Dunhuang Pipa - Chinese Guitar/LuteProduct Description The pipa (Chinese: ; pinyin: pp) is a four stringed Chinese musical instrument, belonging to the plucked category of instruments ( ). Sometimes called the Chinese lute, the instrument has a pear shaped wooden body with a varying number of frets ranging from 1226. Another Chinese 4 string plucked lute is the liuqin, which looks like a smaller version of the pipa.