The Transformation And Integration Of Pipa Music In Ming And Qing Dynasties

In the period of Ming and Qing Dynasties,with the growth of the citizen stratum and the emergence of capitalist economy,the development of music tended towards secularization and the center of music started shifting from the court to the folk,which contributed to the prosperous development of Lingxiaoqu,folk opera,Quyi and instrumental music in the period.Folk art showed a thriving developmental trend.As the center of court music was shifted to the folk,the music art of Pipa was also shifted from the court to the folk in the Ming and Qing Dynasties and crucial changes took place in the shape,structure and playing skills of Pipa.In the paper,Pipa music in the historical period was chosen as the object of the research.Studies were mainly made on how Pipa music made its historical transformation and how it was integrated with the folk music after transformation in terms of social background,historical factors as well as its interaction with other forms of music.The influence of politics and economy in the Ming and Qing Dynasties on the art culture in the period was analyzed from the historical and cultural backgrounds.The transformation of Pipa and its integration with the folk music in the Ming and Qing Dynasties were studied respectively.Besides,by taking advantage of the important period of Pipa music's immense transformation from the court to the folk in the Ming and Qing Dynasties,we studied the historical and cultural environment factors,shape and structure and playing skills of Pipa which contributed to this transformation and how Pipa was integrated with various prosperous folk music in the context of prosperous development of various music forms including folk songs,rap music,local opera music and national instrumental music.In the present study,a comprehensive investigation was made on the art of Pipa in the Ming and Qing Dynasties based on the sorting of music literature in this historical period and the historical materials of existing musical notations and sculptures by using the methods of literature review,historiography textual distinguishing and musicology analysis.The paper suggests that the integration between Pipa and other folk music in the Ming and Qing Dynasties and the interdependent and complementary relationship between them have provided the basis for the development of making and playing skills of Pipa instruments and the prosperity of music creation and the artistic features and styles of Pipa that was formed in the period have exerted profound impacts on the development of Pipa in the later ages.