A semi-improvised reconstruction, played on modern Chinese pipa (琵琶, pear-shaped lute) and percussion, of "Sa Jin Sha"《撒金沙》(Scattered Golden Sands), piece no. 22 of manuscript P.3808 from the Dunhuang Pipa Scores (called Dunhuang Yuepu《敦煌乐谱》, Dunhuang Qupu《敦煌曲谱》, Dunhuang Juanzipu《敦煌卷子谱》, or Dunhuang Pipa Pu《敦煌琵琶谱》in Chinese), found in Mogao Cave 17 near Dunhuang in Gansu province, northwest China, which comprise 25 pieces in pipa tablature (manuscript P.3808) with instructions for the tablature (manuscript P.3539), plus an additional incomplete piece (manuscript P.3719), all written on the backs of scrolls containing Buddhist texts. These three manuscripts, which were among up to 50,000 manuscripts that had been stored in the cave since it was walled off for unknown reasons early in the 11th century, were taken in 1908 to the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris by the French sinoloist Paul Pelliot (1878-1945). The pieces in P.3808 are believed to be the pipa parts of ensemble pieces, probably court yanyue (燕乐 or 宴乐, banquet music) pieces. On the front of the manuscript is the text of a Buddhist sermon,《长兴四年中兴殿应圣节讲经文》, with 长兴四年 meaning the fourth year of the Changxing reign of Emperor Li Dan (李亶) of Later Tang (后唐), during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period that began following the fall of the Tang Dynasty--that is, 933 AD. Although these pieces were written down in the 10th century (sometime before the founding of the Song Dynasty in 960), many or all of them are likely to have by that time already been old pieces, dating to at least the 8th century (the titles of several of the pieces are listed in Tang palace records). Indeed, a piece entitled "Sa Jin Sha"《撒金沙》is mentioned in "Jiaofang Ji"《教坊记》(The Conservatory Records), a collection of essays about court music that was compiled around 749 AD, during the Tang Dynasty.
A semi-improvised reconstruction, played on modern Chinese pipa (琵琶, pear-shaped lute) and percussion, of "Sa Jin Sha"《撒金沙》(Scattered Golden Sands), piece no. 22 of manuscript P.3808 from the Dunhuang Pipa Scores (called Dunhuang Yuepu《敦煌乐谱》, Dunhuang Qupu《敦煌曲谱》, Dunhuang Juanzipu《敦煌卷子谱》, or Dunhuang Pipa Pu《敦煌琵琶谱》in Chinese), found in Mogao Cave 17 near Dunhuang in Gansu province, northwest China, which comprise 25 pieces in pipa tablature (manuscript P.3808) with instructions for the tablature (manuscript P.3539), plus an additional incomplete piece (manuscript P.3719), all written on the backs of scrolls containing Buddhist texts. These three manuscripts, which were among up to 50,000 manuscripts that had been stored in the cave since it was walled off for unknown reasons early in the 11th century, were taken in 1908 to the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris by the French sinoloist Paul Pelliot (1878-1945).
The pieces in P.3808 are believed to be the pipa parts of ensemble pieces, probably court yanyue (燕乐 or 宴乐, banquet music) pieces. On the front of the manuscript is the text of a Buddhist sermon,《长兴四年中兴殿应圣节讲经文》, with 长兴四年 meaning the fourth year of the Changxing reign of Emperor Li Dan (李亶) of Later Tang (后唐), during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period that began following the fall of the Tang Dynasty--that is, 933 AD. Although these pieces were written down in the 10th century (sometime before the founding of the Song Dynasty in 960), many or all of them are likely to have by that time already been old pieces, dating to at least the 8th century (the titles of several of the pieces are listed in Tang palace records). Indeed, a piece entitled "Sa Jin Sha"《撒金沙》is mentioned in "Jiaofang Ji"《教坊记》(The Conservatory Records), a collection of essays about court music that was compiled around 749 AD, during the Tang Dynasty.