Pipa

Pipa is a 4-stringed guitar like plucked instrument, which has a long history in China. It is we refer to today used to be called bent-neck pipa, and has a pear shaped sound box. It was introduced to the interior from China's northwestern Xinjiang and Gansu around the 4th century. After the 7th century it became popular and was regarded as the main musical instrument  . Druing the Tang Dynasty it often served as the lead instrument in  sophisticated court music .