The five-string rosewood pipa inlaid with mother-of-pearl is a beautifully crafted instrument. During the Sui …
The five-string rosewood pipa inlaid with mother-of-pearl is a beautifully crafted instrument. During the Sui and Tang dynasties, it spread to Korea and Japan. According to Japanese records, in the Jōwa era, envoy Fujiwara no Sadatoshi received a pipa and music from Tang China. The Tale of the Heike tells of envoy Ren Shōbu, gifted three pipas, one lost at sea to a sea dragon. The pipa at Shōsōin, the sole surviving Tang-era five-string pipa, symbolizes historic cultural exchange.