 上海音乐学院出版社, 2005.
● Nelson, Steven G.  "Issues in the Interpretation of Notation for East Asian Lutes (Pipa/Biwa) as Preserved in Scores of the Eighth to Twelfth Centuries."  Nihon Ongakushi Kenkyū:  Studies in the Historiography of Japanese Music, vol. 8 (September 2012), pp. 1-41.
● Nelson, Steven G.  "Reconstructing Solo Pieces for Biwa (Lute) of Eighth to Thirteenth-Century Japan."  Bulletin of the Faculty of Letters, Hosei University, vol. 77 (2018), pp. 13-36.
● Wolpert, R. F.  "A Ninth-Century Sino-Japanese Lute Tutor."  Musica Asiatica, v. 1 (1977), pp. 111-165.

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Glossary

● 拨子 (bozi) - plectrum used for plucking the strings of the quxiang pipa and other lutes
● 琵琶槽 (pipa cao, literally "pipa trough") - the hollow soundbox/resonator of a quxiang pipa, forming the instrument's back, which was usually carved from a single block of hardwood

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Thanks to Benjamin Daniels, Lin Chiang-san, and Jeff Loh for assistance with this page.

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