Until the 1960s, when the modern nylon-flatwound steel strings (modeled on Western concert harp strings) were adopted, the pipa and most other Chinese string instruments almost always used musical instrument string made from twisted silk, called si xian (丝弦) in Chinese, which came in various gauges. These were sometimes overwound (with more silk) for the thickest strings. The highest-quality silk strings were called zhu xian (朱弦, literally "vermilion/cinnabar strings"), and were red in color. You can see such strings depicted in Chinese paintings dating back to the Tang Dynasty. I think there were also green-colored strings. Supposedly in the Tang Dynasty there was also a special kind of string called pengji xian (鹍鸡弦), which was said to have been made from the sinew of a crane-like bird, but it's difficult to tell which species this may have been. There are also records of pi xian (皮弦, leather strings) and gou chang xian (狗肠弦, "dog gut strings"), but I don't have any further information about those. It's possible that brass or copper strings were experimented with in prior centuries, but I've never come across any evidence for this, and the timbre produced would have been very different from the typical "dry-silk" timbre of silk strings, and thus unsuitable for this instrument. Prior to the adoption of the nylon-wrapped steel strings, in the mid-20th century, I think a few pipa players experimented with nylon strings, and nylon strings may still be used by pipa players in a few regional traditions including Suzhou pingtan, where the "dry-silk" timbre is still highly valued (but greater durability is desired, since silk strings, like gut strings, are prone to frequent breakage).
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Thank you. Please tell me; What is the historic material for pipa strings?
Until the 1960s, when the modern nylon-flatwound steel strings (modeled on Western concert harp strings) were adopted, the pipa and most other Chinese string instruments almost always used musical instrument string made from twisted silk, called si xian (丝弦) in Chinese, which came in various gauges. These were sometimes overwound (with more silk) for the thickest strings. The highest-quality silk strings were called zhu xian (朱弦, literally "vermilion/cinnabar strings"), and were red in color. You can see such strings depicted in Chinese paintings dating back to the Tang Dynasty. I think there were also green-colored strings.
Supposedly in the Tang Dynasty there was also a special kind of string called pengji xian (鹍鸡弦), which was said to have been made from the sinew of a crane-like bird, but it's difficult to tell which species this may have been.
There are also records of pi xian (皮弦, leather strings) and gou chang xian (狗肠弦, "dog gut strings"), but I don't have any further information about those. It's possible that brass or copper strings were experimented with in prior centuries, but I've never come across any evidence for this, and the timbre produced would have been very different from the typical "dry-silk" timbre of silk strings, and thus unsuitable for this instrument.
Prior to the adoption of the nylon-wrapped steel strings, in the mid-20th century, I think a few pipa players experimented with nylon strings, and nylon strings may still be used by pipa players in a few regional traditions including Suzhou pingtan, where the "dry-silk" timbre is still highly valued (but greater durability is desired, since silk strings, like gut strings, are prone to frequent breakage).
@@dbadagna Thank you VERY much for your detailed information. Kind regards, Bernhard from Vienna.