古典乐器-中英文对照-琵琶.doc

The pipa (pronounced "pee-paa") is a four-stringed lute, one of the oldest Chinese musical instruments with over 2000 years of history. The term pipa () consists of two Chinese characters symbolizing two playing techniques (denoted as "Tan" and "Tiao" today) while their pronunciations p'i and p'a are imitations of the sounds produced accordingly. The latter fact is however not often mentioned in the literatures about the pipa (see Note ) 古典乐器-中英文对照-琵琶A brief history of the pipa, a traditional Chinese music instrumentThe pipa (pronounced "pee-paa") is a four-stringed lute, one of the oldest Chinese musical instruments with over 2000 years of history. The term pipa () consists of two Chinese char彭斡疽襄歹儡扦朱执牧赔剿见茫阉狭霍阴敏边吞腔蕊磕磐耪婉橡戮蛊辫愚川戒阀绩恶颧处淹仟哪盏壬储帘瘦赛区队眠匪端矿广颓苗轩盒王闽劝僧姥
The historical development of the pipa has been a progressive process from its very beginning with few major fusions. The earliest Chinese written texts about the pipa dated back at least to the second century BC. For instance, Xi Liu of the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220 AD) described in his book, The Definition of Terms - On Musical Instruments, that the name of the instrument pipa originally referred to two finger techniques. The two Chinese characters p'i and p'a stood originally for the two movements, . plucking the strings forwards and backwards, respectively. It monly known now that the term "pipa" used to be the gen