::My affinity for Pipa…..How did it begin………. I came to want to learn Pipa through a very unplanned opportunity. Since I had been learning Kayagum, I was aware of an instrument called the Pipa, but only well enough to know that it could only be found in a museum or read about in books and this was not enough to become attracted to it. Pipa became a special instrument to me once I had the opportunity to visit Taiwan. It was a very ordinary trip, I must say. As with any other trip, I planned to visit a few famous tourist attractions, enjoy tasty exotic food, take a few pictures of the wonderful foreign landscape and so forth… So back then my trip to Taiwan was no more than an ordinary trip to me until the sound of the Pipa struck my ears with great impact. I was with my sister on that trip, and we were staying at a college dormitory in Taiwan when one evening I came across a student in the dormitory who was holding a Pipa to his chest and playing it. In that moment I witnessed the instrument coming out of a display window in a museum, coming to me alive, breathing, and making sounds. Upon reflection, I don’t think the first performance of Pipa that I encountered that day was the one that accomplished a certain level. The student may have just started to learn ………… but it didn’t matter. What mattered to me was that sound was flowing out of the Pipa; I was in awe of that alone. The lifeless instrument that I had only seen in museums in fact had its own voice and approached me with its own song. How can I explain such an indescribable moment? From that moment on Pipa had a large place in my heart, and it has never left. After returning from the trip, I started to inquire about how to learn more about Pipa. Back then, there wasn’t any special place in Korea where I could learn about Pipa, and in fact, it wasn’t easy to simply to learn how to play the instrument. Besides, when I told people that I wanted to learn Pipa, many people around me showed signs of disapproval. Simply not being able to comprehend how badly I wanted to learn to play such an ‘outdated’ instrument, they recommended that I try more practical, socially acceptable instruments. As I was contemplating all the options and recommendations presented to me, Korea started to open diplomatic relations with China, and I took this opportunity to pack up and leave for China before even having the chance to tell anyone about my decision. (When asked about what I was planning to study in China, I couldn’t straightforwardly answer that I was going there to learn Pipa) As soon as I landed in China, I began to learn Pipa. Even though my decision to pursue Pipa met with much disapproval, cynicism, and sometimes even sneers, I could never give up my devotion to my newly found passion, Pipa. In fact, even those who were already into Pipa continually advised me to change my mind and pick up a different instrument. Especially since I specialized in Kayagum, I was very often advised to pick up the chaeng, which is more similar to Kayagum than Pipa, and is easier for me to master. But since the day I encountered live Pipa, I couldn’t easily erase the deep imprint it left on my heart. No matter how daunting a decision it might have seemed to others, I simply couldn’t shake off the impact Pipa had left on me…. Especially, the first time I held a Pipa in my arms, that indescribable feeling of happiness…I would never be able to express in words…