An Overview of Pipa Studies of the Pinghu School

Abstract

According to historical records, the pipa was introduced to the mainland from the western region during the Sui Dynasty, and two major schools of pipa were formed in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, and then the northern school of pipa gradually declined, and the southern school of pipa distinguished itself into the Wuxi school, the Pudong school, the Chongming school, and the Pinghu school, among many other schools. Among the many pipa schools, this paper chooses the Pinghu school for its research review, which will be elaborated from the definition of the school, the formation of modern pipa schools, the research on the genealogy of the characters of the Pinghu school, the research on the genealogy of the repertoire as well as the research on the performances.