The ‘pipa’ is a necked bowl lute that is played by plucking the strings on the instrument. It is one of the more popular instruments used in classical Chinese music and has existed in China since the Qin Dynasty. Originally from Central Asia and the Middle East, it gradually evolved in China following waves of importation and adaptation of different varieties of the instrument. In Singapore, up to the 1960s, young courtesans called ‘pipa tsai’ (Cantonese for ‘little pipa player’) were trained to play the instrument and sing to entertain businessmen in clubs and brothels.
