The image of "playing the pipa behind one’s back" in Dunhuang murals is one of the most famous artistic images in the dance culture of the Tang dynasty in China. It is well-known both in China and overseas due to modern musical performances and dance dramas such as The Silk Road that often highlight the technique as the finale of a performance. However, the date of this image’s first appearance and its artistic lineage has remained difficult to determine. Based on the line engravings on the outer stone coffin of the tomb of Empress Zhenshun(also known as Imperial Concubine Wu) recently discovered in Chang’an, this article observes that the earliest source of this image was the artistic image of a male Hu(non-Chinese) person dating to the 25 th year of the Kaiyuan era in the Tang dynasty. The transition from a male to a female dancer started from the imperial art of Chang’an where exotic cultures were often absorbed before being spread to other regions and artistic communities throughout China. This paper compares the images from Chang’an engravings, Tibetan silver ware, and Dunhuang murals and concludes that image of a foreign performer playing the pipa behind his back served as the model for this unique artistic theme in Dunhuang murals, thus clarifying the historical development of this long-unexplained artistic motif.
