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PipaGuqin scores and the jianzipuTimbrePitch

This page also introduces no new instrument — it is about how the pipa's repertoire got sorted into categories.

And first, a thing many people mix up:

⭐⭐ 【Pipa pieces have two axes, not one】

⚠️ The key sentence, in the source's words: "both large and small pieces may further be divided into civil and martial." — "large/small" and "civil/martial" are different things: one is length, one is character.

Two axes, not one

⭐ The point: "civil/martial" is only the horizontal ruler; there is a second, length ruler. A piece's address is where the two cross — "Ambush from Ten Sides" is *martial · grand suite*; "Longing for Spring" is *civil · short*.

Two ends of one ruler

This ruler is old: it dates to 1818

⭐ Many assume "civil/martial" is a modern tidy-up. It is not.

"These editions (the Qing printed pipa collections) had already begun to divide traditional pieces by musical structure into *daqu* and *xiaoqu*, and by musical style and playing technique into *wuqu* and *wenqu*."

And in Hua Qiuping's 1818 *Secret Scores of the Northern and Southern Schools* — China's first formally printed pipa collection — the two classes are simply called "civil boards" and "martial boards":

⭐⭐ And here is a line running straight to the previous page (guqin scores and the jianzipu):

Hua Qiuping "took the qin's jianzipu as his model, devising a fairly complete set of pipa fingering symbols (16 for the left hand, 8 for the right), standardising tuning, positions and fingering."

The qin's notation became the pipa's template — one page told "one character, one action"; this page shows that idea carried to another instrument. (And note: 16 left / 8 right matches the civil/martial split of left- versus right-hand emphasis.)

⚠️ The year is given as 1818 or 1819 in different places (both noted); the earliest complete score of "Ambush from Ten Sides" appears here (then called "Shimian").

A third class: the mixed 大曲

Not everything sits purely at one end:

"Grand pieces combine civil and martial means and styles, and are freer in performance. Examples: *Yangchun Guqu*, *Puan Zhou*, *Shuilong Yin*."

⭐ "Ambush" itself is "narrative, multi-sectional": in Liu Dehai's version it runs eight sections — Encampment · Drums · Marching · Arraying · Ambush · Skirmish · Battle Cry · Pursuit. Of Ambush, the source notes: "a rising-and-falling melody with steadily increasing speed and force, depicting a Chu army surrounded on every side" — the martial style does not shout; it piles up the situation through the music's direction.

What the ruler cannot measure

⚠️ The most important boundary on this page: "civil/martial" is a ruler *inside* the literati tradition.

The sources divide pipa soloists into three groups:

A structure like "gong-and-drum sections plus folk tunes" cannot be measured by the civil/martial ruler — it was never the ruler made for it.

⭐ Which applies to every classification on this site: a classification is made by someone for something. It explains a lot; it does not explain everything.

Range

本页讲的是曲目分类，涉及的乐器是琵琶：四弦 · 六相二十四品 · 竖抱（早期横抱）。音域约 A2—E6（三个八度余）。本页音域口径与本维度的「琵琶」条目一致。

Common misconceptions

• "Grand suite means martial." ⚠️ Two axes: length gives large/small, style gives civil/martial — "both large and small pieces divide into civil and martial."
• "Civil is easy, martial is hard." ⚠️ They are hard in different places: civil leads with the left hand (slides, vibrato, long rolls, harmonics), martial with the right (sweeps, choked notes, twisted strings). Not a difficulty ranking — different jobs.
• "The split was invented in modern times." ⚠️ The 1818 collection already says "civil boards / martial boards": this is the Qing score-makers' own classification.
• "Every pipa piece fits one of the two." ⚠️ There is a mixed class (*Yangchun Guqu*, *Puan Zhou*), and street repertoire like *The Dragon Boat* sits outside the ruler altogether.
• "Pipa notation started from scratch." ⚠️ Hua Qiuping "took the qin's jianzipu as his model" — it stood on the qin's shoulders.

Listening: two kinds of hand

Three cues:

1. Hear the after-ring. The civil style wants sound still hanging after it leaves — hence slow, soft, long rolls and harmonics. 2. Hear the collision. The martial style wants sound crashing into itself — sweeps, flicks, choked notes, twisted strings. "Impure" is a skill here. 3. Hear which hand is busy. Same melody: left hand busy = civil; right hand busy = martial. Two hands' jobs define two characters.

Related pages

Next

The plucked section ends here — the next instrument returns to the bowed section (which still owes a batch of pages).

It looks like the erhu, but it leads Guangdong music and Cantonese opera; it is tuned higher and sounds brighter — and it is a late arrival, "settled" only in the 1920s.

Gaohu. :::

Sources

• ⭐⭐ 两条分类轴（核心）：「传统曲目分类方式多样：依篇幅分大曲（套曲）与小曲。现存谱集载约 30 首大曲与 150 首小曲。大曲常含多段落，小曲多单段结构……大曲小曲皆可再分文曲与武曲」依新格罗夫音乐与音乐家辞典
• ⭐⭐ 文曲与武曲的定义：文曲「风格雅致，速度徐缓力度轻柔，被视为阴柔特质；名曲《夕阳箫鼓》为典型文曲——以多段落描绘春江月夜胜景。其他流行文曲含《月儿高》《塞上曲》《普庵咒》」；「特点在于概括性 · 抒情性。演奏技法上侧重左手的旋律性」；武曲「气势雄浑，被视为阳刚特质，演奏速度迅疾力度强劲。最负盛名者为《十面埋伏》，描绘历史上公元前 202 年……刘邦运用多重伏击战术在该战役中击溃项羽。曲中运用特殊琵琶技法模拟战马狂乱奔嘶 · 士兵嘶喊与兵戈撞击之声，共同构建古战场声景画卷」；「其他著名武曲含《海青拿天鹅》《霸王卸甲》《将军令》」；「特点在于写实性 · 叙事性。演奏技法上侧重右手的相关技法使用」依新格罗夫与中国音乐学院资料
• ⭐⭐ 技法分野与口诀：文曲「多用推 · 拉 · 吟 · 揉 · 带 · 打 · 长轮 · 泛音等技巧」；武曲「多用扫 · 拂 · 煞音 · 绞弦 · 推拼双弦 · 拍 · 提 · 满轮等技巧」；两曲之别也称「文套 · 武套」；李芳园 1895 年《南北派十三套大曲琵琶新谱》原话：「文曲宜静 · 宜有余音；武曲宜威 · 宜雄壮。按板传声，宽紧相间，缓急得宜」——「就是明清以来琵琶演奏艺术『文』『武』之别的历史经验总结」依国学院与辞书资料
• ⭐⭐ 分类的由来（这把尺子很老）：「值得注意的是，这些版本（清代刊行的琵琶谱集）已开始根据音乐结构特征，将众多的传统曲目分为『大曲』和『小曲』；根据音乐风格和演奏手法划分为『武曲』和『文曲』」；⭐ 华秋苹《琵琶谱》里就叫「文板」（即文曲）与「武板」（即武曲）——卷上北派王君锡传谱分「文板」5 曲（《正板》《素串》等）·「武板」7 曲（《葡萄轮》《下去罗》等）；卷中浙派陈牧夫传谱分「文板」18 曲（《思春》《昭君怨》等）·「武板」12 曲（《艳阳天》《范阳州》等）依国学院资料
• ⭐⭐ 第一部刊印琵琶谱：「1818 年清代华秋苹编订的《南北二派秘本琵琶谱》为中国首部正式刊行琵琶曲集」（又称《华秋苹琵琶谱》· 简称《华氏谱》· 共 3 卷；辑录《十面埋伏》《月儿高》等 68 首南北派乐曲）；「先后出版三次」；⭐ 华秋苹「参照琴的减字谱法，拟订了比较完整的琵琶指法谱字（左手指法 16 · 右手指法 8），对琵琶的定弦 · 把位 · 指法等加以规范化」；「《十面埋伏》（又称《淮平楚》，在《华氏谱》中名为《十面》）的完整乐谱最早就见于此」依辞书资料（⚠️ 刊行年各处作 1818 或 1819，并列）
• ⭐ 第三类（综合）：「琵琶大曲综合运用琵琶文曲 · 武曲的表现手法和演奏风格，表演上较为自由。代表曲目：《阳春古曲》《普庵咒》《水龙吟》等」；「《十面埋伏》……为叙事性多段体结构」，「在刘德海的演奏版本中，全曲由八段组成：【列营】【擂鼓】【走队】【排阵】【埋伏】【小战】【呐喊】【追击】」，其中「【埋伏】一段中，递升递降的旋律，加以速度和力度的渐增，表现了楚军被围得水泄不通，伏兵重重的场景」依中国音乐学院资料
• ⭐⭐ 流派与传承群体：「据华秋萍 1819 年《琵琶谱》载，当时存南 · 北两派。至 19 世纪末 20 世纪初，江南（长江下游）地区形成四派：无锡派 · 平湖派 · 崇明派 · 浦东派，均以发源地命名」；「1920—30 年代，上海汪昱庭（1872—1951）代表的新流派成型」；「同期，王露（1877—1921）代表的早期北派主要存续于山东省」；「诸派差异体现于不同曲目 · 演奏技法及对同曲的相异诠释，然整体皆属文人传统范畴，共享诸多基本特征与曲目」依新格罗夫与辞书资料
• ⭐⭐ 尺子量不到的地方：「低社会地位乐人是传承琵琶独奏的另一群体。他们于街头茶馆奏琵琶谋生，音乐依赖口传，曲目多采自民歌或地方戏曲。《龙船》为其典型曲目——描绘民间节庆龙舟竞渡的市井喧腾场景，由若干『锣鼓段』（模仿打击乐音响）与民歌曲调段落交替构成。盲人乐师阿炳（1893—1950）是该群体杰出代表」；「约 1920 年代起，现代知识分子群体开始影响琵琶独奏传统……按十二平均律重置品位，采用简谱或五线谱记谱……刘天华1927 年作《改进操》与《歌舞引》为此类创作典范。具影响力的现代教育家包括卫仲乐 · 林石城」依新格罗夫音乐与音乐家辞典
• ⭐ 明清流派源流：「明清时期形成浙江 · 直隶 · 无锡等流派，其中无锡派华秋苹融合南北技法编撰《华氏谱》」；「清朝乾嘉时期……中国琵琶大体分为南北两系，南以浙江陈牧夫为代表，北则以直隶王君锡为翘首」依辞书资料

Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.