Iconology Research Of Chinese Pipa During Northern Dynasty

Five and four stringed pipa and ruanxian(??)was a representative form of this kind of instruments during the golden age of the Tang Dynasty.It is often very hard to confirm an exact form of hu pipa(???)using historical recordings left by the Northern Dynasties,because research of pipa's image is still fairly incomplete.Main point of this text is to sort out the images of instruments falling around the category recognized as pipa during Northern Dynasties period.Primary basing on wall paintings seen in unearthed tombs and stone grottoes,as at the moment they are the biggest accessible source of information.In second chapter I am going to sort the historical evidence concerning the Northern Dynasties period,later on,in chapters third and fourth I will focus on the pipa's image throughout the whole China of that era providing a comparative research of existing remnants,then in fifth chapter I will reach a conclusion trying to explain different ways of development for this three aforementioned models depicted during relevant period.Above all,I am going to refer to distinct designs of pipa's image that were circulating through different places,explaining all factors that were involved in the process of progression,linking the exact images with their respective owners,performing musicians,painting styles of artwork as well as related information from historical background.At the same time I will try to explain the reasons concerning disappearance of five and four stringed ruanxian Those reasons are closely related to the culture standing behind the models,with clues about them hidden in complexity of ethnic group mixing together during times starting from Northern Dynasties period and all the way to the reign of Tang dynasty.